For those departments lacking a suicide prevention program, we offer these pages and references in hopes that they will guide you in making the beginning steps toward an effective suicide prevention program.

 

The key to suicide prevention is creating an atmosphere of good health, where the mental well being of every employee is taken seriously, encouraged and nurtured.  You will see some measures now in place within many departments, such as peer support programs.  We encourage you to look at the "Mental Health Prescription" (annual therapy visits), enhanced academy training and mentoring programs as critical supplements that fit wonderfully into both new and existing programs--at minimal or no cost!

 

 

SUMMARY AND LIST OF RESOURCES

 

Congratulations on embarking on a course that will not only reduce the likelihood of a suicide on your department, but will also result in a healthier police force out on the beat, less inclined to generate complaints, slower to be defiant with management, and far less likely to cost you great sums of money in civil litigation.

 

Click on this box to view a basic presentation that can help you begin preparing to speak with your veteran officers; bear in mind it is basic and for you to expand upon with your experiences and information that you feel is of value to your unique group.  We offer it merely as something to begin with.  We do, as you will note, place strong emphasis on the voluntary "Annual Mental Health Checkups."

 

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.

 

We encourage you to read our page, "Sloppy Data," regarding the need for law enforcement to team together in gathering information on police suicides.  Currently, we don't even know how many suicides occur each year, nor is anyone keeping track (we have begun, with the first of this year, recording all press reports we can find, which represent only a percentage.  What that percentage is, again, no one knows). 

 

A good program should consist of the following elements:

 

1.  A staff committed to the task, commensurate to the size of the department.

 

2.  A free and confidential contract employee counseling service.

 

3.  A health service on contract that can provide mental health professionals to respond or be available to officers in crisis.

 

4.  A Peer Support Officer Program consisting of officers from within the squad, trained within IACP guidelines and available to talk with and inform officers on mental health issues.  In the event of a suicide intervention, they immediately contact a contract mental health professional for appropriate evaluation.

 

5.  After careful review and consideration, a Critical Incident Stress Debriefing program to be used selectively for officers who have clearly been impacted by some sudden trauma that is visibly identifiable within the first 24 hours.

 

6.  A comprehensive cadet training program that includes a minimum of nine or more hours of suicide prevention training and mental health awareness, designed to make officers aware that they WILL face trauma but preparing them, through positive presentations, to be “ahead of the game” and prepared to face stress and trauma head-on at its earliest stage, rather than waiting to be overwhelmed. 

Departments need to begin utilizing active duty and retired members who have actually suffered significant trauma to do presentations.  Presentation can assuredly illuminate the problems and stresses facing officers, but it is time to take the focus from “suicide-prevention” to "Mental Health Awareness and Self Care.”  A positive approach will generate more discussion and encourage a sense of empowerment rather than helplessness and dependence.

 

7.  Annual interactive refresher classes at the squad level to review current issues and reinforce the importance of self awareness, the resources available, the signs and symptoms of potential suicide,  but the highlighted theme must, again, be to empower the officer with the ability to spot problems within themselves through the aid of mental health professionals before the damage sets in.

 

Above all, it is imperative that departments maintain a commitment to this program, rather than giving it a once-over, “checking the box,” and walking away.  Through a full commitment, a difference can be made—a significant difference.    

 

DEFINITIONS

 

 

DSM-IV Definition of PTSD.

http://www.mental-health-today.com/ptsd/dsm.htm

 

Layman’s definition of PTSD

http://www.mental-health-today.com/ptsd/whatis.htm

 

Complex/Cumulative PTSD

http://www.suicidereferencelibrary.com/test4~id~1456.php

and

http://www.mental-health-today.com/ptsd/ptsdther/3.htm

 

Definition of PTSD, Psychology Today

http://www.psychologytoday.com/conditions/ptsd.html

 

FBI Law Enforcement Statistics

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/lawenf.htm#Programs

 

Therapist Certification Levels, Psychology Today

http://therapist.psychologytoday.com/rms/content/therapy_credentials.html

 

 

 

PEER SUPPORT ORGANIZATIONS

 

California Peer Support Association - http://www.californiapeersupport.com/conf_reg.html

 

National Association of Peer Programs

http://www.peerprograms.org/

 

 

 

SYMPTOMS / WARNING SIGNS

 

 

When Job Stress Becomes Disabling

http://www.businessweek.com/careers/content/jun2002/ca20020626_7484.htm

 

A selection of free downloadable courses on PTSD, with voice and power point:

http://www.ncptsd.va.gov/ptsd101/index.html

 

How is PTSD Measured?

http://www.ncptsd.va.gov/ncmain/ncdocs/fact_shts/fs_lay_assess.html

 

Assessment and Treatment of Patients With Suicidal Behaviors, American

Psychiatric Association

http://www.psychiatryonline.com/pracGuide/pracGuideTopic_14.aspx

 

Symptoms of PTSD

http://campus.houghton.edu/orgs/psychology/ptsd/symptoms.htm

 

Suicide Warning Signs

http://www.suicidology.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=2

http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/dvp/Suicide/default.htm

 

 

 

SUICIDE

 

Lack of reliable data on police suicides, A. F. O’Hara

http://www.badgeoflife.com/id10.html

 

FBI Line of Duty Deaths 2006

http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/killed/2006/index.html

 

Understanding Police Suicide by John Violanti

http://www.stevedavis.org/spiritofthelaw/sol1art10print.html

 

Study Shows Suicide A Greater Danger To Police Officers Than Homicide, 1996

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/1996-09/UaB-SSSA-180996.php

 

Suicides Among Police Officers, ERLEND HEM, M.D., ANNE MARIE BERG, M.A

http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/161/4/767-a

 

Suicides Among Police Officers, John Violanti (Rebuttal to Erland)

http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/161/4/766

 

International Union of Police Associations – Police Suicide Part I

http://www.iupa.org/suicide1.html

Part II

http://www.iupa.org/suicide2.html

Part III

http://www.iupa.org/suicide3.html

 

 

FIGURES FOR GENERAL POPULATION

 

US Population Suicide Rate 2004

http://mypage.iusb.edu/~jmcintos/usa2004summary.htm

 

FBI Law Enforcement Statistics

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/lawenf.htm#Programs

 

 

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

http://policechiefmagazine.org/magazine/index.cfm?fuseaction=display&article_id=1244&issue_id=82007

 

Treatment Methods in Therapy (Psychology Today)

http://therapist.psychologytoday.com/rms/content/therapy_methods.html

 

The Effects of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) on the officer and the family.

http://www.geocities.com/~halbrown/ptsd-family.html

 

Actions for Suicidal Behavior/Ideation

http://www.nursece.com/onlinecourses/9225P2.html

 

Evaluation and Treatment of Patients with Suicidal Ideation

American Academy of Family Physicians

http://www.aafp.org/afp/990315ap/1500.html

 

How to find a good therapist

http://www.healingwell.com/library/health/grold1.asp

 

Questions to ask a therapist

http://panicdisorder.about.com/library/weekly/aa062597.htm

 

How Can Therapy Help?  Psychology Today

http://therapist.psychologytoday.com/rms/content/therapy_right.html

 

 

Twelve Step Groups as a resource

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelve-step_program

 

Police Suicide: Tactics for Prevention

By DELL P. HACKETT & JOHN M.VIOLANTI, PH.D

http://www.cophealth.com/policesuicide.html

 

 

WHAT YOU DON’T WANT

 

 

Jackson Mississippi’s police suicide was the second in 2007

http://www.wlbt.com/Global/story.asp?S=7181141&nav=menu119_3

 

A Batavia, Illinois officer’s suicide is the second in 13 months—the two were best friends.

http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/bataviasun/news/757210,2_1_AU24_BATOFFICER_S1.article

 

A 17-year CHP officer resigns rather than face a minor discipline and kills himself.  His office reports the suicide “took us by surprise.”  (While 'technically' not a "police suicide" because he resigned shortly before killing himself, this would count as the 9th suicide for the CHP in two years).

http://www.theppsc.org/forums/showthread.php?p=4145