Critical incident stress management in a mid-sized police department: a case illustration

Pembroke Pines Police Department (PPPD), Pembroke Pines, Florida, collaborated with Nova Southeastern University (NSU), Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and the Federal Bureau of Intelligence (FBI), Miami Field Office, in the fall of 2001 to develop, train, and launch a specialized unit of crisis negotiators (Critical Response Team; CRT). The hallmark feature of the PPPD CRT was the expectation that all team members were trained in accordance with both the FBI's crisis/hostage negotiations model and the ICISF model of Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM). The deliberate result of this collaborative training provided PPPD with an "in-house" crisis response team grounded in standardized CISM principles and prepared to expand with forthcoming current best practices (e.g., peer support and specialized training) most notably Crisis Management Briefings (Malcolm, Seaton, Perera, Sheehan, & Van Hasselt, 2005; Sheehan, Everly, & Langlieb, 2004; Clark & Volkman, 2005). The purpose of this case illustration is to present the development and application of this agency's tactical execution of a police-based approach aimed at addressing the inherent CISM needs of law enforcement. Practical relevance and suggestions for future research are also discussed.