Police Suicide Summary

Each year law enforcement officers throughout the county are involved in shootings, some of them fatal. Frequently the shootings are reported by the media, which exploits the feelings of the victim while ignoring the effect of the shooting on the police officer. It is “estimated that approximately 87 percent of all emergency service personnel will experience a critical incident at least once in their career, which include officer-involved shootings” (Kureczka, 2002, p. 18). Officer-involved shootings have a profound effect on not only the officer involved but also their spouses, families, and the departments they serve. Law enforcement officers that are involved in officer-involved shootings need support and assistance such as critical incident stress debriefing and sometimes long-term trauma recover therapy in order to cope and live successful lives beyond the critical incident of the shooting.

Society in general have showed the distrust, protests and many questions for the like hood of the police profession. The reputation of the police profession is that of the 6 pillars of policing in the modern world as outlined by the President’s Task Force on the 21st Century Policing, which sought to recommend steps forward. Under the banners of ‘Building Trust and Legitimacy’, ‘Policy and Oversight’, ‘Technology and Social Media’, ‘Community Policing and Crime Reduction’, ‘Officer Training and Education’, and ‘Officer Safety and Wellness’ – here are concise definitions for each one and what they mean for American policing ("Final report of the resident’s task force on 21st century policing," 2015).

Suicide among police officers is a dramatic example of what can happen when those entrusted with the protection of others fail to protect and care for themselves (Suicide and the Police Officer, 2006). Police officers tend to create an identify for themselves in order to seem powerful, in-charge, and unwavering in the line of duty, when in reality the persona that they create can lead to officers breaking down physically and mentally (McCord 368). After an officer joins the police force, they are expected to accept the fact that there will be violence and trauma in their line of work. There are no mental health checkpoints that officers are required to meet in order to continue working in these stressful conditions, forcing

Suicide prevention in the military forces is a past and present problem that requires deliberate attention and training in order to reduce the number of soldier’s deaths. This can seem like a goal that may never be attained when the overwhelming numbers of soldier deaths are

In the average person’s life seeing someone who had died in a car accident, been murdered, or committed suicide would be traumatic event that they would distinctly remember for the rest of their lives. Police officers encounter these type of events on a regular basis. Seeing those type of events and more go beyond just stress. These are traumatic events that wear on officers over time and can have serious negative mental health effects. In 2008 there were 141 officer suicides, in 2009 there were 143, and then another 126 in 2012. In the last six months on 2015 there were 51 police officer suicides. These numbers are well above the national average for suicides. There are many years where more officers take their own lives then are taking while in the line of duty and most years they are at least similar in numbers. It’s truly a tragedy that officers are as likely to kill themselves as to be killed by criminals. What is possibly most frightening about all of this isn’t just the high number of suicides, that’s just the tip of the iceberg, it’s the even higher number of officers who are currently at risk to become suicidal themselves. For every officer suicide there are at least another 1000 officers currently suffering from some symptoms of PTSD.

The Center for Disease Control maintains a national database of occupation related mortality. Known as the National Occupational Mortality Surveillance (NOMS), this database maintains the death certificate data from 28 states, greatly limiting the overall picture of the United States as a whole. The current Occupational Health and Safety and NOMS databases do not specifically segregate first responder job classes, yet lumps them into occupational codes that encompass occupations that are not relevant to first responders. Statistical data from NOMS (1994-1998) showed that police suicides were four times greater than firefighters and police suicides dwarfed homicides 2.36 times (Violanti, 2010). There are significant limitations in research related to first responder suicide rates as the

In 2008, according to the National Surveillance of Police Suicide Study (The Badge of life, 2008), there were 141 suicides committed by police officers. Police officers who were more at risked were around the age of 35 to 39 and had served for 10 to 14 years. 64 percent of the suicides came as a surprise from those involved in the officer’s lives. In 2009, the numbers went up, but it was not a huge difference. It was now 143 suicides, the age range was about 40 to 44 years old and had served 20 years and above. From 2009 to 2012, suicide rate has gone down. In 2012 126 police officers committed suicide, although the age range was the same as in 2009 and service on the force was 15 to 19 years. Some additional data was added to the study; the average age of police officers who committed suicide was 42 and years on the job was 16. Males committed the most suicide, which was 91 percent and 11 percent were veterans. It is troubling to see so many police officers ending their life and dying by their own hands more than the officers killed on duty, as NSOPS stated (The Badge of Life, 2008). This is why I think it is necessary for agencies to focus on emotional health and make it a priority. In 2015 suicides did decrease to 51 and that is a huge decline but I believe that number can go even lower if the system worked to promote emotional health (The Badge of Life,

Many factors can contribute to this problem the police force is having with police officers abuse of power, one of them being the psychological health of police officers where they aren’t fit to serve and protect the people they sworn to protect. After the shooting of an unarmed woman at Capitol Hill, The National Allegiance on Mental Illness (NAMI) and the Crisis Intervention Training (CIT) started what is to be the most Comprehensive Police Officer mental health program in the country, this 40 hours crisis intervention program is available in 45 states as well as the district of Columbia, excluded are the state of Delaware, West Virginia, Alabama, Arkansas and Rhode Island. Needless to say a few departments are working hard to improve the quality and integrity of their officers to eliminate the raising percentage of officers committing abuse to those who they sworn to protect.

Law enforcement suicide is a problem that affects law enforcement agencies across the United States. No agencies, large or small, are immune to the possibility of an officer taking their own life. These deaths should be almost non-existent since they involve a community of people who have been found to be mentally healthy. By working to educate and support law enforcement, both through the department and by working with other organizations, agencies can greatly reduce the number of law enforcement suicides. The Grand Junction Police Department, while making strides in some areas, still has much work to do to implement an effective suicide prevention program.

Throughout history laws and regulations have formed for society to abide by to avoid a world full of absolute chaos. Ultimately leading to the creation of police officers who would enforce these laws and regulations. However, this is one of the world’s most dangerous and stressful professions. Mainly because police officers are expected to put their lives on the line every single day to protect and serve society. Even though this is the case, becoming a police officer has always been a goal of mine. Edward Conlon book called, “Blue Blood” provides amazing insight on what it’s like to be a police officer. This is because Edward Conlon was previously a police officer and based this book around his personal experiences while he was on the job. Since this book is based around first-hand experience and written as they were happening it made me enjoy the book even more. Mainly because these events weren 't over exaggerated. However, since the book is based around stories within stories, I sometimes found it difficult to follow. This book presented many examples of issues that the police face daily and showed that sometimes these issues aren’t easy to handle. Three specific issues that Edward Conlon faced as a police officer that relates to my issues in policing class is dealing with the mentally ill, using discretion, and police training.

As crime coexists with humanity, the presence of the police force ensures the suppression of crime and the safety for our society. Every occupation has its own work stress. What is unique is all the different stress found in one job. Aside from the heroic services police officers perform in their duty, they experience overwhelming stress in their daily duty. Police stress refers to the negative pressures related to police work (Police Stress, n.d.). In order to maintain peace and order, there must be an effective police force up and running. For that to happen, departments need to be aware and deal with the negative effects caused by police stress. Whereas, police officers must conquer their stress in order to work at their

We are becoming all too familiar with police suicide especially with the attention it gets from the media. In New York City, twice as many police officers die by their own hand as do in the line of duty (Finn)! The suggested reason, higher stress levels. What is going on? Every study done points to the higher levels of stress police officers face, but what form does that stress take? With suicide there seem to be four factors: 1. Divorce 2. Alcohol - not alcoholism, that was one of the early theories, but in actuality it was the use of alcohol right before the act to "get up the nerve" 3.

I do not believe that depression can cause suicide in police officers because I feel every officer has had depression more than once in their career. I also believe that officers in rural areas have less depression and stress that officers in urban areas. Since, I grew up in a rural area I have been fortunate to not see a lot of depressed officers but, it does not mean that no officer that I have been with has not suffered from depression. I have not heard of a suicide in my county or in surrounding counties, I feel more officers would have more depression, anxiety, and suicides if there were not as many therapists or help lines that officers can talk to and get

Law enforcement officers put their lives on the line every time he or she puts on their uniform. For instance, it is quite emotional for the family of any law enforcement officer to see their loved one go to work and not know what their shift will entail. One way that a family could endure the emotions is to pray for their loved one who is in law enforcement. Whereas the officers’ job stress is at high levels so could their personal lives. Some studies in particular, show how family, friends, and the community treated by the officers could depend on the officers’ level of stress and how well positive adaptation occurs (Hille, 2009). Understanding that the law enforcement officers’ job is stressful enough, their home lives should not be. As of 2000, police officers were seven times more likely to commit suicide than other Americans. In addition, police officers had the third highest suicide rate among 130 U. S. occupations. According to the National Association of Police Chiefs, twice as many police officers took their own lives each year as have killed in the line of duty (“World of Criminal Justice, Gale Research,” 2002). This outcome stems from the outward show of how the officers deal with their job stress. For instance, some of the ways officers handle their stress could be drinking, physically abusing their wives or children, or acting carelessly on vacation or on a family outing. Although particular law enforcement officers put on the persona

Police Reform should be one of the many issues handled in the first one-hundred days of our new President’s term. The unrest and corruption are actions that do not belong in our police force. The criminal justice system needs revised. Since 1791 Americans have lost 20,789 officers killed in the line of duty (Law Enforcement Facts 1). To modernize this statistic, from 2004-2013 an average of 151 officers have died in the line of duty (Deaths,