Self-Care/Buddy-Care

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by Maureen Becker, Executive Director

In 2017, more first responders died from suicide than were killed in the line of duty. In 2018, NYPD lost four officers to suicide in as many months, while Chicago lost three in less than three months.

As reported on page 36, IPMBA member Daniel Gagnon of Bowdoin College committed suicide in mid-2018. He was the fourth IPMBA member within the past several years known to have done so. His father made the decision to reveal the cause of his son’s death in an effort to raise awareness about the risk of suicide, particularly amongst members of the public safety profession. This courageous act was done with the goal of preventing future such tragedies.

According to a study by the Ruderman Family Foundation, 103 firefighters and 140 police officers took their own lives in 2017, while 93 firefighters and 129 police officers died in the line of duty. Most researchers believe these numbers are understated.

One of the authors, Miriam Heyman, noted there are several reasons for this. One is that unlike line-of-duty deaths, suicides amongst first responders are not widely covered by the press. The secrecy surrounding them reflects the societal stigma still associated with suicide. Not wanting to face the shame, neither departments nor families typically reveal if a death is a suicide. As a result, suicides are often misclassified as accidents or undetermined deaths – 17%, by one estimate. Victims of suicide are not afforded a hero’s funeral, and their families are often ineligible for death benefits.

The Ruderman study goes on to reveal that despite witnessing tragedy and horror on a regular basis and being at a heightened risk for depression, PTSD, and substance abuse, first responders often lack access to essential mental health services. Of the approximately 18,000 law enforcement agencies in the U.S., only 3-5% have suicide prevention programs. So even if a person were to overcome the misplaced shame and stigma associated with needing or seeking help, they may not know how and where to find it, and they may not be able to afford it.

In 2014, then-IACP President Craig Steckler said, “Officer mental health is an issue of officer safety, and we should treat it as such….we can all list a variety of measures available to ensure our officers’ physical safety. But what are we doing to actively protect and promote their mental and emotional health? Sadly, in many cases, not enough.” To change this, the IACP has published suicide prevention studies and resources at: https://www.theiacp.org/resources/document/law-enforcement-suicide-prevention-and-awareness.

Being a first responder carries with it a tremendous responsibility, not the least of which is responsibility to one’s self and one’s colleagues. Learn how to save a life in a different way. Visit the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention for a list of risk factors and warning signs (https://afsp.org/about-suicide/risk-factors-and-warning-signs/) as well as other resources.

For the full text of the Ruderman Study, visit http://rudermanfoundation.org/white_papers/police-officers-and-firefighters-are-more-likely-to-die-by-suicide-than-in-line-of-duty/. Share it with your department.

Finally, read Kim Colegrove’s article, My Husband’s Suicide: Recognizing Predictors of Police Suicide, at https://inpublicsafety.com/2018/08/my-husbands-suicide-recognizing-predictors-of-police-suicide/.

The topic of suicide prevention may be an uncomfortable one, but a little discomfort can go a very long way.