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Helping Families Make Decisions about Funeral Rites When an Officer Suicides

1/5/2013

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Below is a draft of a note that could be shared with survivors to ease decision making regarding funeral rites for an officer who suicides.  What do you think?  How could it be made better?  We are interested in your thoughts.  Please share your comments below. 


Dear Family:

The Anywhere Police Department joins you in mourning the loss of our beloved family member.  It was our privilege to train and serve with a valiant warrior who was routinely exposed to danger for the safety and security of others.

Without permission, death interrupts opportunities for dedicated families to continue serving together, but it does not have the power to diminish the value of virtuous service provided during life.  Memories indelibly etched in your minds, our minds, and the minds of citizens who benefited from the selflessness of our warrior-friend are unaltered by death, cause notwithstanding.

Soberly, the Anywhere Police Department embraces our solemn duty to honor, in death, the sanctity of life.  Just as we prepare our personnel for known and unknown encounters, our department is prepared to extend to all family members last rites befitting their compassionate response to a call to the noble vocation of policing.  To the best of our ability, we train our family to respond to the human condition.  Police training does not immunize us against the assault wrought by adverse human conditions on the human spirit.  Therefore, we commit our hearts and purest intentions to the responsibility of remembering and preserving the honorable service of our family members.

More importantly, however, we are prepared to honor your wishes during this time of grief and loss.  Our identified representatives are available to assist in any way possible.  They will communicate your desires and facilitate the sincere participation of our department.  We want you to know without doubt, that the Anywhere Police Department is ready, willing, and able to honor our friend and fellow-warrior with you, in accord with the preference of his first family.

                                                                        In sympathy,

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WELCOME!

1/3/2013

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"I have a burning conviction that the role of law enforcement chaplains is to be for the officers what they cannot be for themselves—the first responders to first responders."
                                                                                                      ~Samuel L. Feemster, M.Div., J.D.

We've set up this page specifically to foster dialogue among chaplains and other members of the law enforcement family about chaplaincy.  What does it mean to be the first responder to first responders?  How can chaplains take an active role in the community and the agency as advocates for holistic wellness?  What are you doing that works?  What questions do you have?  How would you like chaplains to fulfill their mission in your agency or community?

Please post your comments, questions, musings, resources, and epiphanies here so that we all may learn from one another.


In service,

Sam
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    Chaplain Advocacy

    "I have a burning conviction that the role of law enforcement chaplains is to be for the officers what they cannot be for themselves—the first responders to first responders."     ~Sam

    Authors

    Sam Feemster empowers law enforcement personnel to model holistic wellness in their homes, their hallways, and their highways.  They do this by working with agencies to foster a culture that supports wellness practices in all four human dimensions--physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual.

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