Officers from multiple departments receive training May 2 on Delivering the News with Compassion. The training teaches law enforcement officers best practice protocols for delivering death notifications to family members or loved ones of persons killed or who die unexpectedly or tragically.
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Submitted story
On Thursday, May 2, the Urbana Police Division hosted the Ohio Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) organization whixh provided law enforcement officers from across the Miami Valley with the training program, Delivering the News with Compassion, teaching law enforcement officers best practice protocols for delivering death notifications to family members or loved ones of persons killed or who die unexpectedly or tragically.
MADD’s Brooke Wilson presented the training which covered multiple topics including:
-Who Should Notify
-Stress and the Notifier
-Attitude for Delivery
-Trauma Recovery
-Assessing Your Schemas
-Coping Strategies
-Grief versus Mourning
-Crime Victim Compensation
-Viewing the Body
-Factors Which Influence Survivors Stress
In addition to Urbana police officers, other agencies attending the training included:
-Anna Police Department
-Bellefontaine Police Department
-Champaign County Sheriff’s Office
-Greene County Sheriff’s Office
-Troy Police Department
Delivering death notifications is generally very stressful to the family and loved ones of the victim and they are also stressful for the officer(s) tasked with making them. The goal of delivering these messages is to do them using best practice protocols to hopefully lessen any confusion and self-induced stress for the persons receiving the tragic news and to help set a course for them to follow by helping them move forward by providing them with some direction and encouragement that they’ll need in the coming days while dealing with the death of a loved one.
Story submitted by Urbana Police Chief Matt Lingrell
