Unless it's a complete crew of rookie cops and SWAT who have zero experience with hostage situations, they will either call the land-line phone number to try and reach someone inside the house, or they will try to find a way to communicate with the hostage takers inside and find out their demands. The ONLY time they "break in" is when they feel they have the upper hand, and can overwhelm the perpetrators with force, which is typically a last resort option and only after all other tactics or options have been exhausted. Where I'm from, we also believe in protecting your home and your family, to the death if need be. Unlike your people, it seems, we have common sense and don't immediately wave guns around as our go-to method for all situations. Like i said, unless the authorities explicitly ignore protocol and go all out Johnny Law and start shooting up the place like cowboys, so long as people stay calm and do as instructed, harm, casualties, and destruction of property will be kept at a minimum.