PRINT THIS PAGE | E-MAIL THIS PAGE

Wednesday, April 30, 1997

Hostage swap may be unconventional, but some are praising the action

By MICHELLE MITTELSTADT Associated Press Writer

Swapping a jailed Republic of Texas separatist for two hostages runs counter to standard law enforcement techniques in hostage-taking situations.

But some experts say the decision by the Texas Rangers to allow the exchange may prove tactically shrewd and help in the negotiations with separatist leader Richard McLaren.

"One might say by doing this, it leaves all options open for law enforcement, including forceful options, because you no longer have to worry about the hostages being harmed if and when a forceful resolution is decided upon," said Ronald Noble, who as the Treasury Department's top law enforcement official oversaw the investigation into the mistakes made in the 1993 raid on the Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas.

Noble, who is now a law professor at New York University, termed the hostage swap in the West Texas standoff "a sound approach."

One person who did profess some regret at law enforcement officials' decision to bargain was Joe Rowe, who was held hostage for 12 hours by three armed Republic of Texas members who burst into his Davis Mountains Resort home Sunday.

"I honestly hated to see the law enforcement give up somebody they had arrested that morning to secure our release," Rowe said Monday, after he and his wife, Margaret Ann, were freed.

Authorities didn't accede to McLaren's demand to release Jo Ann Canady Turner, who was arrested in Austin last week on two contempt charges.

But the Rowes were exchanged for Robert Jonathan Scheidt, who was arrested early Sunday after a local sheriff found several weapons in his vehicle.

Scheidt, described as "captain of the embassy guard" of the Republic of Texas, was released from Presidio County Jail to the custody of the Texas Rangers. Later, he was taken to the Rowes' home, where he met up with the three hostage-takers. Scheidt and his comrades remain restricted to the rugged 6,000-acre community ringed by law enforcement.

"He's not going anywhere," Texas Department of Public Safety spokesman Mike Cox said Tuesday. "He really hasn't enjoyed a huge amount of freedom since his release."

Scheidt, who hadn't been charged at the time of his release, probably would have faced a $500 bail, Cox noted.

"During hostage negotiations, you always try to give a little to get a little and at this point, (Scheidt's release) really was a minor thing anyway," said Stuart Binger, a Georgia security consultant who is a SWAT trainer for Georgia police academies. "It can be said this guy was going to bail out of jail anyway."

Asked about possible backlash over the exchange, DPS spokeswoman Sherri Deatherage Green said: "Our negotiators achieved their primary goal, which was the safe release of the Rowes."

Removing the hostages from the equation deprives McLaren and his followers of a bargaining chip, said Clinton Van Zandt, a Virginia security consultant who once was the FBI's chief hostage negotiator.

"There are those who suggest, 'How could you trade for that hostage?' " Van Zandt said. "It could prove to be very farsighted."

Hostage negotiators must build a "psychological umbilical cord of trust, of honesty" with the captors, Van Zandt said. "The only way you do that is by government making some type of concession."

As for the signal such an action may send to other militant groups, Van Zandt noted that hostage-taking long has been used as a way of achieving goals.

"Tomorrow we'll deal with that precedent," he said. "Law enforcement is big enough and it's smart enough that they can deal with that."

John Jay College of Criminal Justice professor Robert Louden was less sanguine about the effects of the Texas bargain. "Each case does in fact have to be taken individually, but that being said, it's generally not a good practice to swap hostages or to free prisoners," he said. "It could certainly invite copycat." Send a Letter to the Editor about This Story | Start or Join A Discussion about This Story
Send the URL (Address) of This Story to A Friend: