GENERAL ORDERS LINCOLN POLICE DEPARTMENT
SUBJECT: PERSONNEL
TITLE: PEER SUPPORT
EFFECTIVE DATE: JUNE 1, 2025
REVISION DATE:
ACCREDITATION: ALABAMA ASSOCIATION OF CHIEFS OF POLICE (AACOP)
APPROVAL: CHIEF DARREN E. BRITTON
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PEER SUPPORT
1033.1 PURPOSE AND SCOPE
To establish guidelines that shall be uniformly applied following certain critical incidents with which Lincoln Police Department employees have been involved. This policy will also establish a Peer Support Program and a Peer Support Team (PST) for department employees. The Peer Support Team will operate under the guidelines established by the Alabama Law Enforcement Alliance for Peer Support (ALLEAPS).
1033.2 DEFINITIONS
ACUTE STRESS DISORDER - A condition brought on by an actual or threatened death, serious bodily injury, or extreme emotional reactions either by being directly involved, witnessing, or learning of a high-stress incident when such exposure has the potential to cause a significant change in physical, cognitive, relational, emotional, or psychological function.
COMMUNICATIONS BY EMERGENCY RESPONDERS WITH PEER SUPPORT MEMBERS (Alabama Code 1975 § 36-21-14) - This is any communication made by an emergency responder to a PST member during the course of a Peer Support meeting.
CRITICAL INCIDENT - Any situation faced by employees that causes them to experience particularly strong emotional reactions which have the potential to interfere with their ability to function either at the scene or later.
CRITICAL INCIDENT DEFUSING - A short meeting between an employee involved in a critical incident and a PST member.
EMERGENCY RESPONDER - A law enforcement officer, firefighter, paramedic, communications officer, or emergency medical technician of an emergency service agency or entity.
EMPLOYEE - All personnel employed with the Lincoln Police Department.
PEER SUPPORT TEAM MEMBER (PST MEMBER) - An employee of the department who has successfully completed the selection process and is trained to identify the normal stress reactions associated with critical incidents and the techniques that are helpful in resolving these situations. PST Members are also trained in local, city, state, and federal resources available to injured employees or surviving spouses and/or family.
POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER - A condition which results from prolonged exposure to High-Stress Incidents or exposure to a single incident with psychological and physical reactions of Acute Stress Disorder remaining persistent for more than 30 days.
TEAM COORDINATOR - Is responsible for ensuring the Peer Support Team members comply with the guidelines and procedures outlined in this policy and is responsible for the administrative and logistical needs of the team.
1033.3 POLICY
The Lincoln Police Department recognizes the value of providing resources for employees to support them in managing a professional and personal crisis. It is the policy of this department to reduce symptoms of Acute Stress Disorder and Post- Traumatic Stress Disorder by adequately caring for each employee involved in critical incidents. This department's responsibility is to provide employees with training on stress disorders and to guide and assist in the reduction of stress-related illnesses and injuries. Therefore, immediate actions will be taken after such incidents to safeguard the continued mental and physical health of all involved employees.
1033.4 SELECTION PROCESS
(a) All interested employees who wish to be a PST member must submit a letter of interest through their chain of command to the PST Coordinator.
(b) Prospective PST members must be willing to meet the following criteria:
Respond to incidents as often as neededAgree to maintain confidentiality
Possess empathy, interpersonal and communication skills
Successfully complete an approved Peer Support/LEAPS training course which is a minimum of 32 hours
Complete six hours of approved Peer Support/LEAPS continuing education training annually
1033.5 PEER SUPPORT ACTIVATION AND PROCEDURES
(a) Post-Critical Incident Procedures:
Following a critical incident, a PST member should be notified as soon as possible. This notification should be made within 3 hours of the time the incident occurred, when possible. The following are types of critical incidents which require notification. This list is not all-inclusive:
(a) Use of force situations or vehicle pursuits in which there is death or life-threatening injury of any person (e.g., employees, suspects, citizens)
(b) Accidental discharge of a firearm by an employee with injury
(c) Death or life-threatening injury of an employee, either on or off-duty
(d) Any incident that is unusually stressful or distracting and that could be improved by the assistance of the Peer Support Team (e.g., active shooter situations, suicide witnessed by the employee, terrorist attack, or any other incident the supervisor determines to be a critical incident based on the definition of this policy)
As soon as possible, the supervisor will have the involved employee report to the department, or a mutually agreed upon location for a critical incident defusing with a PST member. The employee should remain available for any necessary investigations.
If the employee does not wish to participate in the defusing, then the employee has the right to refuse. The employee will have to inform the PST member in person that they do not want to participate in the defusing.
The PST member may encourage the involved employee to seek further assistance from the Employee Assistance Program (EAP).
PST members should encourage families of the involved employee to take advantage of available counseling services (e.g., EAP and chaplains.
(b) Daily Stress Recognition
As post-traumatic stress signs and symptoms may not arise immediately, or the employee may attempt to hide such symptoms, each supervisor is responsible for monitoring the behavior of employees for symptoms of potential post-incident psychological injuries.
If a supervisor has a reasonable belief that stress may be disrupting the employee's job performance, the supervisor may offer the employee the services of the Peer Support Team. An employee may also request the assistance of the Peer Support Team without a supervisor's referral. However, the decision to speak with a PST member rests solely with the employee.
If requested, the Peer Support Team may be utilized to support other Police Departments or the community in situations of critical incidents, such as school shootings, natural disasters, etc. The Lincoln Police Department's Peer Support Team is part of Zone G for ALLEAPS.
1033.5.1 CRITICAL INCIDENT DEFUSING
The purpose of the defusing is to facilitate normal recovery from the incident. The PST member will also discuss typical stress-related symptoms the employee may experience.
Defusing should be conducted within three hours of the incident occurring but may be done at a later time if circumstances necessitate.
The defusing typically last less than an hour. These meetings are confidential and include the thoughts and reactions of the employee resulting from the incident.
Employees who attend the defusing should feel comfortable leaving at any time during the session. All conversations with PST members are strictly confidential except as defined below.
1033.6 CONFIDENTIALITY
It shall be the duty and obligation of all PST members to maintain strict confidentiality. Any statement or discussion with a PST member while fulfilling his role on the Peer Support Team will remain confidential except as previously defined.
PST members are prohibited from making any notes or records while providing support. It will be the policy of this Department not to question PST members or involved employees for the facts surrounding a critical incident defusing or seek to determine which employee was involved in the defusing.
The PST member cannot be compelled to testify or otherwise disclose the contents of any communication. The emergency responder may waive this privilege. The communication by an emergency responder to a PST member is NOT privileged if any of the following apply:
The PST member was involved in the same critical incident as the emergency responder.
The communication reveals the intended commission of a crime or otherwise harmful act, and the disclosure of the communication is determined to be necessary by the PST member to protect any person from a clear and imminent risk of mental or physical harm or to forestall a serious threat to public safety.
The communication reveals that a crime was committed.
4. A court determines the communications are not privileged under the exceptions provided in Rule 503(d), Alabama Rules of Evidence.
Department employees or PST members who violate confidentiality will be subject to disciplinary and potentially legal action. Communication between a PST member and an employee is considered privileged by the Lincoln Police Department and the Alabama Code 1975 § 36-21-14.
1033.7 TRAINING
The department shall provide employees with training pertaining to stress disorders, the reduction of stress-related illnesses, and the procedures contained in this policy on an annual basis.
The department PST members shall be provided time to complete six hours of approved Peer Support/LEAPS continuing education training annually.
Supervisors are responsible for making information about the Peer Support Team and AP available to their subordinates.
These policies and operating procedures are not designed to cover every possible scenario or situation in society, but rather to define standard operating procedures for members of the Lincoln Police Department. These guidelines are subject to past, present and future judicial review. These guidelines can be amended and or repealed by the Chief of Police as necessary. The policies and procedures herein provided supersede all previous policies and orders.
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