The psychologists who convinced the former policeman from Plovdiv who barricaded himself in his cell to accept his sentence spoke to NOVA .
They described Ventsislav Karadjov's decision to barricade himself as impulsive. However, he was also able to jump from the balcony after his initial threats to kill himself with a firearm were disproved by psychologists.
Negotiations continued for more than 10 hours, and a close person was used to contact the former policeman.
The psychological profile of the barricaded policeman: Aggressive even to himself, but well aware of the system
„For me and my team, it started with a call from Senior Commissioner Chergov - the head of the Regional Directorate - Plovdiv, who announced that there was a critical incident and asked for our assistance. Accordingly, I contacted my colleagues and between 18:30-19:00 we were in front of Mr. Karadjov's home, said senior inspector Neli Kostadinova, head of the "Psychological Laboratory" sector. – Plovdiv.
„The information we received at the scene is that there is a barricaded person who has received a sentence – for life, and does not wish to leave his home. He was alone in his home, there were no other persons. He threatened that something bad or unpleasant would happen if there was trespassing on his property. He had barricaded himself and did not want to come out, Inspector Kostadinova said.
„As far as I am informed, she claimed to have ammunition. We take every threat made seriously. He claimed that he had ammunition and if there was an invasion of his home, he would take actions and measures that would hurt not only himself but also other people,” explained inspector Kostadinova.
„The negotiations continued until the morning. Until he announced that he was willing and ready to come out and surrender. The negotiations were carried out through other people, persons entrusted to him and through our assistance”, Inspector Kostadinova also explained.
„We tried different strategies and ways through which we could convince him to surrender. In the end, it worked out”, said inspector Kostadinova.
„A desperate man, a man with nothing to lose. A person who feels pushed to the corner”, she also commented.
„When a person is desperate, different hypotheses and paths pass by. In this particular case, it came to the point that he saw some light at the end of the tunnel, in the end, so that he would not commit suicide or do something that would endanger our employees,” explained inspector Kostadinova.
She is adamant that it is not a policy to promise things that cannot be delivered.
„These are conversations and negotiations, we hear and listen to the person, what are his needs and desires and what we could satisfy and support. Of course, within the law”, Inspector Kostadinova also explained.
The former policeman sounded adequate during the negotiations.
„The team that was on the spot gave him a reason to live, to leave with dignity”, Inspector Kostadinova believes.
A person, when in crisis, could try to commit suicide, she further explained. “If he tried to commit suicide once, he would try to commit suicide again. The question is whether it will fall into a crisis again, the crisis itself causes this type of behavior,” said Inspector Kostadinova.
„He threatened not with suicide, but that if other persons entered his home, he would make it so that he and other persons would leave this world”, Inspector Kostadinova also explained.
In such situations, one acts with patience, she also explained.
„It was very difficult to decide which line to take,” explained senior commissioner Ivo Beshkov, director of the Institute of Psychology of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
„With death everything ends. A person should have the opportunity to fight, and we gave him a chance to rethink the decision made at the initial stage,”y explained Commissioner Beshkov.
“Going out, he had a reason to live. What happened was that he talked about the situation he was in and saw that there is always some chance when a person is alive that he can fight, he further explained.
„This man still maintains that he is innocent. In a certain sense, it can be assumed that he is rather a call to prove that he is innocent,” says Commissioner Ivo Beshkov.
„In this situation, it is difficult for me to imagine how I would feel if I knew that I would spend the rest of my life in a closed room,”, he also commented.
„These are impulsive actions, definitely. You threaten to hurt yourself, initially. Then, that he will drag more people with him, who are also innocent, are impulsive actions”, Commissioner Ivo Beshkov also explained.