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3. Incidents Involving On-Duty Death of Police Personnel
a. Departmental Notification
1) The first officer on the scene shall immediately notify the on-duty supervisor and the
Communications Division. [81.2.4(f)]
2) The on-duty supervisor will respond to the scene and coordinate all necessary actions.
[81.2.4(f)]
3) Per OPS-550 Critical Incident Notification, the Communications Division will coordinate
the notifications with the ranking supervisor at the scene. Refer to the Line of Duty Death
Protocols.
4) Personal contact with the employee鈥檚 next of kin shall be made whenever possible. If the
individual to be contacted lives out of state or the supervisor cannot travel to their
residence, the designated supervisor shall contact the law enforcement agency in that
jurisdiction and arrange for personal notification and transportation if needed. [22.2.4]
5) The established procedure for notifying essential Department personnel will be initiated
through the supervisor of the Communications Division.
NOTE: The executive staff will meet with the Chief of Police as soon as possible to
assess and coordinate the specific needs of the employee鈥檚 family, the
department, and/or the community. [22.2.4]
6) The executive staff will be notified and ensure that all employees under their command
are personally notified about the incident.
NOTE: It is important that as many Department employees as possible be personally
notified so that they will not learn of the death through a source other than a
Departmental representative.
b. Family Notification Guidelines [22.2.4]
1) Timeliness takes precedence over protocol in the death notification process.
2) The ranking on-duty supervisor on the scene is responsible for ensuring that timely
notification is made to the surviving family.
3) If possible, the Chief of Police and a police chaplain will accompany the notifying
officer. However, if these persons are not readily available, notification should not be
delayed until they gather. The surviving family should not hear about the death from any
source other than a Departmental representative.
4) If the officer is still alive, but their death is imminent, every effort will be made to
transport the family to the hospital without waiting for the appropriate delegation to
gather.
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