Police Suicide Rate

waltky · Feb 2, 2017

The stress of being a police officer takes it's toll...

Suicide Rate High Among Chicago Officers
February 1, 2017 - The rate of suicide among officers with the Chicago Police Department is 60 percent higher than other departments across the U.S., a recently released Justice Department report found.

Life insurance claims information from the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7 estimates that among the departments nearly 10,000 patrol officers, an average of three officers will take their own lives each year, according to The Chicago Sun-Times.

Over the past decade, 13 Chicago police officers have been killed in the line of duty, but nearly twice as many officers committed suicide in the same time period. "There is a problem, and nobodys doing anything about it," Ron Rufo, who was a peer support counselor for most his 21 years as an officer in the 9th District Rufo. "Supervisors don't talk about it. The rank-and-file dont talk about it. And its like the administration does not want to admit it's a problem."

Chicago Police guard the scene of a shooting involving multiple victims, including an off-duty police officer, inside a parking garage on the 1200 Block of North State Parkway

The Chicago Police Department's Employee Assistance Program -- which provides mental health services officers and staff -- currently only has three full-time counselors. The LAPD, which boasts a smaller number of employees, has a staff of 11 counselors.

Chicago FOP President Dean Angelo said that union leaders have urged department brass to create a program allowing officers to take time off or an administrative assignment when they were under stress or following a traumatic event. That suggestion was turned into the department's new policy of putting officers on desk duty for a mandatory 30 days following an on-duty shooting. Angelo said the move seems punitive to patrol officers. "We wanted an 'administrative timeout,' where you could go to your supervisor and say, 'Hey, I need some time,' and there would be a guarantee you could stay in your assignment and wouldn't be ostracized," he said. "Guys need that guarantee, or they're not going to talk."

http://www.officer.com/news/12300682/report-suicide-rate-high-among-chicago-police-officers
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Texas Deputy Kills Son, Self in Murder-Suicide
February 1, 2017 - Preliminary rulings from the Tarrant County medical examiner's office show that Young County Deputy Joseph Parker shot his 27-year-old son Kensy, then himself.

A North Texas deputy sheriff and his son died in a murder-suicide, officials said. Officers were called about 10:40 a.m. Thursday to the home of Joseph Parker in the 1300 block of Cherry Street after a family friend discovered two bodies in a bedroom, Graham police said.

Preliminary rulings from the Tarrant County medical examiner's office show that Parker shot his 27-year-old son Kensy, then himself, police said. Parker, 61, was last seen Jan. 24 when he left work early at about 4:30 p.m. The last time he had contact with anyone outside the home was through text message at about 9 p.m., police said. Graham police said in a prepared statement that the investigation has been difficult "for all the departments in our area."

Deputy Joseph Parker, left, and his son Kensy

Parker and his son each had a single gunshot wound, and there was no sign of a forced entry or struggle. No note was found. "We will probably never know the reasoning as to why this happened, and while we do not condone his actions, we remember his service to the community and our hearts go out to the family," police said.

Parker, who retired after 20 years as a Graham police officer, was the Deputy Sheriff of Young County. He also served as a firefighter and arson investigator with the Graham Fire Department. Graham is located about 120 miles northwest of Dallas.

http://www.officer.com/news/12300690/texas-deputy-kills-son-himself-in-murder-suicide
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NYPD Detective's Death Classified a Homicide
February 1, 2017 - The NYPDs classification of Detective Steven McDonalds death as a homicide decades after he was injured is often done in cases where crime victims die as a result of assaults and shootings that take a toll later in life.

NYPD Det. Steven McDonalds death last month from an apparent heart attack has been classified as a 2017 homicide, even though he survived being shot by a teenager in Central Park in July 1986, officials said Tuesday. The NYPDs classification of McDonalds death as a homicide decades after he was injured is often done in cases where crime victims die as a result of assaults and shootings that take a toll later in life, a police spokesman said.

Detective Steven McDonald

McDonald, of Malverne, was shot by Shavod Jones and left a quadriplegic, though a wheelchair gave him mobility and a respirator he used to breathe allowed him to talk. He was an active member of the NYPD until he died at age 59. McDonald, who was stricken Jan. 6, was taken off life support Jan. 10. His funeral Mass at St. Patricks Cathedral in Manhattan on Jan. 13 drew thousands of mourners.

Jones, who was sent to prison for attempted murder and was released in 1995, died in a motorcycle accident a few days after being freed. McDonalds death has been factored into 2017 NYPD crime data. Through Sunday, there have been 17 killings for the year, compared with 22 in the same period in 2016.

http://www.officer.com/news/12300689/nypd-detectives-death-classified-a-homicide
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waltky · Feb 5, 2017

Two NYPD suicides in a span of two weeks last month...

Mayor 'Very Concerned' About NYPD Suicides
February 4, 2017 - Mayor Bill de Blasio was "very concerned" that two cops on Staten Island committed suicide in a span of two weeks last month.

"I'm very concerned," de Blasio said at an unrelated event on Friday. "The folks who protect us and serve us go through tons of stress, some that you can see and some that you can't even see because it's deep inside them, and we have to support them." Officer Yong Yun of Annadale died on Jan. 17 of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. Officer Ralph Conde also died of an apparent suicide in his Great Kills home just 13 days later, on Jan. 30.

De Blasio said the city is trying to increase access to mental health services through NYC Well. Free and confidential support is available by calling 1-888-NYC-WELL, texting WELL to 65173 or going online at nyc.gov/nycwell. "I know NYPD does a lot to try and provide for anyone who's facing a mental health challenge or a job related stress," the mayor said.

Mayor Bill de Blasio was "very concerned" that two cops on Staten Island committed suicide in a span of two weeks last month.

Assigned to the 120th Precinct, Yun and his partner were named "Cop of the Month" in 2014 by the Staten Island Chamber of Commerce. Conde was assigned to the 121st Precinct and described in an obituary as an "outstanding police officer" by his colleagues. "The tragic thing when you look at those stories, is there are no signs," de Blasio said. "I can only imagine how much pain their families are in because there were no warning signs."

The mayor said that the city and NYPD need to do more to make mental health services available to police and other first responders. "The thing we have to focus on is relieving the stress that our first responders go through, and so many other people who serve us go through, by constantly making available to them if they need counseling, if they need mental health services, demystifying, destigmatizing and making it readily available," de Blasio said. "I think PD has come a long way in doing that, I think we have to keep doing it even more."

http://www.officer.com/news/12301999/mayor-very-concerned-about-nypd-suicides
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NYPD Officer Found Dead in Apparent Suicide
January 31, 2017 - NYPD Officer Ralph Conde was found dead Monday in his home from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Sources have identified an off-duty cop who died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head in Great Kills. Ralph Conde, 33, was found Monday in his home at 57 Tanglewood Drive. Officers responded to a 911 call of a man shot inside that location at about 10:45 a.m., according to a statement for the NYPD's Deputy Commissioner of Public Information. A neighbor said they looked across the street and saw three police cars and Conde's truck in the driveway. "I saw one of the cops upset and crying," he said. "I knew it was something bad."

Conde was supposed to go to department firing range and when he didn't show up, officers stopped at the house to check on him, according to a source with knowledge of the investigation Neighbors said Conde moved into his Great Kills home within the last year and made improvements to the driveway and backyard. Conde, a patrol officer with the 121 precinct, was the second officer on Staten Island to commit suicide over the past two weeks.

NYPD Officer Yong Yun of the 120th Precinct, a "Cop of the Month," was lauded at a service at John Vincent Scalia Home For Funerals in Eltingville following his death on Jan. 17. Yun had an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the neck when police responded to his residence on Dorval Avenue in Annadale.

http://www.officer.com/news/12300115/nypd-officer-found-dead-in-apparent-suicide
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Deckel · Feb 5, 2017

It may not just be the job but the type of people who are attracted to that job. A lot of police officers tend to be control freaks and those are the types of people whose lives spin sideways regardless of their occupation.

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Police Suicide Rate

waltky Well-Known Member

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