MILWAUKEE — In the wake of the line of duty death of Milwaukee police officer Peter Jerving, various groups have stepped up to help those most impacted by the 37-year-old’s death.
“Our goal is to connect people with other people who can help them,” said Jo Ann Mignon, the secretary of the Wisconsin chapter of Concerns of Police Survivors (C.O.P.S). “There’s no two people who grieve exactly the same.”
Mignon said while others step in to support the families and friends of fallen officers in the initial days after the officer’s death, C.O.P.S. aims to be there for loved ones for the long run.
“Our goal is to be here to give long-term support,” Mignon said. “When there’s an officer killed in the line of duty, it becomes a very public event — there’s a lot of public support and it’s wonderful, but at some point people have to go back to normal and have to go back to their normal lives, but for these families and officers who have been affected, there really is no normal — they have to find a new normal and a way to move on.”
Watch the full interview above.