Officer draws on faith to help deliver bad news

When Sgt. Norm Doerksen knocks on your door at 2 a.m., chances are strong it’s bad news – a devastating revelation that will shatter your world in a heartbeat.

Doerksen, a tall, spiritual man, is one of a number of police officers with the Calgary Police Service Traffic Section with the unenviable task of informing families that a loved one has been seriously injured or killed in a vehicle crash.

Although the 27-year veteran of the force could delegate this job, he chooses not to. The father of two young adult girls, he tries to imagine how he’d prefer to hear the worst of all possible news. “I’d want to be told by somebody with empathy and professionalism,” he says. “You can’t rush off after breaking the news. Some people want to be held. Some don’t want to hear the news. Everyone is different.”

No matter how difficult a notification call, Doerksen never delays the task, lest the family find out their loved one is dead through a media call, or are left wondering about the unidentified victim in a crash on their daughter’s route home.

And when he is there, Doerksen stays with the family for half an hour to three hours, depending on their needs. Sometimes he calls a relative, a friend, a neighbour to come by for support. Even though the call may be in the middle of the night, people always rise to the occasion. He’s never had a refusal yet.

He’ll put the family in touch with victim assistance volunteers who can come by with further advice and support. “It is a tough job,” he reflects. “It is emotionally draining. It knocks the stuffing out of you. But I care about the victims.”

Sometimes he tells the victim his family will pray for them. As a father with two college-age daughters, last year was a tough one. On Jan. 1, he was involved in notifying relatives of a 20-year-old killed in a collision. Sept. 26 saw him telling a family about a 23-year-old girl killed in a crash. Four days later, two pedestrians, 22 and 20-years-old, were killed on his watch.

In the end, his faith in God helps carry him through after more than 50 notifications in his five years in the Traffic Section.

Norm Doerksen is a member of Highland MB Church, Calgary.

This article first appeared in Apple, a Calgary health and wellness magazine, July/August. Used by permission.