Basic police tasks conducted in the case of any unexpected or violent death consist of determining the cause of death, establishing the victim's identity, protecting the deceased person's property, and establishing the next of kin so as to arrange for disposition of the body. How and when relatives are notified of such a death depend on the following four major factors: (1) the degree of participation needed from the family to assist in identifying the victim, (2) the need for a family member to assume financial responsibility for disposition of the body, (3) the degree to which a particular officer or group of officers must externalize the death event and regard it as an impersonal byproduct of official and real activities, and (4) the involved officer's notions about human nature and personal views of what a person's response ought to be in the case of the death of a loved one. Police training for such a responsibility should consider human variation in both officer and citizen, while giving basic information about what to anticipate, approaches which are most compassionate and least hurtful, common errors made in trying to help others, community resources which can be used as referral sources, and the unique ways in which an officer can help. Ten references are listed.