I’ve been to a few funerals for officers killed in the line of duty. Whether killed by suspects or in traffic accidents, even heart attacks while trying to control a resisting offender. But I’ve attended two times as many funerals or memorials for officers who have killed themselves.
This is not an easy subject to talk about. In law enforcement it is the “elephant in the room” which no one wants to acknowledge or speak about. “Don’t look, if we avert our eyes and don’t do anything to admit it exists and is a real problem, maybe it will just go away…” Like anything positive ever happens when you just pretend there’s not a problem and don’t take steps to deal with it. Even worse are those administrators who deny there is a problem, refer to officers as “weak” who have killed themselves, and have no policies or programs such as stress reduction, wellness or counseling available to mitigate officer self-inflicted deaths.
Item: Recently an officer committed suicide in the parking lot behind police headquarters.
Item: A police chief writes an email stating, “These suicides were about personal choices, selfishness and weakness,” after three of his officers committed suicide in two years.
Item: A police officer battling depression shoots himself at the scene of a car burglary in front of his partner and the car’s owner.
Item: Two officers from the same agency commit suicide within two months. Over the past five years this agency has had four officers take their own lives.
Item: A lieutenant who was publicly excoriated after a use of force incident involving a mentally ill subject who died from a fall after he was Tasered commits suicide. The Lt. had his badge and gun taken away and was removed from his assignment.
Item: Less than two weeks after a recently retired officer commits suicide, the retired officer who wrote his obituary takes his own life as well.
Having survived violent encounters on the streets only to die at your own hand, is truly a sad statement.
The Numbers
We have all heard that more police officer die by their own hand than are killed in the line of duty. That number is incorrect. According to the The Badge of Life website, www.badgeoflife.com “More cops commit suicide than are killed by felons. In 2011, there were 147 police suicides and 164 line of duty death, of which 65 were by gunfire.”
As reported in “A Study of Police Suicide from 2008 – 2012,” www.policesuicidestudy.com:
- 2008 police suicides: 141
- 2009 police suicides: 143
- 2012 police suicides: 126
- Average age, 2012: 42 years
- Average years on the job: 16
- Gender: Male 91%
- 63% of the suicide victims were single
The website and study does a lot to debunk many of the myths of the causes of police suicide – alcoholism, divorce as unsupported by available data.
Police suicide researcher Dr. John Violanti is quoted on retiree suicide numbers, “police officers continue to experience the ‘residual’ of trauma after separating from police service.”
The Real Culprit?
Abuse of alcohol, availability of guns, stress about the “administration”, lack of support, the list goes on but many factors such as alcohol abuse may be symptoms or as a result of larger issues. According to The Badge of Life, the deeper problem may be PTSD – Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, “Research remains to be done, although in 2012 three departments finally acknowledge that their police suicides were directly attributable to job stress or trauma.”
In “Stress and Health in Law Enforcement” a study of officers from the Buffalo, NY police department which was published by the CDC – Centers for Disease Control and Prevention by Baughman, Hartley, Burchfiel and Violanti (CDC, NIOSH Science Blog, August, 2012). The authors list a variety of results including: “The prevalence of depressive symptoms was nearly double that of the general population”; “Officers had up to six times the poor sleep quality of the lowest stressed officers”; “Increase in certain types of cancer”; “Reduction in brachial artery flow”; and more.
We accept that stress is an integral part of the J.O.B. “Stresses in police work occur because of the nature of the work experience itself. Further, stress is a function of police organizations and the traditional subculture and “politics” of every police department, everywhere,” James T. Reese, quoted in Police Stress Interventions; 2003; Amaranto, Steinberg, Castellano, Mitchell.
My friend and police chaplain Bob Denton believes that, “Stresses within the department account for about 93%,” versus stress from the street which accounts for about 7%.
Stress is different than trauma and the negative effects on one’s psyche of one traumatic event as well as trauma built up over years or an entire career.
Trauma and developed PTSD – Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, can be from one call: officer involved shooting, murder scene, traffic fatality, death of an infant or toddler. It can also be accumulated trauma/PTSD collected over a number of years (called “residual trauma”) which may be continued to be experienced even after retiring according to Dr. Violanti.
Getting Help
“Pain shared is pain divided. Joy shared is joy multiplied.” – Author unknown
Police officers like to think that they are big tough guys and gals who “can take it,” whatever “it” in that equation is. However under the blue polyester is just a man or woman subject to the same frailties as any other. Consider that a common statement after an officer’s suicide is “we didn’t know he was having problems,” or reference to the fact the officer, “slipped under the radar.” Flying under the radar, hiding your problems, trying to dull your feelings – loneliness, anger, sadness, depression – with alcohol just makes things worse.
The toughest part of reducing officer suicide is to get officers the help they desperately need. An interesting strategy recommended by the folks at BOL – Badge of Life is a yearly mental wellness check with a qualified therapist. This is kind of a unique recommendation as traditionally law enforcement officers are skeptical of “shrinks.” But BOL equates the mental health checkup with physical health checkups that have been recommended for decades.
Certainly law enforcement needs to include more education in basic academies. Over the last few years training has focused on the “special needs” of certain segments of society and time in basic programs has been dedicated to the health and welfare of others. Yet my state’s basic academy curriculum includes nothing about police suicide and coping strategies.
If agencies focus on mental health wellness programs including stress and trauma they will reduce officer suicides as a benefit according to BOL.
Certainly a suicidal officer should be referred to a professional but having plans and systems in place prior to an emergency is one heck of a lot better than reacting in an emergency. These plans and systems include what to do after a suicide so that morale is not adversely affected by stupid comments by a boss such as “He took the coward’s way out.”
Over my career which has had its share of twists, turns, stress, trauma and attempts by some alleged brothers in blue to insert sharp pointy blades in my back, I have sought the counsel and advice of my police chaplain. A reserve officer himself, we have “talked of many things” and most of those conversations have little to do with religion, per se. I have come to value his wise counsel and support as well as his occasional “kit in the ass.”
Having someone to talk to about this job and life in general especially a professional in these areas, who doesn’t judge can keep you sane in an oftentimes insane world.
There are people who care about and depend on you. Never forget that!
Be well.
This column is dedicated to James, Howard, Kenny and Dave.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – Police and Stress
http://blogs.cdc.gov/niosh-science-blog/2008/06/30/police/
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – Police Stress Resources
http://blogs.cdc.gov/niosh-science-blog/police-stress-resources/
Police Stress Interventions
