Coping with Death: Concerns of Police Survivors Can Help
Law enforcement officers face life and death situations every day. For many, it’s just another dangerous day on the streets. Sadly, for about 150 officers a year, it’s the last day of their lives. That’s the unfortunate statistic cited by C.O.P.S., or Concerns of Police Survivors.
Founded in 1984, C.O.P.S. is a support group for those who have lost someone in the line of duty. While they don’t enjoy seeing group membership grow because of painful circumstances, it definitely has increased. Membership swelled from 110 to more than 15,000 during its 25 years of service.
And when someone receives the devastating blow — that message you never want to hear; the one that seems to stop time and inevitably changes everything — they can turn to C.O.P.S.
But how can one organization lift you up when your devastation is beyond words?
By bringing together those who share the same experiences, C.O.P.S. embraces the grieving process and makes things just a little easier, if at all possible. With national peer support groups, counseling programs for adults and children, the Missouri-based group doesn’t leave out a single detail when it comes to assisting those going through unimaginable circumstances. They even send out remembrance cards each year commemorating fallen family members.
“The people at C.O.P.S. are the friends I never wanted to meet, but they are my best friends. You can pick up the phone any hour of the day, and they will be there,” says Derwinn Magruder, a “surviving spouse,” in the video below.
Along with support groups, C.O.P.S. offers scholarships to surviving kids and spouses of $1,500 per semester, up to $12,000 total, as well as a four-hour law enforcement grief training. This training breaks down all the important elements that one might skip over or disregard in a time of emotional distress.
For a full, state-by-state list of C.O.P.S. organizations, click here.
In: Information · Tagged with: law enforcement