DEATH NOTIFICATIIONS

Time is of the essence. In 1992 when I became a police funeral coordinator and had my first line-of-duty death I had time to gather the notification team, have a meeting, gather information and make a plan. This was because technology had not advanced to where it is now. I felt special because the department gave me a pager and a portable phone the size of a shoe box.

We had time to meet, review the officer’s personnel package and get the names and addresses etc. of the family members, make a plan and respond. Ten years later, because of technology, there was often no time for meetings,extensive planning, or delays or uncertainty. We had to be prepared.

What changed? Technology. Cell phones replaced pagers. Instantaneous communication was now the norm. “Breaking news” interrupted TV programming. Announcements, even though they didn’t identify the officer, usually provided enough details so that police family members could determine the likelihood if it was their “officer.” Officers families having informal plans that whenever an agency member was seriously injured or killed officers would immediately call home on their cell phones to inform their families that they were okay. And if no phone call came? There was a message here too.

 Families often learn of the death or that it is potentially or likely their officer before the notification team arrives. If they believe the critically injured or deceased officer is theirs they will do one of two things. One,they will respond to where the officer is. This can be the incident scene or the hospital. Second, they will stay at home and wait for the arrival of the notification team.

What coordinators need to avoid is the potential for unnecessary delays to impede their getting to the surviving spouse before they leave to go to the incident scene or hospital. We want to provide that transportation so that it can be done safely. If they are waiting at home, we want to get there as soon as possible to make the notification and provide support before more new details are broadcast or other people arrive at the home.

Another response from surviving spouses when they think that the injured or deceased officer may be theirs is that they will telephone the station. They will simply and directly ask the person who answers the phone if the injured or dead officer is their spouse. The person who answers the phone needs to be prepared to answer the question, find out where the spouse is at, and try to convince them to wait for a unit or agency personnel to arrive.

While preparing for the notification at an officer’s station the desk officer came and told us that the officer’s wife was on the phone and wanted to know if the officer on the news was her husband. We asked him what he told her. He said he put her on hold. She got the message. When I answered the phone, she was gone. She was driving herself to the hospital, over 60miles. This was a trip she should not have made. We had a local unit and a helicopter getting ready to go to her and bring her to the hospital. But we didn’t get the chance because we weren’t prepared for a simple phone call.

Agencies need to be prepared to respond. They need to know who will respond.They need to have accurate and updated personal information about the officer and the family members on file and accessible. They need to be ready to answer the phone at the station, the one the officer’s spouse will likely call. Time is of the essence. Technology and “breaking news” won’t allow for delays or uncertainty. We don’t want to compound the tragedy by having the surviving spouse injured or killed in a traffic collision while responding to the incident scene or hospital when we had an opportunity to prevent it but weren’t prepared.

John Cooley

PoliceFuneals.Com