Police Suicide

1. Police Suicide Presented by Nicole Duranceaux, Ph.D. Albuquerque Police Department Behavioral Sciences Division

2. Overview • How common is police suicide? • What are the risk factors for suicide in anyone? • Are cops different? • What are the risk factors in police suicides? • How to help a fellow cop kill himself • Decreasing the likelihood it will happen

3. How common is police suicide? • The overall suicide rate for the general population ranges between 11 and 14 per 100,000 • Albuquerque P.D. - 15.1 • NYPD - 15.5 . • Chicago P.D., 1990-1996 - 18.1 • L.A.P.D., 1990-1996 - 20.7 • F.B.I., - 1993-1998 - 21.96 • San Diego P.D., 1992-1998 - 35.7 • U.S. Customs, 1998-1999 - 45.6

4. Police Suicide • Police officer suicides are twice as likely to be misclassified than the suicide of other professionals. • Twice as many police officers take their own lives than are killed in the line of duty. • Suicide doesn’t just “happen,” it occurs in a context. • Some Context: in 1998 • Over 300 law enforcement officers committed suicide • In the line of duty deaths numbered 178.

5. General Risk Factors • Depression • Alcohol or drug abuse • Hopelessness • Impending loss, especially a relationship • Isolation • Loss of self esteem, job, reputation, freedom

6. Depression • Depressed mood • Lack of pleasure in life • Irritability • Poor concentration • Weight loss, gain • Withdrawal from peers, loved ones

7. Depression • The person suffering from depression may seek relief or diversion by engaging in behaviors that are temporarily satisfying, but ultimately harmful: -alcohol abuse -gambling (or overspending in general) -extramarital affairs -police corruption

8. Are cops different? • We live in a culture where control is not only desirable, it keeps us alive. • Police officers must project power and authority to do the job. • Problem solving is what we do every day • Police work serves up a daily diet of trauma, disappointment, fear, violence and sadness.

9. Are cops different? • Circumstances demand that we put aside our feelings to get the job done, much like nurses, firefighters and EMTs. • Cops are expected to be able to “do something”, to bring order from chaos and to bring hope where there is fear.

10. What are the risk factors? • While control may keep you alive on the street, it can become dysfunctional in relationships. • The most common precipitating event in police suicide is a disintegrating relationship. • The need for power and authority may lead to domestic violence.

11. Risk factors • When a police officer cannot solve his/her own problems, feelings of failure follow. • The work world of the police officer breeds cynicism, secondary PTSD, distrust, suspiciousness, anger and disappointment. • After learning to suppress feelings at work, cops risk losing the ability to deal with them in their personal lives .

12. Risk factors • When normal feelings of inadequacy, frustration or fear occur, the police officer may lack the tools to deal with them effectively. • The inability to “do something” to solve family or relationship problems may make suicide seem like “the only way out.”

13. How to help a cop kill himself • Encourage alcohol abuse • Reward “risky” behavior, such as gambling or extramarital affairs • Maintain the myth of invulnerability • Turn your back on corruption • Ignore signs of depression • Make fun of anyone who seeks help

14. How to decrease your chances of dying by your own hand • Work as hard at your relationship to your wife or husband as you do at your job • Leave the need for control on the street • Understand that you cannot ignore the negative effects of this job; instead, learn to restore your soul every day • Realize that some problems are not solved by the force of your will

15. Decrease your chances • Don’t abuse alcohol or drugs. • Do not tolerate violence in your relationships • Take thoughts of suicide as a warning, let them scare you into seeking help. • Use the resources available to you - friends, mentors, professional counselors, clergy.

16. How to leave the job at work • Exercise at the end of shift. • Negotiate some “decompression time” with your family - use the time to take a shower, lift weights, read, work on hobbies, pray or do whatever works to enable you to be a loving, concerned and interested spouse and parent. • Use your vacation time.

17. How to intervene • Approach your friend in a concerned and sincere manner. • Tell him/her what behaviors or attitudes you have observed that lead you to raise the issue of depression. • Be prepared to listen and know what resources are available.

18. Where to get help • Talk it out with friends, mentors or a trusted supervisor. • Utilize the services of the department’s Behavioral Sciences Unit. • Use your health plan. • Seek counseling at your church.

19. Confidentiality • Contact between a police officer and his/her professional therapist is protected under Jaffee v. Redmond, 1996. • If you need to be out of the line of fire temporarily, allow the therapist to help you do that. • Don’t let a temporary bout of depression get you or a fellow officer hurt or killed.