ABSTRACT
The sources of stress attached to an officer-involved shooting (OIS) are multiple, and include the officer's own psychological reaction to taking a life, the responses of law enforcement peers and the officer's family, rigorous examination by departmental investigators and administrators. If the family is out of town, every effort should be made to contact them, preferably through direct contact by a law enforcement agency in that location. Media requests should be handled by the agency's Public Information Officer. Provide authoritative and factual information about psychological reactions to a shooting incident. As with most cases of critical incident psychological intervention with public safety personnel, follow-up psychotherapy for OISs tends to be short-term, although additional services may be sought later for other problems partially related or unrelated to the incident. By providing immediate administrative, legal, psychological, and peer-support services to officers in need, investigators typically find their jobs easier.
