THE team brings bad news.

A squad of six Traffic Police officers is the one who has to tell families their loved one has died in a road accident.

The squad calls itself Fait, an acronym for Fatal Accident Investigation Team. Said aloud, it could well be short for fatal or fate.

Only Traffic Police officers with three to four years' investigation experience can sign up to be a member of the squad.

Once activated, the officers in the squad interview witnesses and drivers and sketch out how the accident may have happened. They then inform the victim's family.

Senior Staff Sergeant Clement Tan, 29, who has been on the squad for four years, has found out the job does not necessarily get easier.

'Sometimes, I find it hard to break it to them.'

He recalled telling a 19-year-old last year that a motorcycle accident had killed his grandfather, and hesitating when he realised the pillion rider - who had also died - was the teen's mother.

'It was going to be a second blow and I felt sorry for him, so I hesitated. Then, I got the courage to tell him,' said Senior Staff Sgt Tan.

Police officers undergo training with mentors for about two months. The training includes learning how to help next-of-kin work through the shock and grief of the news.

Last year, Fait dealt with the relatives of 103 motorcyclists and pillion riders who died in road accidents, 37, is the squad's first female commander. She has been with the team for seven years.

'Informing the family is not easy. You are the first to see what happened at the scene, including the condition of the body,' she said.

If you go to the family's house after that and you are still thinking about it and are feeling down, it will be difficult to talk to the family.'

Fait officers are usually not in uniform for this part of the job. But when they introduce themselves, relatives typically sense something is amiss.

Read the full report in Monday's edition of The Straits Times.