Police Suicides In 2016

Line of Duty deaths are well documented and are available on several law enforcement websites.  Here is an abbreviated overview for 2016 from the Officer Down Memorial Page https://www.odmp.org/

• A total of 140 law enforcement officers were killed in line of duty deaths last year compared to 130 deaths in 2015.
• Death by gunfire was, once again, the leading cause of death for officers who were killed on duty.
• A total of 64 officers were killed by gunfire, up from 39 in 2015.
• This represents a 61% increase in law enforcement officers shot and killed in 2016 versus 2015
• There was a 53% overall increase in officers murdered in the performance of duty.

These are obviously deeply troubling statistics. The statistics related to the number of officers who took their own lives from year to year are inherently more difficult to obtain.

The Badge of Life, a Police Suicide Prevention Program, has released their preliminary report related to the number of law enforcement officers who committed suicide in 2016.  http://www.badgeoflife.com/

• 108 law enforcement officers took their own life compared to 126 suicides in 2012 (the last year of a full study by the Badge of Life)
• This represents a decrease of 14% in suicides compared to 2012
• This was also the second drop in suicide over the course of the Badge of Life studies; in 2009, law enforcement deaths from suicide were at their high with 143 deaths.
• One officer completed suicide every 81 hours.
• For every one police suicide, almost 1,000 officers continue to work while suffering the painful symptoms of PTSD.

Yes, this does represent a promising trend. However, officer suicides took more lives (108) than gunfire and traffic accidents combined (97) in 2016. This is not ACCEPTABLE; all Blue Lives Matter.

The current suicide rate for law enforcement is 12 per 100,000, compared to a rate for the public of 13 per 100,000. 

Ron Clark, Chairman of the Board of Badge of Life ascribes the decline in suicides to individual and department awareness.  More officers are willing to include a “mental health checkup” as a component of their annual well-being physicals as well as therapy as indicated.  Departments have been routinely implementing supportive programs including peer support, critical incident stress debriefing, and chaplaincy programs.

In a subsequent report (expected to be released this spring), more information related to the demographics of the 2016 officer suicides, including state, gender, age, years on the job, and means of suicide will be provided.  Study information disseminated will not include the name or city/jurisdiction of the suicide.  By not doing so, anonymity of the department is insured.  This is important and is designed to make departments more comfortable reporting suicides when and where they occur.

Statistics Don’t Matter as Much as Prevention and Intervention

I have written on law enforcement suicides previously, however, this was personal for me this year.  A law enforcement officer I had known and worked with previously took her life. I spoke to several of her peers, who are still my friends, about the tragedy.  Pain, shock, and guilt were the most reported feelings, followed by extreme confusion, an inability to make sense of the event, and a profound sadness over the loss.

The bottom line for anyone who is still reading this article is: If you don’t believe that one of your brothers or sisters in blue is not at risk for suicide, you are either ignorant, arrogant or both. It is time to dispel some of the fundamental beliefs too many people hold. Suicide is not an angry act or a selfish act; suicide is a painful act.  No person wants to die. For some, however, the choices seem so few and the pain, so great, that the only way of finding escape from the pain seems to be suicide. You, despite your moral or religious beliefs, are not immune to suicidal thoughts either. Stay alert for the following signs:

LEO Suicide Warning Signs (Chae and Boyle, 2013)

• The officer is talking about suicide or death, and even glorifying death.
• Officer is giving direct verbal cues such as “I wish I were dead” and “I am going to end it all.”
• Officer is giving less direct verbal cues, such as “What’s the point of living?”, “Soon you won’t have to worry about me,” and “Who cares if I’m dead, anyway?”
• The officer is self-isolating from friends and family.
• The officer is expressing the belief that life is meaningless or hopeless.
• The officer starts giving away cherished possessions.
• The officer is exhibiting a sudden and unexplained improvement in mood after being depressed or withdrawn.
• The officer is neglecting his/her appearance and hygiene.
• The officer is annoyed that they are going to do something that will ruin his/her career, but that they don’t care.
• Officer openly discusses that he/she feels out of control.
• The officer displays behavior changes that include appearing hostile, blaming, argumentative, and insubordinate or they appear passive, defeated, and hopeless.
• The officer develops a morbid interest in suicide or homicide.
• The officer indicates that he/she is overwhelmed and cannot find solutions to his/her problems.
• The officer asks another officer to keep his/her weapon.
• The officer is acting out of character by inappropriately using or displaying his/her weapon unnecessarily.
• The officer exhibits reckless behavior by taking unnecessary risks on the job and/or in his/her personal lives. The officer acts like he/she has a death wish.
• The officer carries weapons in a reckless, unsafe manner.
• The officer exhibits deteriorating job performance.
• The officer has recent issues with alcohol and/or drugs.

There is Help – Start Here

Call or share this information

COPLINE: 1-800-COPLINE http://copline.org/index.asp

The COPLINE’S mission statement: “COPLINE is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to serving law enforcement officers and their families by providing 24/7 trained peer support for crisis intervention along with referrals to specifically skilled mental health professionals for follow up and continued assistance. COPLINE offers a CONFIDENTIAL 24-hour hotline answered by retired law enforcement officers who have access to continuous critical clinical support in order to help callers through the initial crisis as well as provide ongoing assistance with the successful management of various psychosocial stressors that impact a significant number of law enforcement officers and families throughout the U.S.”