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Concerns of Police Survivors – C.O.P.S. According to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund in Washington, D.C., each year in America on average of 160 officers are killed-in-the-line-of-duty. From Federal Agencies to a rural Sheriff’s Office… from a metropolitan Police Department to the Highway Patrol, Law Enforcement Officers put their lives on the line everyday. For each officer who dies in-the-line-of-duty, there is a family – often a young spouse and small children, parents, brothers and sisters. Then there is an extended family of law enforcement colleagues, to whom the loss can be devastating. The trauma of sudden and sometimes violent death inflicts a heavy trauma on every survivor. Whether the death was caused by a gun wielding felon or a car that went out of control during a high-speed chase, the officer who died gave up his or her life trying to stop the darkness that threatens to engulf our world. The temptation for the survivor is to believe that the darkness has won, and will continue to win, in his or her own life. This thought can easily be reinforced when an officer’s department unintentionally, but quite blatantly, shuns the survivor or simply forgets about the survivor or makes a well-meant but terribly painful mistake like not allowing the officer’s spouse or parent see the officer’s body soon after the tragic event occurs. On May 15, 1982 the first National Law Enforcement Memorial Service took place in Washington, D.C. to honor officers who made the supreme sacrifice. About 125 people attended that first memorial service. The following year, the Fraternal Order of Police promoted the Law Enforcement Memorial Service and 600 people attended including 100 family members of officers killed in the line of duty. The night before the service survivors gather to talk about how they were treated by their respective agencies and the need for support for survivors. Hence, the Concerns of Police Survivor organization was formed. Beginning in 1984, 110 law enforcement survivors attended the First National Police Survivors’ Seminar. Speakers talked about the grief process, trauma, family issues and education for law enforcement agencies. In 1985, Concerns of Police Survivors got a grant from the Department of Justice to do research on law enforcement survivors and related issues. They surveyed survivors to measure the trauma they had experienced. They surveyed law enforcement agencies to see how well prepared they were to handle a line-of-duty-death and other critical incidents. The grant gave the C.O.P.S. organization much needed “seed money” the assist with the following year’s Survivors’ Seminar. Today the C.O.P.S. Seminars include two days of programs for family survivors, children and co-workers. In 1988, using the information they gathered through the research project and talking with departments and survivors, C.O.P.S. published a booklet entitled SUPPORT SERVICES TO SURVIVING FAMILIES OF LINE OF DUTY DEATH: A PUBLIC SAFETY AGENCY HANDBOOK. Over 100,000 of these books have been distributed nationwide. Police Chiefs and other officials tell Concerns of Police Survivors the handbook has become the “bible” for dealing with in-line-of-duty-death from the departmental point of view. And between these milestones, the C.O.P.S. organization has put survivors in touch with one another, setting up the famous C.O.P.S. network that reaches across the country each time there is a line-of-duty-death. Concerns of Police Survivors, Inc. was formed to fight the darkness. It was created by survivors banding together, with the help of strong leaders to say, “Survivors can go on with their lives; evil has not won the final battle.” C.O.P.S. grew out of the need to support law enforcement survivors in their quest to bring whatever good can be brought out of suffering and senseless death. It has worked! In the past 23 years, C.O.P.S. has revolutionized law enforcement, shaken up departments, educating reluctant officials, pleading eloquently for the commonsense kindness that can make all the difference to survivors. Perhaps most impressively, hundreds of survivors say the C.O.P.S. support network and survivors’ seminars enable them to hang on to their sanity, to their physical health, and even to their lives. Currently there are 49 C.O.P.S. Chapters across the United States reaching out to Law Enforcement Survivors and Law Enforcement Agencies. A special thank you goes out to a dear friend and one of the founders of Concerns of Police Survivors, Suzie Sawyer. Without her determination, dedication and genuine caring attitude, this very special organization would not be what it is today. FLAGS TO BE FLOWN AT HALF-STAFF ON MAY 15 On Tuesday, May 15 National Peace Officers Memorial Day – flags across the United States are to be flown at half-staff in remembrance of the nearly 18,000 law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty in our nation’s history. The tribute to American law enforcement is part of the historic crime bill signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1994. At the request of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, Public Law 103-322 designates Peace Officers Memorial Day as one of only two days during which all residents, businesses and government agencies are required to lower their U.S. flags. The other day with this honor is Memorial Day, which commemorates those who died in military service to our country. In 1962, President John F. Kennedy designated May 15 as Peace Officers Memorial Day. The calendar week in which May 15 falls is National Police Week, with this year’s commemoration on May 13-19. As part of National Police Week, the names of 145 law enforcement officers killed in 2006, as well as 237 others who died in prior years, will be formally dedicated on the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C., during the 19th Annual Candlelight Vigil on the evening of May 13. In Valor There Is Hope
The Chaplain’s Monthly Messenger is a publication of the Central Florida Police Stress Unit, Inc. – a 501(c) (3) corporation. All materials are property of the Chaplain’s Monthly Messenger and may not be reproduced without written permission. Opinions and ideas expressed are those of the authors and do not represent the Central Florida Police Stress Unit, Inc. Check out our website at www.policestress.org
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