Best practices in law enforcement officer critical incident stress management (CISM) training: A Delphi study

This modified Delphi inquiry was conducted to identify the best practices in training police officers in critical incident stress management (CISM) and to explore whether quality CISM training can positively contribute to the detrimental consequences of officers being involved in critical incidents. This study identified critical incidents as events that are shocking, disturbing, and stressful. All individuals can be exposed and are susceptible to the negative influences of critical incidents, but a police officer's duties increase exposure to the stressors of critical incidents. As a result, their coping skills could be overwhelmed. An officer's stress exposure can have detrimental consequences---both psychological and physiological. Early organizational intervention in providing training to enhance coping skills to handle the stress of critical incidents could benefit law enforcement officers. This study detailed applicable prior research on related subjects such as stress, posttraumatic stress disorder, comorbidity, cognitive personality evaluation, and group dynamics. Also, this study considered the perceptions and opinions of officers as an expert panel and was used to reach a consensus about the best practices of CISM training, adding to the knowledge related to law enforcement officers and how they could best respond to the stressors of critical incidents. Data collected from the panel were analyzed using Excel and SPSS to calculate mean and median scoring to ascertain levels of agreement to questionnaires; Cronbach's alpha was calculated to ascertain the validity of internal consistency between questions.