Model Policy and Procedures for
Critical Incident Stress Management /
Critical Incident Stress Debriefing
for Law Enforcement Internal Programs

by
Renee B. Meador, Roanoke VA
Virginia Critical Incident Stress Management
Law Enforcement Critical Incident Stress Management

Revised: 11/7/00: Law enforcement officers know the daily tally of officer deaths caused by the street itself. Unfortunately, we all also know that one of the top hazards doesn't always come from the street, but from the stressors associated with the entire function of police officers today. Crime, scheduling, civil liability, pay, benefits, training and lack of training, family, friends, old time Admins, belief systems. It challenges them all, and not necessarily separately. It's not always the big one that gets you, it's generally the cumulative stress from dealing with the literally thousands of roles you have to play to perform effectively. It’s the cumulative weight on your shoulders of hour after hour, day after day, month after month, year after year. Larger departments are starting to realize that stress really is a silent killer, a strong killer, and it shows no mercy, no race-sex-age discrimination. It doesn't care how long you've worked, or how well you've performed and served.

From the very inception of your career, you immediately become all things
to all people. You're a doctor, a lawyer, a marriage counselor, a referee, a
car mechanic, a psychologist. You're perfect yet have no heart, you're an icon
but cannot cry. For the most part, you are a controller. You can control the
outcome of just about every call for service, led by your experience and training. When you lose a peer, suddenly you are no longer in control, and now you realize with great clarity, you never really were.

There is nothing worse than the loss of one of your own...to lose an
officer, or firefighter or EMS personnel in the line of duty. I have worked two of those, when two of my officers, both on my own shift, lost their lives in separate incidents in the line of duty. The overwhelming anger, fear, sense of loss - and guilt at not being able to prevent it - is more than these personalities and hearts can tolerate.

The true killers are the overwhelming sense of helplessness and
hopelessness. Helpless to do anything more - and yet hopeless in the knowledge that had you had every resource available to you at the time, you would have done nothing different and the outcome would not have changed.

To realize those facts and live with them, certainly makes you realize your own mortality. With that comes the heart-felt sadness, the fear, the anger, and the guilt for not having been able to pull one more rabbit out of the hat.

An Interstate highway traffic accident....a tractor trailer with fluid load goes over a guardrail and lands on the rural route below. In the rural setting, most of the emergency response is volunteer, and the law enforcement end is generally worked by State Police. The teams find the tractor trailer lying upside down, metal parts scattered everywhere. It's fatality, it's clear on arrival that the driver is DOA,but they work him on the scene before the extrication. Routine.

A tragic accident in the loss of a life, but nothing that isn't commonplace nowadays. As the wreckage is lifted so the rest of the human remains can be recovered, a volunteer EMS spots something. As she bends to look, she realizes that what she sees is more metal beneath the wreckage, and the splash of color that she bends to pick up....is a doll's dress. Now the energies are renewed, and with an entirely new mindset. The renewed search becomes frenzied, the "Golden Hour" is expiring. What they find is pure carnage. Another vehicle beneath the tractor trailer is practically flattened, and the search nets more bodies, none intact, and yet no child.

Imagine the hearts and minds of these folks..so much pain and horror, yet can't let go until they find the child's body. There were no survivors of this accident. All lives were lost, including the multiple occupants of the van beneath the tractor trailer. For an undetermined reason, the van swerved on Interstate, struck the tractor trailer, and they both went over the railing. The van landed beneath the tractor trailer, and the rest is history.

These are some of the types of incidents that are so overwhelming. To search and hope for life when there is none. To wish you could have been there sooner, or realized sooner that there was more. To pray to find a heartbeat so that you can do SOMETHING. To make sense of an incident, where there is no reasoning. To ask WHY, and never get an answer.

I know first hand what it's like to feel yourself slipping and not know
what to do about it. I got into this program because I know what it feels like to break, and what a saving grace it is to have some intervention. Does time heal all wounds? NO. But time lends you the luxury of learning to manage the pain. AND CISM is the program that buys that time.

This is a worthwhile project - and yes, it has saved many. Without it, we have no chance at all, and I say that from pure experience. This type of intervention allows you to hurt and cry..to be human, not the robot that the public expects.

"Helping the Helpers". A simple concept. A Herculean collective effort to help and support each other. And it works.

If you are interested in Basic CISM coursework, or any law enforcement advanced CISM courses such as team development, writing policy and protocol for internal team, LEO Stress, Dispatcher Stress, Officer Involved Shootings, Police Suicide, etc, please contact me for additional information and scheduling.

Renee B. Meador

Virginia Law Enforcement Critical Incident Stress Management

Central Shenandoah Criminal Justice Training Academy, Waynesboro VA

Email: Renee_Meador@ci.roanoke.va.us -or- Amigo911@aol.com

Fax: 540-853-1356

This is a model structure that Virginia Departments use for their Operational Directive for a Law Enforcement Peer Support Teams. For accredited agencies, CALEA recognizes peer support groups, and require that you have a written policy in place. Regardless of accreditation, BE SURE that your department takes the time to structure one, and have your Chief sign off on it. You NEED Policy and Procedure set in place to protect both your Team and those involved in the debriefings. Confidentiality is a MUST, as is selective memory if any Team member or attendee that is questioned later about content of any debriefing. No notes are taken at debriefing, no list of names of attendees. There is to be NO WRITTEN RECORD of debriefings with the sole exception of debriefings held, whether they were group or one on ones, and whether or not they were considered productive. These stats are produced only to justify the use of the Team for any funding and training that your Dept provides. For additional assistance on writing policy and protocol, we have a course available to help you, or you may contact me for assistance. This is a valuable tool, please take advantage of it.

Law Enforcement

The purpose of this Directive is to provide personnel of the ( your police dept ) with the policy pertaining to utilization of the Peer Support Team.

( Your Police Dept ) has assembled and trained a group of officers so as
to provide "Peer Support" to department employees in need of such assistance. It is
the policy of the Department to pursue available means by which steps are
taken to provide proactive measures in employee health issues. As a basic step
towards this policy , the officers serving as members of the "Peer Support Team" will be available to respond to assist with officers involved in critical incidents or officers in need of such assistance as the result of a stressful incident. Department employees utilizing such services will have the option of asking for the same services for a spouse or immediate family member when the situation creates a traumatic impact on such family members.

III. DEFINITIONS: For the purpose of this Directive, the following definitions will be applicable:

A. CRITICAL INCIDENT:

Any event that has emotional power to overwhelm an individual's usual ability to cope and which may interfere with the functioning of a person's coping mechanism immediately or in the future.

A team composed of sworn personnel with training in Critical incident Stress.

A closed confidential discussion of a critical incident relating to the feelings and perceptions of those directly involved prior to, during, and after a stressful event: intended to provide support, education, and an outlet for views and feelings associated with the event. Debriefings are not counseling nor an operational critique of the incident.

A private discussion involving a stressful incident or situation between peer support members and an employee, family members, or others upon request of the employee and with approval of the peer support team.

A member of the Police Department trained in Critical Incident Stress Management to recognize and understand stress reactions during and after critical incidents. PEER SUPPORT TEAM DEBRIEFING: A closed confidential discussion with a person or persons involved in an incident and Peer Support Team Members of the person's choice.

A brief confidential discussion between person(s) involved in a critical incident and peer support members IMMEDIATELY following an incident. The purpose of a defusing is to restore the member(s) / employee(s) cognitive functioning and to prepare him / her for future stress reactions from the incident.

A board certified Ph.D. Psychologist (editor's note: I believe any licensed psychotherapist with proper training and experience can be utilized) approved by the Chief of Police, chosen to assist Peer Support Team Members when needed.

It shall be mandatory that Peer Support Team members maintain strict confidentiality in matters discussed in peer debriefings, defusings, or peer support meetings. Any statement of discussion with peer support team members while acting in his / her peer support role shall remain confidential. Members of the Peer Support Team are also employees of the Police Department and therefore are bound under certain laws to report the following incidents if they are divulged. The exceptions to the confidentiality rule are as follows:

A. There is reason to believe a peer presents a danger to himself /herself or others. ( e.g., threats or actions toward suicide, homicide, etc.)
B. There is a strong belief that a peer has committed a felonious act.

Participants will be advised of the confidential nature of each meeting
and the exceptions to the rule at the beginning of each and every meeting, debriefing, and / or defusing. Peer Support Team members becoming aware of any exception will discuss the exception only with the proper authority in accordance with the circumstances.

The Peer Support Team is not an investigative unit of the Police Department, therefore it will not be the policy of this Department to interfere with, nor question Peer Support Team members or any other participant involved in a Peer Support Team Debriefing or Defusing of a critical incident concerning the content of such discussions.

V. PROCEDURES

A. Initiation Employees experiencing emotional stress may initiate contact with a peer support person at any time.

1. A defusing is to be held as soon as possible after the conclusion of an incident. Defusing procedures will be activated when the following types of stressful incidents occur or as needed:

a. All police shootings

b. Death or serious injuries to a police department employee, or immediate family.

c. Other incidents as determined by a major / supervisor, or peer support person.

2. In cases of serious violent injuries to a Department employee, the employee shall be offered the opportunity to participate in a defusing as soon as possible following the incident.

B. Responsibilities

1. The appropriate Division Commander or his / her designee is responsible for notifying peer support team members of an incident and give them information about the incident and employees involved.

2. Peer Support Team members when notified will respond to the location specified by the supervisor who made the call.

a. Team members will conduct a defusing immediately following an incident.

b. Team members will follow-up with all employees involved in a defusing following a critical incident within thirty (30) days to insure that any prolonged or delayed difficulties are addressed and to initiate referral if necessary.

c. Peer Support Team members are to consult with a Mental Health Professional / Clinician when necessary, and are to refrain from giving advice which is outside of their training.

3. Peer Support Team members will maintain a confidential record of types of incidents and number of defusings that are conducted. An annual summary will be submitted to the Chief of Police providing only the types of incidents and the number of defusings; no names will be included. Monthly reports shall be sent to the Planning Lieutenant who will prepare the annual summary to the Chief of Police.

VI. TRAINING

The Department will see that proper training is maintained to ensure the proficiency of the Team to include in-service seminars and Team meetings.



By Authority Of:


( your Chief's signature )