Emotional support to be offered frontline responders

Within a few days, Oconee public safety responders have responded to incidents in which a toddler was killed when hit by a car and elementary school students were wounded by gunfire.  There is an emotional toll to these kinds of calls.  Oconee Sheriff Mike Crenshaw says, “When a law enforcement officer responds to a critical stress incident such as a school shooting, we must understand that even though we are trained and willingly go into these type of situations, we also have to keep in mind that our officers are human and experience the same emotions as everyone else. The SC LEAP (Law Enforcement Assistance Program) provides assistance where officers can talk about what they saw and how it affected them and be given support to work through their stress and sometimes grief.”  Crenshaw says the program is working on scheduling a joint meeting for Oconee responders and their counterparts from Anderson County.