Up to one third of these may even experience moderate to severe reactions, while three to five percent experience more disruptive, long term reactions. Dr. Chamberlin believes that a Critical Incident Debriefing can help to reduce the intensity and duration of an acute reaction and prevent the occurrence of long term traumatic syndromes as well. Although Dr. Harris' 1988 study did not include officer's reactions, it did bring about some interesting findings. The decedents were under the influence of drugs or alcohol, were between the ages of 21 to 35 years, and that handguns or knives were displayed by the subjects. Dr. Harris believes that the criteria for suicide must be clearly established before it can be categorized as such.
Definitions vary according to the psycho-social discipline of the researcher.
In the mean time, there are things we can do to help officers cope with this traumatic event. It is called Critical Incident Debriefing. Officer Support Debriefings afford an excellent opportunity for officers to examine a critical incident in a nonjudgmental and supportive atmosphere. Deputy Brian Banning of the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department's Critical Incident Debriefing Team, says the most common call involves a suicide barricade. Trained personnel are first paged to a location.