Keith Bettinger

End of Watch Keith Bettinger

A small town, law enforcement dynasty in the making. A well respected deputy dies in the line of duty and leaves behind a wife and son. The son wants to follow in his father's footsteps and be a deputy too. Can he compete with his father's memory? Will his fellow officers ever let the son be himself or must he rise to a higher standard than the other deputies live by? End of Watch takes the reader through not only the difficulties of being law enforcement, but also the tragedy of a line of duty death and the healing that is needed to grow through the loss of a loved one. It includes a discussion of the organization, Concerns of Police Survivors, COPS for short. COPS provides support for the families of fallen officers using professional mental health workers and peer support people from around the country. There are groups for widows - accidental, felony and other means. Parents are broken down into mother groups and father groups. Children are separated into small children and adult children. Siblings - always the ones on the outside looking in - have sessions to address their need

COPS learned that giving people information and a chance to talk was not enough. There had to be a form of acceptance of what had happened to their loved one. After working through their grief sessions, there are training sessions where not only the survivors got training in coping skills, but departments received information so they would be better prepared to deal with the loss of an officer in the future.