Results of the study appeared in a recent issue of American Journal of Industrial Medicine. Police suicides are often misclassified for a variety of reasons, Violanti said, which leads to an underestimation of the risk. The 138 people in the study, all white males, consisted of 39 police officers and 89 municipal workers. Possible reasons for the high risk of suicide among police officers are many, according to the study. Violanti said he thinks the biggest reason police officers die by suicide at high rates is because they have nowhere to go for confidential help when personal problems or job stress overwhelms them.
Police officers are even more hesitant than the average citizen to get help for emotional problems.
Because of their role and their job, they mistrust many things, and they especially mistrust mental health professionals. The other half of the problem is, confidential help isn't always readily available. The New York City Police Department has such a program and suicides went down after it was instituted. The Buffalo department now also has a program in place. Compounding the situation is the ready availability of a weapon, he said.