6 days ago
SIRT negotiators honored at state conference for role in July 2024 standoff
May 22—A little after 9 a.m. on July 9, 2024, negotiators from Special Incident Response Team (SIRT) were able to bring a lengthy standoff to an end, resulting in the apprehension of Kristofer Karl Luiken and the freeing of his seven-year-old daughter.
In what started at a Kwik Trip in Owatonna the night before, negotiators in Austin were able to bring the whole thing to a peaceful end.
On Wednesday, the team was honored by the Crisis Negotiators Association of Minnesota (CNAM) with its Negotiation of the Year Award, recognizing the team for their efforts during the over 10-hour resolution.
"Being a negotiator is a skill that not everybody possesses," Austin Police Department Detective and SIRT Commander Dustin Hicks said. "It's an art or a craft they hone every day."
"The award is well earned and well deserved," he added.
According to the CNAM website, the award recognizes excellence during a negotiation event and consists of several factors including exceptional teamwork, tactics, communication, innovation and resolution.
Nominated by APD Lt. Michael Hartman, the SIRT team of negotiators include Sgt. Daniel Osborne, officers Sam Schuweiler and Ryan McCormack, Mower County Sheriff's Office Deputy Jamie Meyer and Laura Geffert, a former telecommunicator for the county and currently a probation officer with Mower County Corrections.
While all involved agreed that the award was nice, negotiators also agreed that it's more of a reflection of the negotiation team and the SIRT team as a whole.
"I think it shows our dedication to not only the team itself, but the community," Geffert said. "We work hard in our training to prepare for these events. We hope they don't happen, but we train hard and are ready when they do."
The incident that earned the team the award started at 10:30 p.m. on July 8 when officers with the Owatonna Police Department were dispatched to a child welfare check at the Kwik Trip. After officers made contact with Luiken, he fled with his daughter in the vehicle, striking an OPD squad car before eventually fleeing south on Highway 218.
The pursuit was picked up by the Minnesota State Patrol, which was able to deploy stop sticks after Luiken crossed into Mower County, deflating all four tires.
Already a charged situation, Luiken eventually made it to his mother's house in Austin and parked the car in the driveway. At that point Luiken informed law enforcement that he had gas in the car with the girl and that he was refusing to release the girl.
However, law enforcement was eventually able to secure the girl's release, who was later turned over to family members.
"Ultimatley, our goal is the preservation of life and that's for everybody," said Schuweiler, the team's lead. "Across the board that is what we're hoping for. Being able to see the little girl afterwards ... and being able to recognize me as a person that was there, that's fun. It's nice to see that even though it was a very negative experience, there can still be a positive from what they recognize and realize. These people are here to help me."
Hicks stressed that situations like the June 9, 2024 incident isn't a solo job, but that of a team of negotiators that are ideally able to respond each time, who take on a number of different roles from the person handling the communications with the person to those that are providing support by suggesting routes to take, getting in touch with family and sharing intelligence.
All of that, he said, was on display during the incident.
"Any time it escalates to the level of a SIRT call out, it's not a good deal for anyone," Hicks said. "If we can keep it from escalating to that level I think we're doing everybody in the community a service."
Hicks added that oftentimes that goal is reached even before SIRT tactical can get to the scene or even the Law Enforcement Center and when that happens it's a weight lifted for everybody.
"It's that relief. This is over and we can move on," Schuweiler said. "For them, it's thank gosh this is over for them. Now they can move on for her, the little girl and the family."
However, in the end it's simply showing up to do a job when required, no matter when that is — late at night, early in the morning or during other work and it plays to the overall concept of the team from the negotiators through to SIRT.
"That's just what we do — we just show up when the call comes," Geffert said. "The award was focused on negotiators, but we're not able to do what we do — our job — unless everybody else is playing their part too. I think it's a team thing. We all have a role and we are better together."
