PEER SUPPORT
Through our National Board, local chapters, and national network of survivors, C.O.P.S. is able to contact a newly-bereaved surviving family - sometimes within just days of the death. It helps the new survivors to see people who have survived the devastation, thus providing a sense of hope. The C.O.P.S. National Office contacts each surviving family at least four times a year. Tri-annual newsletters provide messages of hope and encouragement and share stories of survivors' accomplishments since the death of the officer.
Middle & East Tennessee C.O.P.S. also has a newsletter we send out to survivors on a quarterly basis. Feel free to email our Secretary at LizWhiteDibb.COPS@gmail.com to subscribe today!
C.O.P.S. also sends a remembrance card to each survivor during the anniversary month of the officer's death. Too often survivors are reluctant to share their feelings of grief because they don't want to be a "burden" to their friends and neighbors. This card lets them know that others remember their officer and the sacrifice he or she made.
The holiday season can be especially difficult for survivors. C.O.P.S. lets survivors know that it is okay to feel happy or sad, to continue holiday traditions or to start new traditions, to celebrate or not celebrate. Survivors know that when they need it, support is just a phone call away! Survivors of law enforcement officers who have died in the line of duty according to C.O.P.S. criteria, regardless of the date of death, are encouraged to contact C.O.P.S. for more information.