IMPORTANCE OF TRAINING

I had to learn how to manage police funerals on my own. In 1992 I was notable to find any training opportunities that dealt specifically with how to manage police funerals. So I sought out every training opportunity I could find that dealt with anything related to death and dying issues and funeral management.

I experienced several line-of-duty funerals before I had a feel of what my responsibilities were and how to adequately manage a funeral. I quickly discovered there were two distinct issues involved with every funeral; the tasks that needed to be done and the people issues that needed to be resolved. Neither could be minimized or ignored.

When I retired and began to provide training for agencies and police chaplains on how to mange police funerals, those were the two issues I emphasized, people and things.

The things that need to be done basically involve parking cars, moving cars from one location to another, seating people and putting them in formations.These are not simple tasks and involve a considerable amount of planning.Things also include all the logistics involved with a funeral.

The people issues are more complex. They basically involve identifying and meeting the needs of the surviving family, the agency members, the agency member’s families, the law enforcement community, and the community the agency serves.

Learning what needs to be done, considered, reviewed, evaluated, provided,and recommended is a daunting task. Training is always a key issue. But finding suitable training is often difficult. Often training related to managing a police funeral is considered discretionary training, as compared to mandatory training issues, and training budgets won’t provide funds or opportunities.

So, how do agencies get suitable training? One option is me. I am a professional police funeral trainer. I provide several types of training opportunities.

* For the last several years I have been invited to give presentations at various conferences, as either a workshop topic or a conference presenter. These 90-minute to 2-hour presentations provided an overview of what I think is needed for an agency to be adequately prepared for or adequately respond to a line-of duty death.

The attendees were encouraged to return to their agencies and compare their preparedness level to what was suggested or determine how to become prepared and follow-up with the development of a protocol or guideline etc. There is always the possibility that little or nothing will be changed or improved at the agency. It depends on the motivation of the attendee and their agency managers to critically review their preparedness level or make improvements.

* I have also been invited to put on more extensive training seminars or training days for agencies. These eight hour presentations are more comprehensive and offer an opportunity for more dialogue between attendees discussing topics of mutual interest. The more time attendees can spend together the more that can be accomplished. My role alternates between presenter and group facilitator. These seminars provide an excellent opportunity for change to occur because participants can determine what will work for them, what they need to do, and how to do it.

They get feedback from other agency representatives on what worked well and what didn’t. They can actually walk away with a comprehensive outline and understanding ofwhat they need to do and the resource material to help them do it. They often develop a network of local agencies to share information and resources with.

* Periodically I have received requests from agencies for a personal,one on one, training session. These work out very well because the representative knows what they have, what they likely need, what they want,their goals and objectives, and what the final product should look like. I typically provide a variety of protocols for the representative to review before we meet and then we work from the concept of what do they need or are interested in.

Then I review my personal manager’s checklist with them to insure their protocol or guideline is as comprehensive as they want it to be. It is usually a long grueling day of reviewing, comparing, discussing,listing, and prioritizing all the topics associated with a police funeral.But the end result is a rough draft of a final product they can take back to their agency.

I know that there are agencies that offer funeral management courses. I encourage agency funeral coordinators to attend these whenever possible.Funeral coordinators should also seek out opportunities to attend classes ongrief and bereavement topics, death and dyeing issues, death notifications,and special event planning. Attending training for chaplains, funeral directors, and grief counselors can be very beneficial.

Every agency in the country should send representatives to attend the specialized training provided by Concerns of Police Survivors (COPS). This is “the” best training available on being prepared for and responding to line-of-duty deaths. But it is limited to how much time can be devoted to the actual managing of the funeral. My seminars are an extension of their curriculum. Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (MADD) is another valuable training resource. In-Sight Books has a resource catalog for a variety of grief and bereavement literature.

Training is always a key to preparedness. Funeral coordinators will likely have to seek out opportunities for training and develop their own expertise.Experience is not the best teacher. Agencies should not wait until there is an incident. Prepare now. Train now.

John Cooley

PoliceFunerals.Com