The Crisis Negotiation Team is an operational component of the Tactical Services Group, a non-divisional organization headed by the tactical commander appointed by the Chief of Police. The goal of the group is to train and prepare for rapid response to, and successful resolution of, critical incidents requiring verbal skills, training and the deployment of specialized equipment not generally available to Patrol Division officers.

As negotiation is considered a tactic generally to be deployed in advance of more intrusive physical tactics, the Crisis Negotiation Team is operationally attached to the S.W.A.T. Team, and works in conjunction with S.W.A.T. to resolve critical incidents in the most appropriate manner. All crisis negotiators are CIT (Crisis Intervention Team) trained, and most are program facilitators who help train other officers in CIT techniques.