The Crisis Negotiation Unit was originally formed as a support section of the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) Unit. The first negotiators cross-trained with the members of the SWAT Unit until March of 2003 when the Crisis Negotiation Unit became a separate unit as this became the model for many units across the country. The Crisis Negotiation Unit often works together with the SWAT Unit to resolve many different types of conflict.

The goal of the crisis negotiation process is to save lives and to resolve critical incidents while striving to avoid unnecessary risk and injury to law enforcement personnel, citizens and victims. The New Hampshire State Police Crisis Negotiation Unit may be used to diffuse potentially life-threatening situations through the use of proven verbal crisis management techniques.

The New Hampshire State Police Crisis Negotiation Unit members are geographically located throughout the state to allow for a quick response to situations no matter where they occur. The Crisis Negotiation Unit can be activated without having to activate the SWAT Unit and can be used to assist agencies in many types of crisis incidents where specialized training is needed.

In 2007, the unit responded to 9 incidents.