C.O.P.S. Places Focus on Officers: Go Home to Them
Concerns of Police Survivors (C.O.P.S.) has served surviving family members of officers who died in the duty line since 1984. It was during these four decades of commitment, C.O.P.S. realized another critical group of survivors needed help coping with a line-of-duty death. This group often hides their grief, lets feelings of guilt pick at them, work the same job, and may have spent more waking hours with the fallen officer than their own families.
This often-overlooked survivor group is the fallen's Co-Workers.
When officers are in denial or stuck in a state of disbelief, these are the first symptoms of grief for co-workers. There is a common misconception of needing to "stay strong" and be there for everyone else. Officers have grief and emotions, too. Where do they get the help they need?
The health and wellness of first responders should be a priority for agencies across the nation. Some agencies have peer support programs in place, while others still have work to do. For agencies who have experienced line-of-duty death, the impact on a grieving department can be life-changing. Experience from many survivors has shown that departments as a whole often do not know how to help their officers after a line-of-duty death.
In response to this gap, C.O.P.S. offers two retreats specifically for co-workers and hosts the Traumas of Law Enforcement Trainings and the National Conference on Law Enforcement Wellness and Trauma each year. In fact, the Wellness Conference is just around the corner on November 12-14, 2021, in Oklahoma City.
These events provide space for addressing topics such as handling a line-of-duty death, police suicide, navigating the stress of a critical incident, running a healthy agency, and more.
C.O.P.S. Co-Workers Retreat allows co-workers to attend grief sessions designed for their needs, participate in outdoor activities, receive support from peers who understand and have a great time in a beautiful setting that is removed from the stresses of everyday life. For these men and women of law enforcement, the goal is to leave the retreat feeling relaxed, with a continuing support system and a tremendous sense of personal growth and self-awareness for the future.
On a different date but same setting, the Co-Workers for Couples Retreat allows co-workers and their spouse/significant other to attend the retreat together. C.O.P.S. recognized that all too often, co-workers have a hard time explaining their grief to their families. Connected with this grieve, spouses/significant others often have difficulty understanding how to help their loved ones’ cope. This retreat also allows officers two different retreat date options to fit their schedules better.
C.O.P.S. recognizes that every law enforcement officer is subject to crisis and tragedy throughout their career. These public servants see the most unthinkable acts of criminal behavior in our society. We strive to assist officers in navigating these events throughout their professional life and beyond.
We continue to see law enforcement suffer from P.T.S.D. in growing numbers. Suicide rates have surpassed line-of-duty deaths to become the most significant threat that police officers face. C.O.P.S. is dedicated to providing education and resources to prevent these statistics.
For more information on programming, training, and conferences for surviving co-workers, please visit concernsofpolicesurvivors.org. It's time to put the focus on you, to bring you safely home to them.
This article was written by Sara Slone, C.O.P.S. Communication Director.
This column is part of the FEDforum, an initiative to unite voices across the federal community. The FEDforum is a space for federal employee groups to share their organizations’ initiatives and activities with the FEDagent audience.
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