Policy Text
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GENERAL ORDER
TITLE ACCREDITATION
Law Enforcement Injury/Death CALEA 22.1.5
Support Services (Department
PRIOR REVISIONS
Members and Former Members)
06/19/00, 08/04/03, 06/17/08
PROPONENT UNIT
Personnel Unit ATTACHMENT: 0
NUMBER ISSUE DATE REVISION DATE TOTAL PAGES
55.3 07/01/98 02/25/2020 11
I. PURPOSE: This Order establishes a policy that provides assistance to the families of Department Members
in the unfortunate event of a Department Member(s) is seriously injured or passes away.
II. POLICY: The Gainesville Police Department shall provide assistance to the family of a Department or law
enforcement member who suffers a serious injury or dies. The extent of the services provided is dependent
upon the wishes of the family and the availability of Department resources. [CALEA 22.1.5]
III. DEFINITIONS:
A. Death of Active Department Member:
1. Line-of-Duty: An actively employed Department member (or volunteer) who suffers a fatal injury or
illness while taking action, either on or off-duty, authorized or obligated by law, rule, regulation, or
condition of employment or service.
2. Not in Line-of-Duty: An actively employed Department member (or volunteer) who, while off-duty,
suffers a fatal injury or illness which is non-police related.
B. Death of Retired Department Member: The death of a retired member who is in good standing and fully
separated through retirement from the Department.
C. Retiree: A retiree is defined as a Department member who resigns, having completed at least 20 years of
service, regardless of age; or who resigns and is eligible to begin receiving pension benefits; or who is a
former Department member receiving a City disability pension.
D. Police Family Members: An immediate surviving family member, which can include: spouse, child, parent,
sibling, fiancée, or other persons as determined by the Chief of Police.
E. Police Family Support Team: The support team consists of positions designated to provide a broad range
of assistance to the injured/deceased member’s family.
1. Command Liaison Officer:\n\n--- Page 2 ---\n\nGAINESVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT
i. Assesses the needs of the family, solicits the family’s opinion regarding funeral arrangements,
appoints members to the other support positions, and fulfills the family’s needs by coordinating the
activities of the other support positions.
ii. This position should hold the rank of lieutenant or above and shall be appointed by the Chief.
2. Family Liaison Officer: Serves as a liaison between the family and the Department. If possible, this
person should be selected from the injured/deceased member’s bureau or unit.
3. Notification Team:
i. Serves to inform the family of a member’s injury or death and provides transportation if needed.
ii. The notification team shall consist of at least two members, one of whom should be the Command
Liaison Officer and one of whom should be a member familiar with or friends of the injured/deceased
member’s family.
4. Hospital Officer: Serves as a liaison between medical personnel and the injured member’s family and
other Department members.
5. Media Liaison Officer: Disseminates information to the news media. This duty shall usually be assigned
to the Public Information Officer.
6. Benefits Officer: This position assists the family in obtaining benefits. This person should be a member
of the Department’s Personnel Services Division.
7. Victim Support Officer: This position serves as a liaison between the criminal justice system and the
family, keeping the family informed of any criminal proceedings. This person should be the member of
the Investigations Bureau who is assigned to the case, if applicable.
8. Employee Assistance Provider: The Department’s psychologist, who shall be activated upon initial
notification of the Family Support Team, may provide support and assistance to family members and to
Departmental personnel.
IV. PROCEDURE:
A. Police Employee’s Emergency Notification: Members shall, upon hire, be required to provide emergency
contact information, including immediate family and next-of-kin listings, to the Personnel Services Division.
1. A member of the Personnel Services Division will enter the information into Records Management
System.
2. Employees are responsible for updating the information by submitting an Address and Information
Change Form, located on the Intranet, to the Personnel Services Division.
3. Department Notification: The following situations require notifications as identified in this section:
i. Death or serious injury/illness of a Department member while on-duty,
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ii. Death or life-threatening injury/illness of a Department member while off-duty,
iii. Death of a retired member of the Department.
4. Notifications Received by Communications: Upon being notified of any of the incidents listed in “IV,
A, 3, i”, (above) the Combined Communications Center shall perform the following notifications:
i. Regular Business Hours: Immediately notify the Chief of Police, the Personnel Services
Division Commander, the Honor Guard Commander or designee, and the on-duty district/shift
commander.
ii. Non-Business Hours: Immediately notify the Shift Commander, who depending on the
circumstances, may notify the Chief, the District Commander and / or Administrative Commander,
Personnel Services Division Commander, or activate the Honor Guard.
5. Original Notifications Received by Other Department Members: When a Department member
receives an original notification of a circumstance listed in a., he/she shall immediately notify the on-
duty Communications Supervisor so the proper notifications can occur.
6. Honor Guard Commander’s Responsibilities: The Honor Guard Commander shall coordinate the
initial Department-wide notification regarding the deaths of Department members, as well as any
memorial events/observances.
* This notification shall include information regarding dates of services and funerals.
7. External: When a Department member is killed or dies in the line-of-duty, the Communications
supervisor shall notify other law enforcement agencies via teletype.
* The agencies shall also be notified of funeral arrangements as soon as possible.
8. Coordination/Services:
i. Upon the death of or life-threatening injury to a Department member (or retiree), the Chief shall
assign a Command Liaison Officer to convene a support team.
ii. The type of support positions initiated and the type of actions performed depend on the nature and
type of death or injury and the wishes of the family.
iii. Based on the responsibilities of respective positions, members of the support team shall fulfill the
appropriate responsibilities as dictated by the nature of injury or death and the Command Liaison
Officer.
9. Notification of Family: When a Department member receives a life-threatening or fatal injury while on-
duty; the family members shall be notified according to the following procedures:
i. Fact-Gathering: Confirm positive identification of the victim, and obtain as much detail as possible
regarding the circumstances of the injury/illness or death.
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ii. Contact with the Media:
a. Do not release the name of a seriously or fatally injured member to the media before family
members are notified.
b. Inquiries from the media shall be referred to the PIO/designee.
c. To prevent the media or private parties from obtaining confidential information, members should
use a telephone instead of the police radio when communicating with other Department
members.
iii. Contacting the Family:
a. Make notification as soon as possible.
b. Make notification through the notification team only.
c. Department employees not part of the notification team shall delay contacting the family until the
initial notification has been made.
d. Make the notification in person.
e. A family clergy (if known), Department psychologist, C