The executive director of the National Association of Police Chiefs recently described police officer involved suicides as a "national problem." More than 300 police officers committed suicide in 1994. Twelve police officers of the New York Police Department took their own life in that year, a record not surpassed since the Great Depression in the 1930's.
Although it has kept a low profile in the past, there is a dramatic turnaround on this previously ignored topic. Media coverage, legitimate and tabloid, have raised the collective consciousness of our communitites and our profession. Average citizens are getting a glimpse inside police work, one of the world's most dangerous professions. And that glimpse presents a picture of individual carnage.
Authorities do not fully agree as to why cops commit suicide in disproportionate numbers to the general public (3-5 times higher than the national average), but they do agree that confronting violence and seeing bodies, severe injuries, and other kinds of human misery each day leave many officers traumatized and depressed.
It is not necessary for police officers to maintain their blue-steel facade at all times. The attributes of a good officer are hardly inconsistent with the ability to feel stress. Knowing what to do with that stress has become as important as knowing how to approach a suspect vehicle. It all goes back to that very basic premise: Cops can win any game they understand. First comes the understanding.
In 1994 there were 137 deaths among police officers by means other than suicide in the line of duty, and 75 of them were caused by shootings - a record 54.7% of deaths caused by firearms. During the last 10 years, 64 New York cops took their own lives, while 20 were killed in the line of duty.
A study by the Federal Center for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that police fficers have about a 30% greater chance of suicide than people in other occupations. A recent study by the New York City Police Foundation found the rate of suicide on the force is four to five times higher than among the general population.(5)
Although the problem has kept an extremely low profile in the past, there is a dramatic turnaround on this previously ignored topic. Media coverage, legitimate and tabloid, have raised the collective consciousness of our communities and our profession. Only now, because reports of the large number of police suicides in new York City making the front pages, are average citizens in that metropolis getting a glimpse inside police work, one of the world's most dangerous professions. And that glimpse presents a picture of individual carnage. Large police departments nationwide are taking note because cops everywhere face the same pressures. New York is not an aberration. Authorities do not fully agree as to why cops commit suicide in disproportionate numbers to the general population, but they do agree that confronting violence, seeing bodies, severe injuries, and other kinds of human misery each day leave many officers traumatized and depressed.
This paper will set forth many factors leading up to this final expression of the victim's surrender. it will also offer an effective countermeasure, which if implemented, can reduce the number of those who succumb to this "tragedy in blue."
Suicide is no game, and to suggest otherwise would be incongruent with this paper. To effectively deal with the tragedy, police must first admit there is a problem. There are considerable obstacles hindering the study of police suicide. Researchers often find that information on officer suicide either is not collected or departments are reluctant to allow access to such data.(6) To prevent disgrace to the victim officer or the profession, police suicide may be misclassified routinely as accidental or undetermined deaths. One study of the Chicago Police Department estimated that as many as 67% of police suicides in that city had been misclassifed as accidental or undeterminded deaths.(7) Because of this deliberate misdirection, much valuable analytical data is unavailable.
According to a Columbia University study released in 1994, most victims are young patrolmen, with no record of misconduct, and most shoot themselves while off-dty. The department typically blames domestic turmoil and ready access to a gun.(11)
The above list of aggravating factors is not exhaustive, but shows how varied and complex this issue is. Trying to predict which one of our officers will be the next one to die at his or her own hands is a difficult task. One thing is certain. Unless we address it quickly, there will be more police officer suicides.
Of the 10 New York policemen who took their own lives during the first 10 months of 1994, only one was seeing a department psychologist. Andre Ivanoff, an associate professor of social work at Columbia University, recommended that the (NY) police force develop confidential counseling outside normal channels, increase training in handling depression, and have the Police Academy devote more effort to convincing recruits that it is not a sign of weakness to seek help.(12) As part of her research, Dr. Ivanoff asked more than 5,000 officers about suicide. Nearly one quarter (1/4) reported having had thoughts of suicide at some point. 183 said that they actually tried to kill themselves, 55 recently. Where police officers stand out, though, is in succeeding at suicide.
Despite the stresses on them, police officers say many are reluctant to seek department counseling. They worry that they will be stripped of the symbols of their authority. If the department deems an officer to be a danger to himself or others, his gun will be removed and he will be placed on a modified assignment. He becomes a member of the "Rubber Gun Squad" and often becomes the target of taunting by fellow officers. Until this misconception is overcome, counseling will be perceived as a "career buster."
A revealing article in the New York Times (9/12/94) recounts the near tragic death of New York Police Officer Matt Carmody. His personal life was in shambles and he had a heavy drinking problem. A series of domestic situations resulted in his referral to the department psychologist. After his drinking stopped, his gun was returned. He divorced, remarried, and became a captain in the 25th Precinct. The articles confirms that it "rankled him" that years went by and nobody acted. Recently he ran into a former sergeant who supervised him. Carmody learned that they had a "suicide watch" on him because they thought he was "losing it!" Everyone was sitting there wondering when he was going to blow his brains out, and no one thought to "make the call."(13)
It is not necessary for police officers to maintain steel facade at all times. The attributes of a good officer are hardly inconsistent with the ability to feel stress. Knowing what to do with that stress has become as important as knowing how to approach a suspect vehicle. It all goes back to that very basic premise: Cops can win any game they understand. First comes the understanding.
To those officers who have entertained suicidal thoughts, my prayer for intervention and relief.
To those who choose to ignore this problem, hoping that it will never impact their department, my prayer for enlightenment and compassion.
It is not my intention to preach or presume. And if I have offended any, please forgive me. If these words can reach even one troubled officer, then they are well worth the writing.
