Fatalities leave a deep impression on even the most seasoned cops. The Traffic Team of the Zeeland-West-Brabant police recently assisted in the accident in Chaam, in which two children died and a third child and their mother were seriously injured. Agent Michael talks about the impact of this on police officers.
“We are called by the emergency room if an accident turns out to be serious. Then you can think of major damage that is left behind, but also serious accidents that sometimes have a fatal outcome,” says Michael.
Last year there were 91 fatal traffic victims in Brabant, the lowest number since 2013. A look at the last whole week of last March shows that many traffic victims were killed during that period. For example on March 22: then a 4-year-old boy was killed by a taxi bus. On March 23, a 16-year-old boy was killed in a car in Tilburg for his internship address at GroenRijk in Tilburg. The accident that killed two children (0 and 4) happened on March 26, when the mother hit a tree.
The team in which Michael works consists of about fifty agents. “Despite the large team, a cop can have a bad week where you are present at several fatal accidents. That is intense. It certainly does something to you, because police officers are people.” This time it turned out for Michael that he was not sent to any of the seven accidents. But unfortunately he has enough experience with it.
That is why he knows that there is no room for much emotion at the scene of such an accident. There has to be a button. “I try to remain as businesslike as possible and not to make it too personal. That is also in the interest of the investigation. That investigation must be as thorough as possible, so that relatives are not left with questions.”
Michael continues: “The next of kin sometimes quickly find the crime scene. Then we have to send them away to keep all traces intact.”
Michael does not always manage to let go of the thoughts of such an accident when he leaves. “It’s part of our job, just like a surgeon experiences deaths during an operation. But I can still deal with it a day later.”
What then helps, according to the agent, is talking. “As colleagues, we talk to each other about the things we see. Or we look for a manager to talk about it. If you really stick with something longer, you can also contact the peer support team as an agent.”
Michael himself also worked with that team. “You can talk about the things you have seen and experienced. Sometimes you are also referred to social work.”
According to Michael, the mutual support that the agents have in each other is often good. “Everyone processes things in a different way. If you are not feeling well due to a serious accident, colleagues always want to take over something from you. That helps and you can give everything a place.”
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