Suicide In Law Enforcement

I am is a former first responder who experienced the darkness that can come with a profession in law-enforcement, and I share my experiences and perspectives here in the hopes that maybe just one first responder reads what I write-pauses for just a minute-and decides that tomorrow is worth exploring.

We can have a conversation around why a first responder may choose to take their own life and list a myriad of reasons. We could spend countless hours sitting in a webinar discussing how best to combat what is an ever-growing problem. I want to propose, alternatively, that collectively the conversation shift from asking a first responder to ask for help when they need it, to a more adaptive approach in attempting to turn the tide of what is an increasing problem in police departments across the country. This has already begun in many departments and organizations across the first responder community. I was witness to this very approach while in the New York City Police Department.

I was a Cold Case Homicide detective in my last years with the department, where the cases we worked on were unsolved murder investigations that hadn’t been worked by a detective in many years. When approaching an investigation of this magnitude it is ill advised to rely solely on what an investigator had done previously without conducting your own investigation. You wouldn’t use the same approach for each and every case or view one the same as the next. You also wouldn’t use the same methods for each one. When speaking of officer wellness, I sometimes felt early on in my career that though there were so many resources I could utilize within the department, I still felt that I was isolated and alone in my own world. Sure, there were telephone numbers provided for emotional assistance or substance abuse, informational flyers disseminated on how to cope with the job’s stresses, and trainings posted on our intranet. At times there were visits from the Employee Assistance Unit explaining what to do if any one of us needed to reach out for help. Telling us, “the helpers”, that we may be the ones in need of help is not always received well or for that matter entertained as an option. For years, we would call it, “the farm”, an in-patient facility required to attend if you were having a problem with alcohol. The stigma of being labeled someone who went to the farm made most reluctant to seek help- if in fact one could admit that they needed help.

I believe a different approach is needed than simply providing self-service resources. Just like investigating a cold case, there are too many pieces of a puzzle to approach any one case as you had the last. You could spend, and waste, valuable time getting nowhere in the end and be left wondering why. In the case of an officer who takes his or her life, often times left wondering why it happened and what could have been done to prevent it. I often used alcohol as a means to numb out the stress I was enduring, and I was completely unaware at the time that I was even doing just that. I would drink to numb out the chaos I saw in my life state and uncertainty of the future. This further isolated me from everyone and everything in my life- including my family. I decided that change would only happen if it started within before I could affect that change with any other aspect of my life. This was possible because I was fortunate to have what I am advocating for, a support structure that helped foster a positive change. A structure that was not “self-service”, rather present on a consistent basis. When you are stuck in your own world of problems there often times is no foresight into what you hold for your future. There is no planning for it. “The trauma a first responder may endure deprives them of looking to new opportunities”, says Judith Herman, M.D. in her book Trauma and Recovery. She goes on to explain that when there is no thought of the future it keeps one relegated to their current state, that in enduring one’s pain we create the misbelief that there is no end in sight. When we use alcohol to cope with our problems, we exacerbate the problems rather than reduce or eliminate them. Numbing our problems rather than managing them head on hurts our self-image, so much so that we may come to both see ourselves as no longer honorable or even recognizable. Most officers enter the law enforcement profession at eighteen years of age, before the integral stages of development are completed and their self-image is fully formed. At this stage, when they identify “self” as solely an officer, it becomes very dangerous when that “self” image is called into question. When this happens, it becomes easier to say goodbye to what we believe we have become especially when it’s a person that is thought to be causing so much harm and pain to everyone in their life. The decision to end one’s life becomes the one thing an officer feels they still have control over. A sense of control that has all been lost in a world so unfamiliar to what they once knew. I think we are sadly mistaken in believing that at this critical point we should expect an officer to be willing to ask for help. When feeling that the only option is to simply disappear this “ask” may be way too late.

Here is what I propose. Like a math equation, there may be different formulas that give you the same answer. In this case, the answer we are looking for is the choice of life for those that are struggling. While they may share the same inputs (job stress, violence, risk to life), a first responders processing of those inputs is unique and therefore deserve and would benefit from a unique plan. It should begin in the academy with the emotional and mental health of law enforcement prioritized and co-managed by a personal peer or counselor assigned to them on their journey through retirement. Throughout their career, receiving education on what to look out for and where they could turn for help in and outside of the department. It is inefficient to simply tell our first responders to ask for help when they need it, and consider our work done. If that worked, there likely would not be as many suicides by law enforcement/first responders as there are in United States each and every year. That help has to be front and center continuously. We can do far more to help law enforcement by addressing the sources of their mental and emotional stressors as they are occurring and before they become problems, than by trying to fix a growing epidemic of law enforcement suicides by encouraging more officers to simply ask for help when they believe they need it. We don’t often know we are in need of help until emotional and mental damage to ourselves and our families has already been inflicted. I was assigned a pension counselor once I decided it was time to retire who allowed me to make good decisions and protect my “financial” health. I think this should happen as a new recruit but in the behavioral/mental health aspect in the form of a counselor that will allow officers to make good decisions and protect their “emotional” health. If it is part of the new hire process then it won’t be looked at as taboo to reach out. When officers, on average work a career lasting two decades, experience daily traumatic incidents, consistent threats to life, at times moral injury, and a plethora of other things, we have to be consistently involved to have an impact and help prevent them from reaching the point of no return. This is just one suggestion from one cop that struggled himself. Let’s strive for more of a collaborative effort with an adapt and refine outlook that is individually specific. As the culture begins to change, it will be become more commonplace for officers to understand help as something that shouldn’t be stigmatized. Wayne Dyer said, “Change the way you look at things, and the things you look at change.”

I always like to provide options and highlight those in this space that are devoting their life’s mission to the wellness of our men and women in uniform. Redefine Your Mission is one of them.  Jennifer Tracy, Shauna ‘Doc’ Springer and Michael Sugrue bring year’s worth of experience to this space and are making a huge impact. Beyond the Badge is another. Let’s provide exposure to people like this when our young officers take their first step through those academy doors. Let’s help our first responders develop into believing that it is a strength to ask for help if needed. Let’s help them develop the skills to recognize when they do. And let’s collectively work towards ending the false belief among the law enforcement and first responder communities that the helpers are not the ones that ask for help. Let’s together work towards saving one life at a time.

At Veteran and First Responder Healthcare we are committed to the health and wellness of our fellow human beings that have decided the cost of their life is second to the preservation of yours—those that go to work each day to make sure your day is the best it can be and in the best of environments for you and your family. Let us do our part to make it the best for them and their families so they can continue protecting us. We are Veterans and First Responders serving Veterans and First Responders.

About VFR Healthcare

VFR (Veteran & First Responder) Healthcare, the sister company of Strive Health, is a veteran-owned and operated organization that is committed to increasing the access to, and quality of, outpatient addiction and mental health treatment for Veterans, First Responders, and their families. VFR has developed clinical programming designed specifically for veterans, first responders, and their families and incorporates these principles to all programs and services provided. All Strive centers proudly serve VFR Healthcare and offer a wide range of confidential, trauma-informed outpatient treatment programs and services for adults and adolescents suffering from Substance Use Disorder and/or co-occurring mental health conditions, including intensive outpatient programs, outpatient programs, and early intervention services.

About Strive Health Centers for Recovery and Community Health

Strive Health (Strive) was founded to become the premier provider of high-quality, cost-effective, evidence-based outpatient addiction and behavioral health treatment in the United States. Strive programs and services are designed to provide high-quality, trauma-informed and client-centered outpatient treatment to help individuals in recovery maintain their life in the “real world” as they rebuild healthy, self-directed lives, reach their full potential, and achieve long-lasting outcomes.

Strive Health is proud to have developed a network of Centers for Recovery and Community Health united in its mission of providing the highest quality care to individuals and families striving to live healthy, self-directed lives. Strive centers provide a wide range of trauma-informed outpatient treatment programs and service for Substance Use Disorder and co-occurring mental health conditions that address the multi-level needs of its patients. Further, Strive programs utilize evidence-based treatment modalities, and offer medication-assisted treatment (MAT), such as Vivitrol, to patients as clinically and medically appropriate.

All Strive centers proudly serve its sister company, VFR Healthcare, and offer a wide range of confidential, trauma-informed outpatient treatment programs and services designed specifically for Veterans, First Responders, and their families.

Jason M. Palamara

VFR Healthcare, LLC

Director | First Responder Operations

(516) 314-1873

[email protected]

www.vfrhealthcare.com