Addressing suicide in law enforcement
Nancy Perry
Experienced editor with 30 years in B2B publishing who nurtures writers and equips them with strategies for success. Expertise in enhancing leadership voices and optimizing content through the integration of new tech.
On August 14, a veteran NYPD officer with more than 25 years of service fatally shot himself at his home. This tragedy came one day after another off-duty NYPD officer fatally shot himself, bringing up the total of NYPD officer suicide deaths to nine this year to date. Sadly, this is not an isolated trend. More police officers died by suicide than in the line of duty in 2018, as was the case the previous year and the year prior to that.
If you are feeling suicidal, help is available. Call the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 800/273-TALK, or visit suicidepreventionlifeline.org.
While awareness is growing about the risks LEOs face from repeated exposure to emotional trauma and high-stress incidents, we are still at the beginning of a long journey to creating a supportive environment where officers feel able to seek peer support and other mental health-related services. This will require police leadership to aggressively implement the training, policies and programs that promote officer self-care and mental health awareness.
In a special edition PoliceOne member eNewsletter, we share some incredibly personal stories about the impact of police suicide, review key steps police leaders should be taking to prioritize officer health, detail how Massachusetts is integrating suicide prevention into in-service training, and list key suicide prevention resources to share with your peers, supervisors or the officers you supervise. Click here to read.
What programs has your agency implemented to prioritize officer wellness? Email [email protected].
DNP, APRN-BC, PPCNP-BC, Associate Dean, Academic Affairs, Nursing | Innovative Nurse Educator in Higher Education
5 年They deserve help. Human like everyone else. Thank you all for what you do
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5 年Thank you, Nancy for addressing this on going critical issue. The toll that public safety extracts from our colleagues each year lets us all know that we have a long way to go and much work to do.? Removing the taboo of discussing suicide is an important first step/
Innovative Law Enforcement Tactics Program Creator | Expert Use of Force Trainer | Published Author | Insightful Podcast Host | Transforming Public Safety Through Education and Expertise
5 年It's an absolute tragedy that more officers take their own lives each year than are taken from us by violence.? Yet, almost all of our training time is spent addressing the outside threats and neglects the hard conversations about the truth. ? It's a complicated issue but one that is not going away through ignoring, which we have done, or hoping.. ? We need to change the culture within the profession so that officers can ask for help, admit when they are not well and feel safe in doing so. ??
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5 年Let’s make PTSD and mental health something not sot after. Rather a daily mandatory part of starting your shift. Every officer MUST go. Give them time on the clock of 1hr. to be with a therapist that specializes in PTSD. It’s a hard job beyond belief. They are screaming for help. Please let’s not loose any more law enforcement by suicide. ?????????? I back & Love the Blue.
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5 年PTSD is real. The hardest group of first responders to seek help are LEOS. They don’t want to appear weak or vulnerable. They are scared their job could be compromised if they say how they are really feeling. How do we change this behavior? I think the solution is out there. I wish I knew where!