Ruby Ridge Siege Prompts More Agent Training

In a renewed effort to correct deficiencies that contributed to the bloodshed at Ruby Ridge, Idaho, in 1992, FBI Director Louis J. Freeh announced on Tuesday additional changes he was making in bureau procedures.

Freeh has acknowledged that the FBI erred seriously at Ruby Ridge and said he has made changes since the siege that left three people dead, including the revamping and expansion of the bureau’s crisis management teams.

Freeh said Tuesday he had ordered that all members of the FBI’s hostage rescue team receive training in hostage negotiations, behavioral science and crisis management. Coordinators of the FBI’s regional SWAT teams also will be trained in hostage negotiations and behavioral science, he said.

“I believe this will ensure that every member of the [hostage rescue] team fully understands the importance and priority I place in negotiated solutions,” Freeh said in a statement. He said the rescue team “should only be used sparingly and only in situations that, I am convinced, warrant their deployment.”