In hostage/barricade incidents, responding officers should obtain information on the background characteristics and behavioral patterns of the hostage taker. High-risk factors (factors that increase the possibility of the victims being killed and the hostage taker committing suicide) can be determined from such information. High-risk factors include the subject being under multiple stressors prior to the incident, subject background of male dominance, prior similar incidents and problems with the hostage, and lack of subject family or social support systems. Subject behavioral patterns that indicate high risk are a forced confrontation with police, threats or actual injury to the hostage, and an expressed intent to commit suicide. A pseudo-hostage incident, which has low risk of harm to the hostage, generally exists when the subject makes no demands and has no history of threats against or conflict with the hostage. Factors to consider in determining whether to risk intervention in a hostage/barrier incident include the weight of the argument for intervention, the likelihood of an injury-free intervention, and the moral and legal acceptability of the intervention.