How many different responses needed in a Hostage situation?

[Aglifter]

Saw a thing in the news about a rather violent felon on the run, near my brother's house. So, between that, the incidents at the plant, some of the problems at the store, I've been thinking that it might not be bad to be able to have an innocuous conversation.

So, obviously, this is a rather limited list, but what should the few phrases be?

I'm assuming something like:

A) I am a hostage, bad guy killing people.
B) Go away, everything's fine.
C) I am a hostage, no one's dead
D) I was a hostage, I think the bad guy's dead, looking for other bad guys..

[308Mike]

Okay, responses to WHO, and under what conditions (initially, after they've been taken, as they're being taken, while looking to distract them, right before you KILL THEM, etc., etc.)?

[workinwifdakids]

I'll assume you're talking about phoning your family if they may be in a hostage situation? Code, right?

1: Jeff went to the post office (ongoing hostage situation, at least one victim dead)
2: Jeff went to the hospital (ongoing hostage situation, everyone's alive so far)

That's it.

[mekender]

I liked what they did on Good Guys last week...

When the two of them were talking, saying "I like carter" was a tip that Ill take the guy on the left. "I like reagan" was for the guy on the right.

[308Mike]

I liked what they did on Good Guys last week...

When the two of them were talking, saying "I like carter" was a tip that Ill take the guy on the left. "I like reagan" was for the guy on the right.

You can't assume someone will pick up on subtle messages when they're under heavy stress, so if you have a partner, you NEED to work out these things IN ADVANCE, before they ever happen - you discuss it, and commit to it so there's NO confusion when you decide to act. They teach this kind of shiite in the academy, it's not new by ANY stretch of the imagination.

After all, WHO's "right" and WHO's "left" are you talking about to begin with (especially if you're facing opposite directions)?

[Erik]

B & D are pretty easy, since at that point you are free to say anything.
I'd suggest using a "safeword" to let the other person know that everything's ok. If you say it, the other person knows you are not under any kind of threat. Like any safeword, it should be something that you'd never say otherwise and very hard to guess. Once you used that, you can tell them freely what's going on. Add to that a "not-safe word" that can be used in a hostage situation, for instance mentioning a family member that doesn't exist or anything else that's easy to say in any conversation but wont be said by mistake. That tells the other person that there's trouble. This could be further improved by adding content, but like 308Mike said it's easy to forget codes under stress, so the main goal is to tell the other person that there's a problem.

But for code messages I'd try something simple, like mentioning a number for the number of bad guys. "Three of his friends picked up Jeff", "Jeff went to the coffee shop on 5th street", "Jeff will be back at 11PM". Though the bad guys might pick up on that. Use colors for seriousness, for instance red, yellow and green where red is an active shooter scenario and green is that everyone is fine right now. Once the other person knows there's a problem, you can be a lot more subtle since they'll know there might be a code mentioned.

The problem with all code phrases is that if you dont use them regularly it will most likely be some time before you need them and people forget. So it makes sense making them as easy as possible, and focus on making sure you can tell people if there's a problem or not. Using a safe word is the easiest way to do that, you can call them up and ask what the safeword is, and if they say anything other than the right word you know there's a problem. Then you can either thank them and hang up, or keep them in a conversation for as long as possible and give them a chance to work in as many code phrases as they can. They could even do that at a the first question and answer "five green cats" as a safeword.

[Rich]

Slip these into conversation.

"Oh, the dog/cat is pregnant again." code for something isn't right, send help.

or

"Oh, the dog/cat isn't pregnant after all." code for everything is all right.

It helps to have a dog/cat on hand for verisimilitude.

[Aglifter]

Yeah, I've decided to make sure that any safewords were believable - specifically avoiding using imaginary family members, etc in the event that someone's done there homework.

It would mainly be a way for me to call, so I know whether to call the police or not. We had safewords when I was a child.

I wasn't sure, but presumed, that the police act differently if a hostage has been killed, than if there are hostages, but they're all still OK.

[Erik]

One thing I saw in a comic once was the use of the word "Entebbe" to signal that they were held hostage. Since safewords can be anything, that's a fairly easy one to remember as a signal that you're not safe and it's strange enough to make a believable safeword if someone asks for it. If you call to see if everything's ok it's easy to ask for the safeword, and there's no way any bad guy would know if it's the right one. The problem is if you try to signal to someone that has no clue that there might be a problem.

[randy]

Actually, I think you guys are discussing a Duress Code, not a a safeword.

Duress Code: word or phrase that lets the other end of the conversation that your are being forced/held. Use of that code negates everything else you might say about being OK.

Safeword: Word or phrase you use to ID yourself to someone that you are with the good guys. Example, phrase taught to children. If someone says "come with me" and they don't use the safeword, the child should run/raise a ruckus. Only family members/trusted friends would have the safeword.