Survivors' trauma and departmental response following deaths of police officers.

It was hypothesized that satisfaction with supportive reactions of the police department following the on-duty death of an officer helps to ameliorate traumatic stress in surviving spouses. This hypothesis is based on the premise that the police-work group is cohesive and provides a psychological safety net for the surviving spouse. A secondary analysis was conducted of data obtained from 162 surviving police spouses. Analysis indicated that spouses' reported satisfaction with the department was significantly associated with lower trauma stress scores. These findings suggest that police departments should formulate policy to provide assistance to spouses surviving duty-related police deaths.