Although considerable obstacles hinder the study of police suicide, mounting evidence suggest that self-inflicted deaths within law enforcement profession are continuing a dramatic upward trend that began in the 1980s. According to one study, in the years 1950 to 1979, a sample of 2,662 officers averaged one suicide every 2.5 years. From 1980 to 1990, the rate increased to one suicide every 1.25 years. These sobering findings indicate that police suicides now may be occurring at twice the rate they did in the past.

          Such statistics make it increasingly important for law enforcement agencies to deal with a problem that refuses to disappear, no matter how successfully it is ignored. Only by gaining a better understanding of the factors that lead to police suicide can administrators develop an effective response to this tragic cause of death among law enforcement officers. Resolving the underlying problems that hinder the research of police suicide may be the first step to gaining a better understanding of it.

PROBLEMS OF RESEARCH

          Considerable difficulty exists in studying police suicide. Researchers often find that information on officer suicide either is no collected or departments are reluctant to allow access to such data.

          In addition, police suicides may be misclassified routinely as either accidents or undetermined deaths. Because police officers traditionally subscribe to a myth of indestructibility, they view suicide as particularly disgraceful to the victim officer and to the profession.

          The police represent a highly cohesive subculture whose members tend to “take care of their own.” The desire to shield victim officers, their families, and their departments from the stigma of suicide may lead investigators to overlook certain evidence intentionally...

          For individual officers, the resulting frustration is exacerbated by a largely unsympathetic press and lack of community support, and a criminal justice system that values equity over expediency. A sense of societal isolation often ensues, compelling officers to group together in a defensive stance. When an officer feels that the frustration no longer is tolerable or that no coping alternative is available, suicide may become an attractive option.

          It also is possible that the feelings of helplessness are brought about by the nature of the job. A sense of helplessness is a disturbing realization for anyone, but especially for police officers who are conditioned to view themselves as superheroes capable of anything. Suicide is one way of dealing with helplessness and emotional pain. The finality of the ultimate solution may be an attempt to restore feelings of strength, courage, and mastery over the environment.

ACCESS TO FIREARMS

          Another factor that distinguishes police officers from the general population also has been implicated in the high number of police suicides. That is, most law enforcement officers carry or have access to firearms. An ongoing study of police suicides in the United States reveals that 95 percent involved the use of the officer’s service weapon.

          Another study compared suicided in New York City and London. While the police suicide rate in New York City was twice that of the general population, the police suicide rate in London, where officers do not carry firearms, was similar to that of the city’s civilian population.

          The police firearm hold special significance for officers. It is a very potent symbol of the power of life and death. Society entrusts law enforcement officers with the authority to use their weapons to take the life of another person in certain situations. In police suicides, officers, in effect, are claiming the right to take their own lives. After all, the weapon has been issued as a means to stop misery and to protect others from harm. Despondent officers may view suicide in such a way.

“...police suicides

may be

misclassified

routinely as either

accidents or

undetermined

deaths.”

ALCOHOL ABUSE

          Alcohol abuse also has been implicated as a significant contributing factor in police suicides. One study documented alcohol abuse in 60 percent of the suicides in the Chicago Police Department. Administrators should be aware that alcoholism may lead to other work problems, such as high absenteeism, traffic accidents, or intoxication on duty. Given the established correlation between alcoholism and suicide, these symptoms should not be ignored. They should be considered indications of a larger problem.

FEAR OF SEPARATION

FROM THE POLICE SUBCULTURE

          As officers near the end of their law enforcement careers, another potential threat appears–separation. To individual officers, retirement may mean separation from the camaraderie and protection of police peers. During their years of service, officers may have clustered with other officers due to a general isolation from society and its prejudices toward the police. Upon retirement, these officers must enter the very society that they perceive as alien and hostile.

          While the benefits of retirement may be viewed positively by the majority of officers, separation from the police subculture can be a frightful and devastating prospect for others. Fear, coupled with increasing age (a definite suicide risk factor), loss of friends, loss of status as a police officer, and a loss of self-definition, leaves some retiring officers vulnerable to suicide. A recent study found a 10-fold risk of suicide among police retirees.

OTHER FACTORS

          Other factors have been suggested in an attempt to explain why officers take their own lives. One theory holds that officers commit suicide because of their continuous exposure to human misery and their constant giving of themselves. Another study cites police bureaucracy, with its paramilitary structure, overbearing regulations, and negativism, as a primary catalyst for police suicides.

DEPARTMENTS

          In addition to the immediate family, another group experiences the wrath of suicide: Police peers. A grief wave often strikes departments after an officer commits suicide. In some cases, supervisors note a lasting negative effect on the morale and work quality of surviving officers. For this reason, agencies should arrange for psychological debriefings after the self-inflicted death of any officer.

PREVENTING POLICE SUICIDE

          The destructive effects on survivors underscore the need to prevent suicide among police personnel. Not only can an effective intervention effort save officers’ lives, but it also can safeguard agencies from the devastating effects of suicide.

          Agencies must move beyond the morbidity of the subject to develop effective suicide countermeasures. Perhaps the best way to prevent police suicide is to train officers to cope better with professional and personal problems. This provides them with the means to recognize and avoid the psychological and behavioral wrong turns that eventually can lead to suicide. In addition, training supervisors to recognize the warning signs of suicide can afford agencies an opportunity to intervene before it is too late.

CONCLUSION

          Suicide leaves survivors shaken and in search of answers that may never be found. Police suicide can devastate the morale of entire agencies and leave individual officers with intense feelings of guilt, remorse, and disillusionment.

          By its very nature, suicide is an act of desperation, carried out when less drastic avenues of relief seem unavailable or inadequate. Police agencies should ensure that these other avenues are available.

          Because most studies suggest that law enforcement officers are at a heightened risk for taking their own lives, police agencies also should be at the forefront of developing and implementing suicide intervention programs. As is true with addressing any problem, the first and most important step is to recognize that the problem exists. With regard to police suicide, this fact can no longer be ignored.

“Among the

occupational

factors surrounding

police suicide,

frustration often is

cited as particularly

important.”

WARNING SIGNS OF SUICIDE

People contemplating suicide often give “warning signs”. Unfortunately, too often, their family and friends don’t recognize these warning signs until it is too late:

1. Giving away valued possessions. “Here I want you to have my medals.”

2. Talking about “not being here.” “It sure will be different here when I’m gone.”

3. Withdrawing from family situations.

4. Chronic depression–CONTINUOUS chronic depression.

5. Verbal suicide threats or statements. “Get off my back before I kill myself.”

6. Previous suicide attempts.

7. Risk-taking behavior.

8. Personality changes.

9. Lack of future plans.

10. Changes in sleeping or eating habits.

11. If into writing or the arts, their general theme is death.