Suicide rate outpaces line of duty deaths

[Glenn E. Meyer]

FYI - a general report on suicide rates. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/67/...cid=mm6744a3_w

There seems to be an indication that firearm suicide rates are increasing in general. It might be increasing even more sharply among older white males. Economics, life stress factors are suggested. How these interact with the particular nature of law enforcement stress should be investigated.

A link between firearms availability in the USA and suicide gets tangled with gun rights and gun control agendas by some scholars and advocates. Difficult issue to parse objectively for some.

Terrible situations for all involved.

[BehindBlueI's]

Unfortunately, I'm not convinced that looking out for each other is enough.

Respectfully, no shit. That's akin to claiming a diagnosis is enough to cure the disease. It's just a first step in a process, and a way to increase buy-in and legitimacy for programs that do work. It's the first steps in a process, claiming it's enough on it's own is like claiming a diagnosis is sufficient to cure a disease.

Looking out for each other is how you funnel someone in to the help they need to have the best chance of pulling through. That's why it's such a shame apparently only 10% of departments bother to have a suicide prevention program at all. Think about it. If suicides are killing more officers than LODDs an effective mental health program will save more officers than any other improvements in training or equipment.

I can tell you that our office has saved officer's careers for certain. I can speculate it has saved lives, but that's much more difficult to count. I know for absolute certain that officers that would have been fired have been referred to them and made a turn around. In my short tenure as a supervisor, I've already used it in lieu of suspension and so far the results are promising. I know one of my rookies just went on a baby not breathing run, and he's got a new baby a few weeks old at home. I've followed up with him once and will do so again in a week or two, as well as keep an eye on his work product for any changes. That's "looking out for each other". Keeping an eye out for problems, if one is spotted working with the officer to accept the problem, then facilitating the officer getting into the care of people trained to, and with a track record for, making a difference to first responders specifically, is the current best practice in my mind.

Most of us aren't even POST officers. We can be a support system, we can be a friendly shoulder and voice of reason, but as tough as it is we need to accept we aren't the experts here. Too often it just turns into choir practice, which goes back to alcohol as a coping mechanism and look out fucking hard we all are chest pounding. My approach, as a peer and a supervisor, is you can talk to me first, but I'm not the last you're talking to. POST, Chaplain's Office, EAP / Development Office, etc is the next step, depending.


And to everyone, this is a technical forum and as such any best practices, ideas, etc. on addressing the problem and creating buy-in from the brass is appropriate here. Given how personally affected many of us are, stories and less technical posts won't be trimmed as I think it helps put more of a human face on the numbers.

[Stephanie B]

Swerving head on towards a TT is a good plan until you consider how many other people that action could have killed from the resulting collisions.

Not to mention that those doing that force the truck driver to be an unwilling participant. I read a news story about 30 years ago that discussed the mental trauma of railroad engineers who had seen people stand in front of their trains.

[Larry Sellers]

Having had to pronounce a cop who literally pushed pause on the TV remote and put his duty weapon in his mouth, I would agree that there is a problem and stigma. The saddest part of that call for me was his dog on a leash outside the house looking up at us on the porch. Almost as if the dog knew that it’s life had irrevocably changed for the worse. Dude’s partner found the body when he didn’t show up for work. He did it old school, one round with an empty mag and the slide locked back. I’d read about it, but it was the first time I’d seen it.

Generally, these days when I sense a coworker or colleague is struggling, I point them toward Warrior’s Heart. I know of another in my profession that locked himself in the office and overdosed on enough narcotics to kill an elephant. He was dealing with chronic pain from a previous injury and god knows what else.

I’m really not sure what conclusions to draw, but outside of LEO/EMS/MIL, I can’t count the number of bodies I’ve pronounced from hangings, GSW, and ODs. One of my closest friend’s son hanged himself last year and another of my uncle’s nephews killed himself a couple of years ago. This time of year is always rough.

The ones that piss me off are the ones that have young kids that find the bodies and the ones that do stupid shit that puts the public at large at serious risk. Swerving head on towards a TT is a good plan until you consider how many other people that action could have killed from the resulting collisions.

As I’ve posted before, suicide is rarely the right answer, and it always creates more questions than answers for the survivors.

Sebastian Junger’s “Tribe” is a good read, and I think he’s probably on to something.

My apologies if I went on a bit of a rant in this post, but the subject is not abstract for me. While dark humor generally rules the day, I’m generally kind to those that call 911. The system is definitely fucked, but if they have no one else to call, then definitely call us.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Finished that book the other night, until I read your post I was going to recommend the book to others. Good read

[Lester Polfus]

Watch out for each other. Don't be the guy who's stuck wondering "if only I'd..."

I'm that guy. I don't want to divulge the details here, but a well-liked sergeant got involved with a woman that everyone knew was bad news, and by the end, it had ended tragically.

Later, I realized that if he had been shot in laying in the middle of the street under fire, any one of us would have charged out to go drag him to cover, but none of us had the balls to take him to coffee and say "Sarge, I know you're lonely since your wife left you, and you've never been a big hit with the ladies, but this new chick is taking you for a ride and you're going to lose your badge."

Bravery comes in many forms. Don't be a coward, because you'll regret it for the rest of your life. I have done very few things in my life that I am ashamed of, but my inaction, in this case, is one of them, and there is absolutely nothing I can do to fix it.

[feudist]

I went to 6 LODD funerals over my career.

Me and an academy buddy were talking after we had 3 officers killed in 1 incident. We started talking about suicides in the department and adding them up.

It was 3 to 1.

[willie]

The thread prompted my reading in the area. I found a link that summarizes selected research. The article pointed out that controversy exists about prevalence of officer suicide. For example, one study cited concluded that when certain variables in research are controlled, then cop suicide is no higher than that of the general population. These variables include race, sex, gender, and age. Another study claimed that suicide rate for police officers is even lower than the general population's. Of course we here accept that it is a serious problem. The article addresses many issues pertaining to this topic. Its bibliography is detailed.

oxfordre.com/criminology/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190264079.001.0001/acrefore-9780190264079-e-87

[BehindBlueI's]

Another study claimed that suicide rate for police officers is even lower than the general population's.

It should be. A group of people who's selection process generally includes a psychological evaluation, who's rate of drug use should be significantly lower, who have steady employment, etc. SHOULD be lower than the general population.

And while I'm sure the academic study of prevalence rates it is fascinating to some, is of little relevance to me. Why and how to prevent it, that's what I'm interested in. Particularly what I can do at my level.

[willie]

Reading the article reveals another study showing that the rate is much higher than the general population. The consensus is that the problem exists and must be addressed. Stress seems to be the common denominater, and police administration contributes more than it should. About administrators, I was reminded of research done by Professor Peter during the 1960's. He found that in organizations people are promoted to their level of incompetency. I saw this repeatedly in the school business. Officer suicide must also be addressed from the top of the organization down. I fear that it will not.

[Sherman A. House DDS]

My FTO when I was a cadet checked out. I took it hard. I was later assigned his radio callsign on another department, so I think about him every time I say it, or hear it.

I had another compatriot in dental school who was very close to me (we were both living in TN but from WA) and he punched out near the end of our second year. He had a child as old as mine, which made it much more awful and real for me.

Whenever people say stupid shit like, “Don’t dentists kill themselves more than any other specialist?” I tell them about my friend, Frank. They usually look sheepish after that, and then fuck off. Hopefully, if anything, they’ll never use that line again.

I’ve lost many friends, in both fields (police and dentistry) to suicide and it sucks. Most recently, just in October 2016. I can’t help but think that the few times he wanted to hang out, might have been what he needed to keep in the game. I was honestly intimidated to hang out with him, because I don’t drink, and I knew he tended to go hard, outside what I would ever do (I’m the constant DD).

I used to blow off a lot of phone calls/texts on my off-days, but if you’re one of my friends who actually has my number, and you wear a badge or swing the forceps, I’ll always answer because THAT time or THAT call may be the time someone really needs you.