Behind the Tape

New Zealand's top police crisis negotiator reveals the everyday drama of being a cop: the lives saved, the lives lost, and the extreme pressure to perform in tough and confronting circumstances.

Lance Burdett was in the police force for 22 years, in a variety of high-level roles: head of the negotiation team; running the 111 call centre; intelligence management; protection squad; and emergency responders. He worked on some of New Zealand's best-known cases, such as the Jan Molenaar case, where Lance headed the negotiation team, and the George Baker prison hostage negotiation with the man who murdered Liam Ashley.