Former FBI officer Gary Nesner told Business Insider about his experience in the intelligence agency. His responsibilities included negotiations in hostage-taking, prison riots, conflicts involving paramilitary groups and religious sects, hijacking of aircraft and embassies. In total, Nesner worked in the FBI for about 30 years, at the time of his retirement he was in charge of the division for crisis negotiations. After his dismissal, he moved to a consulting firm - he explained his resignation by the fact that in the civil service he - the father of three children - was not paid enough. Wrote the book "Buying Time" about the work of a negotiator.
How to get into the FBI
He got a job at the FBI after graduating from college. To do this, I passed an interview and a series of tests - including those on physical fitness. Before he was hired, the service representatives checked his candidacy for a long time - they interviewed his friends, relatives and neighbors to find out if he had an addiction to alcohol, criminal inclinations, and so on.
The process, as Nesner recalls, was "painfully long." “Sometimes candidates with great potential turn down the FBI,” he says. "They just get tired of waiting while they decide whether to take them or not."
What we liked
The most interesting thing for Nesner was to participate in the negotiations to free the hostages. At the initial stage of his career, he combined this work with other responsibilities, for example, investigating cases of terrorism. Since the beginning of the 1990s, he worked only as a negotiator.
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“I love the idea that you can get out of a dangerous situation by using communication skills. He says. "I was good at this kind of work, it corresponded to my character." In addition to the actual operational work, he and his colleagues were engaged in research - the subject was, in particular, mental disorders.
Nesner traveled a lot - he taught foreign colleagues the specifics of negotiations. In total, he visited dozens of countries. “Working as a negotiator and traveling the world teaching others has been the best part of my career,” he says.
Gary Nesner (left) and a colleague lead the man who took hostages. 1983
Photo: garynoesner.com
What did not like
“The worst part is that I was often not at home, my family had to spend time without me,” says Nesner. - I was a good father. Coached the team my kids were on and all that. But to be honest, I missed a lot."
I also had to work on weekends. “Bank robbers have a strange habit of robbing banks on Friday night. He says. - When I was an agent, this happened all the time: you are thinking how to spend your weekend better - and then someone is robbing a bank. And you miss dinner with your family and don't make it to the concert where you and your wife were going."
Nesner's children did not want to follow in his footsteps - perhaps because they witnessed how this affects family life. “I think they are proud of me, but they don’t want to do what I do - and I fully support them in this,” he says.
What is most memorable
One of the most memorable was the incident in 1988, when Nesner, participating in negotiations, helped save a woman and a child. The most dramatic episode of 1993: the siege of Mount Carmel Ranch, which belonged to members of a religious sect.
Representatives of the sect were then suspected of violating weapons laws: after a failed raid, accompanied by a shootout, the FBI began a siege of the ranch, which lasted about two months. Negotiations were held, but in the end the case ended in an assault, the building caught fire, as a result of which more than 80 members of the sect died.
“At first, we were successful by persuading some people to leave,” Nesner recalls. “But what happened next was the worst episode of my career. It turned out very badly."
Are the stereotypes fair
One common stereotype is that FBI agents are dispassionate, pedantic people with no sense of humor. In reality, according to Nesner, this is not the case. Good agents, he notes, are sociable and lovable people, and they have good humor.
“The job is for the witness you are working with to help you, for the offender to testify, to cooperate with us,” he says. "Therefore, it is very important for an agent that people like him."
The stereotype of excessive secrecy in the FBI, according to the former negotiator, is also not justified. “There is very little information that an agent cannot tell others about,” he assures. "Unless we are talking about an ongoing investigation, we may well talk about what we are doing."
And the biggest misconception is that FBI agents, when they appear at a crime scene, kick out the police from there. This can often be seen in films. “They might be arrogant, but Hollywood has blown out of it. - says Nesner. "Usually the FBI cooperates with the police, exchanges information, but this is rarely shown on TV."
Best moment in career
“Once, when I was still a young agent, I came to talk with a woman living in South Carolina - I had to ask about her former neighbors who had moved to another place. She told me: “Good God! Please hold on a minute while I bring the children - they have never seen an FBI agent. " She left and returned with the children - and I felt as if I had grown wings."
Mikhail Tishchenko, Editor of Slon Magazine