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Setting Up Your Own Police Suicide Prevention Program
SUICIDE PREVENTION TRAINING
If your department is in need of a suicide prevention program, contact us and we can arrange a customized program just for you through Dr. John Violanti and the QPR Institute. A certified QPR trainer and expert in the field of police trauma and suicide, Dr. Violanti's two-day instructional program is law-enforcement focused and will certify you as a trainer that can then train additional trainers. Contact us at badgeoflife@yahoo.com for assistance signing up for this program.
PEER SUPPORT TRAINING One highly reputable organization to contact for advice and training on "peer support" training is the Connecticut Alliance to Benefit Law Enforcement (CABLE), a 501(c)(3) organization that reaches out to departments across the nation with its training programs. We encourage you to visit their website and contact either Louise Pyers or Ron Clark for additional information about arranging a peer support training program for your department. MINIMAL PROGRAMS FOR A DEPARTMENT
Below is a list of resources you may wish to refer to before formally beginning to set up your program. We strongly encourage you to read Dr. John Violanti's "Police Suicide, Epidemic in Blue," 2007 edition, as a part of your preparation in any suicide preparation plan.
A good program should consist of at least the following elements:
1. A Suicide Prevention Program and peer support program.
2. A "mental health" program for all officers at all ranks.
3. Critical Incident Stress Debriefing programs for officers who have clearly been impacted by some sudden trauma that is visibly identifiable within the first 24 hours.
6. A system to assist the surviving families of suicides. It is time to stop hiding suicides in the basement as a "family secret." Departments are known to shun surviving families, refuse officers an opportunity to attend services in uniform, and enveloped the tragedy in a veil of shame.
"Hiding" suicides from the public and one another only makes the job of preventing them more difficult, for we rob ourselves of the very data we need to do so.
DEFINITIONS
DSM-IV Definition of PTSD.
Layman’s definition of PTSD
Complex/Cumulative PTSD
Definition of PTSD, Psychology Today
FBI Law Enforcement Statistics
Therapist Certification Levels, Psychology Today
SYMPTOMS / WARNING SIGNS
When Job Stress Becomes Disabling
A selection of free downloadable courses on PTSD, with voice and power point:
How is PTSD Measured?
Assessment and Treatment of Patients With Suicidal Behaviors, American
Psychiatric Association
Symptoms of PTSD
Suicide Warning Signs
SUICIDE
FBI Line of Duty Deaths 2007
Understanding Police Suicide by John Violanti
Study Shows Suicide A Greater Danger To Police Officers Than Homicide, 1996
Suicides Among Police Officers, ERLEND HEM, M.D., ANNE MARIE BERG, M.A
Suicides Among Police Officers, John Violanti (Rebuttal to Erlend)
FIGURES FOR GENERAL POPULATION
US Population Suicide Rate 2004
FBI Law Enforcement Statistics
INTERVENTION AND TREATMENT
Peer Support Officer Programs
International Association of Chiefs of Police Peer Support Guidelines
Ratified in 2006 by the IACP Police Psychological Services Section Boston, Massachusetts
Treatment Methods in Therapy (Psychology Today)
The Effects of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) on the officer and the family.
Actions for Suicidal Behavior/Ideation
Evaluation and Treatment of Patients with Suicidal Ideation
AmericanAcademy of Family Physicians
How to find a good therapist
Questions to ask a therapist
How Can Therapy Help? Psychology Today
Twelve Step Groups as a resource
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