RRPD host public information session: Death at Home

RIO RANCHO — What does one do when a loved one passes away at home? It’s not a pleasant topic, but it is one that bares discussion. It can be a complicated process, depending on the situation. That’s why the Rio Rancho Police Department hosted a public information session Oct. 17 at Esther Bone Memorial Library.

According to the RRPD website, “Public Information Exchanges (PIEs) foster the development of crime prevention programs in order to keep our neighborhoods, families and businesses safe from crime and secure from all threats.”

This session was hosted by Sgt. Jeramie Bisagna, who addressed a gathering of roughly a dozen attendees.

“This is actually one of the larger groups we’ve had,” Bisagna said during the presentation.

Sgt. Bisagna began by listing off the four types of death the police deal with: accidental, natural causes, homicide and self-inflicted. Depending on the type of death, the actions taken can vary greatly. It is often on the arriving uniformed officer to assess the situation and determine the type of death.

The attendees asked a lot of questions.

One Rio Rancho resident inquired, “I don’t want my body opened up at all. Can I just go right from my house to the crematorium?”

“Yes. Just make sure you have that specified in your will,” was the answer.

There can be complicated procedures after a person’s death, but the theme of the presentation was to know what is needed, if possible, beforehand. It can make a difficult time much easier.

The presentation, whether intentional or not, highlighted just how much an officer needs to consider when approaching a scene where someone has died.

The PIE was the latest in a series of such sessions aimed at increasing public awareness and the RRPD’s positive engagement with the community.

“Our goal is to improve the quality of life for our citizens by encouraging [them] to be good neighbors and assisting the police department in identifying the criminal elements who prey upon society,” the RRPD website explains. “The department ... will be offering a variety of educational and training opportunities to the citizens we serve, establishing a social gathering location for connecting and communicating. We will also strive to provide transparency to the general public. By partnering together, crime can be prevented or reduced, and the overall quality of life can be improved.”

Bisagna, who does have grief counseling training and specializes in responding to non-emergent deaths at home, handled the presentation with grace and respect, but added in a touch of gallows humor and just enough personal narrative to connect with the audience.

RRPD PIEs are held twice a month at rotating library locations around Rio Rancho.

Information for the next RRPD Public Information Exchange has not been released yet.

The next RRPD event will be Drug Take Back Day on Oct. 26 from 8 a.m.-noon at 500 Quantum Road.