How a Wiltshire Police Family Liaison Officer copes with telling people the worst
DS Toni Nugent has told us about the 'other side' of the job
No one likes hearing bad news. But imagine having to be the person to deliver it. We’ve been speaking to a Family Liaison Officer (FLO) at Wiltshire Police about how she copes with delivering the worst news to people.
DS Toni Nugent has dealt with 20 families in her time as a FLO and she shared with Greatest Hits Radio the characteristics needed to fulfil the role and how she decompresses away from work.
The FLO role is actually an optional role within the Force and DS Nugent said she took on the job as she saw it as really fulfilling role.
“The important thing for me is you're helping people through such an absolutely most devastating thing that can ever happen to them.”
Resilience and Empathy
DS Nugent explained to us that the job can bring officers into contact with issues that resonate within their own lives, but they must show resilience to put that aside and support the family they’re helping.
She said the officers do end up taking some things home with them.
“You take on a lot of their emotion and there's a lot of up and downs in when you're dealing with families, as you can imagine.
“Their world has just been torn apart and you just have to be very patient with them and just be there for anything they need.”
The role is wide-ranging and DS Nugent admits that officers cant completely understand what families are going through, but she can empathize with them.
“I can listen to their frustrations, if they want to they can rant at me.”
FLO’s become the sounding board for families and DS Nugent says empathy is critical, as well as treating people on a humane level.
“Just being able to be a normal person (helps too), because we do have this barrier sometimes as police officers, because we are police officers,” She said, adding:
“But as long as you've got good communication skills, you know how to work on that humane level “empathetic, understanding and patient, they’re the main things you need.”
Separating work and home life
Police officers deal with a lot of trauma across the force and when they find themselves working a lot of overtime, it’s important to find a way to decompress.
“You find yourself thinking about the families,” DS Nugent said, “But if I continue to do that, go for walks, talk to my colleagues or my partner about what I’ve been dealing with.”
Exercise is one of DS Nugent’s primary ways of decompression, but she told us one of her other hobbies is being part of a choir.
Wiltshire Police do support their staff, with an Occupational Health Unit, that officers visit quite often.
DS Nugent said: “They have meetings with us regularly to check on our mental health and things like that, so that part of the role is very important.
“You've got to look after yourself.”