Officer Involved Shootings (OIS)

  • The officer should have some recovery time before the detailed interview begins.
  • Provide mandatory support – Supportive friend or peer who has been through a similar experience – Chaplain – Mental Health Professional
  • Either the officer or the department should contact the family with a phone call or a visit.
  • Arrange administrative leave (with pay)
  • There should be a mandatory, confidential debriefing within 72 hours of the incident.
  • Everybody at the scene including dispatchers
  • Allow and encourage the officer to talk
  • Family counseling should be made available.
  • When appropriate, help to explain what may happen administratively during the next few hours.
  • Administrator should tell the rest of the department what happened.
  • Expedite the completion of administrative and criminal investigation.
  • Consider the officer’s interests in preparing the media releases.
  • Allow a paced return to duty.
  • Reassure the officer that his/her symptoms are normal.
  • Encourage family and friends to listen.
  • Keep officer informed about the on-going investigation and facts.
  • Officer should be given plenty of fluids (no alcohol or caffeine).
  • Encourage the officer to eat healthy meals. • The officer should do physical exercise as soon as possible

Must Do’s

The Counseling Team International’s research has shown that there are some simple behaviors that all personnel can exhibit to an officer who has been involved in a shooting such as:

  • Make sure that he/she is connected with a strong support system.
  • Help them be aware of all the resources available to them and their family members:
    • – Chaplain
    • – Peer Support
    • – Mental Health Professionals
    • – OIS Workshops
    • – LE support groups
  • Listen to what is being said and avoid biased questions
  • Be empathetic, supportive, and a good listener
  • Understand that the best response is supportive, encouraging and validating

Reactions Occurring Days to Weeks Following OIS

Depending on the circumstances, an officer involved in a shooting may experience the following reactions in the days to weeks following an OIS:

  • Sleep disturbances – nightmares – inability to rest – terror dreams – interrupted sleep cycle – insomnia – difficulty going to sleep
  • Grief
  • Intrusive thoughts of images about the incident
  • Flashbacks
  • Depression
  • Irritability
  • Anxiety
  • Hypervigilance
  • Suspiciousness
  • Apathy
  • Confusion
  • Emotional outburst
  • Muscle aches
  • Stomach aches
  • Indigestion
  • Headaches
  • Sexual dysfunction
  • Grinding of the teeth
  • Diarrhea
  • Heartburn
  • Chest pains
  • Increase in blood pressure

Reactions Occurring Months to Years Following OIS

Depending on the circumstances of an OIS and those involved, an individual may experience the following within months to years after the event:

  • Anger
  • Hostility
  • Irritability
  • Fatigue
  • Poor Concentration
  • Loss of self-confidence
  • Substance abuse
  • Overindulgence in food
  • Cynicism
  • Distrustful of others
  • Negative view of the world and department
  • Depression
  • Anxiety
  • Hypervigilance
  • Detachment
  • Increase in blood pressure
  • Bowel problems

Signs That an Officer is Struggling

The following information is from Roger Solomon, Ph.D. (Refer to the article Family Perception to Post Shooting in the Resource section of this app in Journal Articles).

  • Constant intrusive images: nightmares, and flashbacks
  • Emotional numbing
  • Excessive stress reactions
  • Increase in hypervigilance
  • Increased anger, irritability or rage
  • Obsession with the incident – thoughts are easily triggered
  • Current incident triggers feelings associated with past events
  • Self-doubt, guilt, second-guessing actions and obsessive thoughts about mistakes made
  • A growing sense of isolation
  • Intense or sustained feelings of depression, grief, or loss of control
  • Mental confusion – easily distracted, difficulty concentrating, poor judgement
  • Relationship problems and withdrawal from others at work and in personal life
  • Becoming more suspicious of others
  • Increased use of sick time
  • Decrease in productivity and quality of work
  • Self-destructive behavior, like engaging in substance abuse
  • In rare cases, suicidal thinking that results from feeling depressed, guilty, despair and anger
  • Citizen complaints or excessive force complaints
  • The first to respond to every “hot call”
  • Increase in traffic accidents
  • Notable changes in personal characteristics

Always refer the officer to a mental health professional if he/she seems to be struggling with aspects of any OIS.


The Impact of Officer Involved Shootings (OIS)

The role of peer supporters in an Officer Involved Shooting (OIS) is crucial. Every department’s peer support program supports officers helping those involved in shootings. However, the level of support varies. Refer to your peer support policy regarding your role at an OIS. The impact of an officer-involved shooting (OIS), is different for each person involved. Affected parties can come from every aspect of the agency. The emotional aftermath of an OIS can range from developing minimal reactions to the onset of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Every Law Enforcement Officer’s view of an OIS is different, so peer support must always approach the person impacted with care and without prejudgments. OIS’s are best handled utilizing the Helping Triad – Mental Health Professionals, Peer Supporters, and/or Chaplain. (refer to The Helping Triad in the Resource section of this app).

Things to Avoid

Although many people are well intentioned when they deal with someone who has been involved in a shooting, peer support may be able to prevent extra stress by the following:

  • Do not praise the officer on a “job well done”. No one knows what this shooting meant to the officer and he/she may not see it as an event that should be congratulated
  • Do not second guess the officer and his/her actions or thought processes
  • Do not make statements about the moral nature of the shooting, the officer hitting or missing the target, or offer critiques
  • Do not let them play the “what if” game such as,
    • – “What if the suspect had shot me when I didn’t know they had a gun?”
    • – “I was so close to him that he could have shot me.”
  • Do not make false promises about the investigation.
    • – Don’t say, “Nothing will come of this in the investigation.”
    • – Don’t say, “I promise you will be fine.”
    • – Don’t say, “You will get over it.”
  • Don’t force the officer to repeat the story multiple times.
  • Don’t make jokes regarding the incident.
  • Don’t minimize the impact of the shooting.
  • Be sure to ask about the officer’s family.

Variables That Impact Why Officers Respond Differently During and After an OIS

The Counseling Team International has been helping officers involved in shootings for 30 years. The research they have conducted, clearly shows that there are circumstances in the shooting that can help with explaining the officer’s responses and why they are so different. Listed below are some examples:

  • How vulnerable the officer felt he/she were in the shooting
  • Amount of control the officer felt over the situation
  • The officer’s perception to whether he/she reacted effectively
  • The officer’s expectations around what should and should not have happened in the shooting
  • The reputation of the suspect
  • Proximity of the officer to the suspect while in the shooting
  • The perceived “fairness” of the community and department’s reaction to the shooting
  • The legal and administrative consequences he/she experiences after the shooting
  • The amount of stress in the officer’s life at the time of the shooting
  • The level of emotional adjustment the officer experiences
  • The amount of department support offered
    • – peer support
    • – family support
    • – supervisor
    • – after-care support
    • – mental health professional
    • – chaplain
    • – time off