Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 4818 AMERICAN POLICE BEAT: MAY 2016 cope with their own loss and grief. For the past 32 years, Concerns of Police Survivors (C.O.P.S.) has been help- ing family members and co-workers of fallen officers navigate through the hard process of grieving and help them any way we can as they face the future which is now changed forever. Through our interactions with the families, we have learned things survivors wish every law enforcement agency knew, should they ever be faced with such a loss in their own departments. First, how the family is notified of their officer’s death makes a big differ- ence in the healing pro- cess. In today’s age of social media, too many fam- ily members are learning about the death of their loved one on Facebook or news outlets before the agency has the time to gather a team together to notify the family. This is not intentional, but sometimes waiting for the commanders to assem- ble a team to give a death notification leaves enough time for the information to get out to the public. Once the information is out, there is almost noth- ing your agency can do to contain it. This causes a lot of damage and heartbreak for the families. It is crucial to make death notifications as quickly as possible, even if the perfect team is not in place to do the job. After a death, family mem- bers need agencies to follow- up and answer the many questions they are going to have. If anyone has ques- tions about benefits that you are unable to answer, you can contact C.O.P.S., and we will assist you or the family directly. As you know, law enforce- ment families are all part of the law enforcement cul- ture. When an officer dies, their family not only loses their family member, many times they lose their connection to the law enforcement world as well. It’s important to continue to invite families to your agencies’ events including holiday parties, retirement and promotion celebrations and annual gatherings. Never forget to invite the family to all memorial events but also be understand- ing if the family decides to not attend; some- times it’s just too emotionally overwhelming. T h e important thing is to reach out. Do not be overprotective of the fami- lies. When an officer dies, family members often feel that their lives have spun out of control. It is important to provide care and help to families, but also to still allow them to make their own choices, even if you think their choice may not be in their best in- terest. Sometimes, out of good in- tentions, agencies take over and make some important decisions that families may later resent. The family may not tell you what they are thinking because they do not want to offend you. They need to have a person or C.O.P.S. representative assigned to them who can really hear what they are trying to say, as they may not communi- cate very clearly. Keep in mind, grieving in the public eye is very diffi- cult. Lastly, family members want the department to take care of grieving co-workers. Officers who have lost a col- league in a line of duty death, often ignore their own needs to take care of the fami- lies. Too often they don’t ask for help and suffer in silence. The fami- lies want to make sure the agency helps these officers understand grief and normal reactions to grief. C.O.P.S. offers confidential programs for these officers at no charge. For access to these services and information about all of C.O.P.S. services, visit nationalcops.org or contact the C.O.P.S. National Office at (573) 346-4911. Dianne Bernhard is the execu- tive director of Concerns of Police Survivors and the former chief of the Columbia, Missouri Police Department. For survivors in families of fallen officers, Concerns of Police Survivors is an invaluable resource to help loved ones grieve and heal. The families want to make sure the agency helps these officers understand grief and normal reactions to grief. Continued from page one Concerns of Police Survivors: now more important than ever DianneBernhardistheexecutive director of Concerns of Police Survivors and a former deputy chief.