Deputy John Glenn Hicks of the Avery County Sheriff’s Office recently participated as a panelist during the North Carolina Sheriffs’ Association’s Sheriffs’ Leadership Institute in Chapel Hill. Deputy Hicks contributed to a panel entitled, “Crisis Management – Officer Involved Shootings and Line of Duty Deaths: The Family’s Perspective,” which took place during a day during the Institute dedicated to the topic of crisis management.
The panelists included Hicks, whose father, Lt. Glenn Hicks of the Avery County Sheriff’s Office, was killed in the line of duty on Feb. 20, 2003. Also participating were Paige Mast, who lost husband Deputy William Mast of the Watauga County Sheriff’s Office; Tina Jordan, wife of Retired Sheriff Alan Jordan of the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office, who was involved in a shooting during the line of duty; Wanda Rhyne, who lost husband Deputy Rick Rhyne of the Moore County Sheriff’s Office; and Deputy Rebecca Russell, whose husband Deputy Preston Russell of the Watauga County Sheriff’s Office was the partner of Deputy Mast.
All panelists experienced a traumatic incident involving an officer.
Attendees of the Sheriffs’ Leadership Institute and panelists discussed topics including the importance of sheriff’s office personnel being the first to notify family even before the severity of the incident is known; posting a deputy around the clock at the family’s residence; staying with a spouse indefinitely whether at home or at a hospital; serving as liaison between family, hospital staff and the SBI; assisting family with the organization of visitation and funeral; emotional aftercare, counseling and support, for both a surviving officer or the family of a slain officer; assistance with survivor benefits; and planning of memorial events.
The mission of the North Carolina Sheriffs’ Association is to serve as the statewide voice to protect, promote, preserve and enhance the Office of Sheriff in North Carolina through education, training and legislative initiatives that increase public safety and protect the rights of the citizens of North Carolina.
