Police Suicides Also on the Rise

A recently released report on the suicide deaths by the Department of Justice to the U.S. Congress sheds light on the increase in suicides not just among the public but among law enforcement. The report notes that since 1999, half of all states have seen a 30% increase in suicides in the past 20 years.

The stigma of seeking mental health assistance and the fear of consequences for disclosing a perceived "weakness" continue to drive the rise, according to COPS, a DOJ component focused on community policing.

The numbers are shocking in print. Last year, 48,000 people died from suicide, half of those by a firearm. And a 2017 National Survey on Drug Use and Health showed 4.3% of adults reported serious thoughts of suicide in the past year. That year, 2017, law enforcement reported 168 suicides, a number that had increased to 228 by 2019 the number, a 30% plus rise.

Authors Deborah L. Spence and Jessica Drake recommend mental health and resiliency training for law enforcement, something that can be equally applied successfully in businesses, schools, universities, and other organizations.

Spence and Drake offer specific examples of stressors to look for, ideas that can be applied to help prevent suicide in all communities. Among those, how to identify warning signs of depression, stress, and mental and health conditions being experienced.

The report encourages peer-to-peer assistance and mental health checkups for individuals as a way to intervene and provide assistance. Many of the recommendations can apply to the general public, such as training family members how to look for and respond to incidents that cause excessive stress.

With an ever-increasing number of firearms in the country and suicide on the rise, policymakers and the general public might learn how this smaller community, law enforcement, is tackling this issue in their community that has a disproportionate number of suicides along with a disproportionate view that disclosure is a weakness.