P olice Officers are eight times more likely to die by their own hand than by homicide, a study by University at Buffalo epidemiologists has shown. The UB study, based on data from the Buffalo Police Department, is one of the few empirical analyses of police officers risk of suicide, homicide and accidental death, and the only study to compare their risk to that of other occupations. Police suicides are often misclassified, which leads to an underestimation of the risk. Compounding the situation is the ready availability of a weapon. Suicide is often an impulsive act, and the handgun at the officer s side is guaranteed to be lethal in the hands of an experienced shooter.
Police officers are more hesitant than the average citizen to get help for emotional problems.
Because of their role, they mistrust many things, and they especially mistrust mental health professionals, Violanti said. Departments should include some sort of suicide awareness training in their stress management program. T his epidemic is not limited to the United States. Suicide in law enforcement is a problem that everyone outside of law enforcement agrees needs to be addressed. Unfortunately, many of the only people who can make a difference in the way this problem is handled and resolved law enforcement professionals - continue to deny that the problem even exists, or they deny the extent of the problem.