Police officers often deal with critical incidents. In fact, they may be directly involved in several hundred throughout a 30-year career. Yet, are they prepared to respond to such an event if it involves a family member?

Of course, officers hope they will never have to face the complexities of responding to a critical incident that involves a family member. However, the possibility exists, and these situations raise important considerations.

Preparing Family Members

It is important that both officers and their families are cared for as well as possible. To this end, officers should spend time preparing their loved ones in case they are involved in a critical incident. By talking to their family members about appropriate actions to take when encountering such an event, officers could save their lives.

While loved ones should know to try escaping the threat, ultimately, survival is the goal. Therefore, they must do everything in their power to eliminate the threat if it comes to that point. Although officers may not have considered such a conversation with their children or spouse, the information they provide will be critical to their loved ones’ survival. Preparation should include the entire family.

Various resources can help prepare for a critical incident. For example, Texas State University’s Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training (ALERRT) Center has developed the Avoid | Deny | Defend method to protect against an active attack.³ Similarly, federal agencies have agreed on the verbiage “Run, Hide, Fight” for civilian active shooter training. The FBI has posted Run, Hide, Fight videos and other civilian active shooter training resources on its website.⁴

Responding to an Event

While most police officers will never have to cope with a close family member being involved in a critical incident, in such a situation, they must consider whether they can respond to assist their loved one and if they will help or hinder the handling agency. 

For instance, a school shooting may occur in the same city the officer works in, perhaps unfolding while they are on duty. If so, the officer must respond to the incident and provide tactical assistance while simultaneously separating the call from the need to personally assist a family member.

If the event occurs in another city, the officer will have to decide if their response will benefit the overall mission of the handling agency. Self-reporting by police officers at major critical events occurs often and can cause significant issues. On one hand, “their actions and ingenuity can save lives, create solutions, and reduce damage and injury.” However, on the other hand, self-deployment can “produce significant traffic problems, create officer safety issues, and damage inter-agency relationships.”⁵

Whether to self-report to an incident requires careful consideration. Officers will have a strong desire to rush in and help the family member but also must remember many officers are responding to the same event. Getting safely to the scene is an important factor. For example, if an off-duty officer responds to an active shooter incident, they must weigh the safety concerns of arriving at the scene while armed but not identifiable as a police officer.

Understanding What Happens Next

Immediately after a critical incident, law enforcement will want to speak with all witnesses. Interviewing witnesses is especially important if there are still outstanding suspects or the potential remains for continued danger to the public.

When involved in a critical incident, an officer’s family member may consider declining an interview with law enforcement immediately following the attack. One expert cautions that interviewing someone before they decompress can dramatically increase the chance of a long-term traumatic disorder.⁶ Victims must receive prompt psychological care, and postponing the law enforcement interview may be better for the individual’s long-term psychological health. Of course, implementing this delay depends on the continuing potential threat to the public.

Recovering from the Incident

The road to recovery after experiencing a traumatic incident can be long and arduous. Every person will react differently to trauma. Some may never show signs of PTSD, while others may begin exhibiting symptoms immediately after an incident.

Wherever the event occurred, the individual affected may suffer from extreme fear and apprehension about returning to the location. In the case of a school shooting, a family member’s return to the site requires careful consideration. Empirical evidence suggests that school shooting survivors have a higher rate of antidepressant usage following the event, a drop in student enrollment, and a decline in average test scores.⁷ Supporting family members must remember that survivors need time to feel comfortable before returning to school. In some instances, the affected individual can never go back to the site.

Critical incident survivors who suffer from PTSD will need a tremendous amount of family support along with professional psychiatric therapy to readjust to the normalcy of life. A relatively new type of therapy used to treat PTSD—eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR)—was first developed in 1987. Since its beginning, hundreds of case studies have demonstrated EMDR’s effectiveness in treating victims with PTSD.⁸ If EMDR is not a suitable therapy option, officers should be familiar with other resources, such as their department’s Employee Assistance Program, wellness unit, and peer support groups. Survivors will likely need other forms of treatment to promote positive mental health.

Few survivors of school shootings will report no PTSD symptoms following the event.⁹ Family members and friends should closely watch their loved ones for signs of PTSD after any type of traumatic or critical incident. Some signs to look for include flashbacks, anxiety, or self-medication, such as increased alcohol consumption or smoking. In contrast, some younger survivors of school shootings have grown from the experience and report a sense of self-worth and life purpose.¹⁰

Critical incident survivors must realize that the normalcy of their lives must continue. Although there will be a period of recovery and rehabilitation, the survivors will eventually need to focus on picking up the pieces and continuing on. While many may suffer from long-term mental health issues, some may feel empowered from surviving a traumatic event and draw from it to build on their confidence and self-esteem.   

Conclusion

Undoubtedly, law enforcement professionals do not want to consider that anyone in their family may be involved in a critical incident. However, officers always train and prepare for the worst-case situation, and they should be ready if a close family member survives a traumatic event, such as a mass casualty. Preparation in advance can play a significant role in saving someone's life so they can survive the incident.

Law enforcement officers must also prepare for the long-term psychological effects that victims of critical incidents may experience following the event. These mental health issues may not reveal themselves until weeks or months after the incident. The officer must also consider their own mental health. An officer may never be directly involved in the incident, but the impact on their family member will also affect their mental well-being. Everyone must prepare for the possibility that a critical incident may affect them and their family.