Police suicides in Suffolk County highlight mental health risks for law enforcement
in a four-week span earlier this year, bringing renewed attention to the unique risk factors facing police and the ways in which departments are combatting it.
The late Suffolk officers worked in different departments: one worked with the Probation Department, another with the Sheriff's Office, and two worked with the county police department. But officers said all four losses were felt universally. “We owe it to that fallen brother or sister to find out as much as we can what happened,” he said. “If they dedicated their life to help others, where did it go wrong for them?”
Michael Anestis, a psychologist who is executive director of the New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center at Rutgers University, said “warrior culture” is a factor in the higher suicide rate among officers: “You solve your own problems. You don't talk about your feelings. You don't reveal what might be perceived as weakness.”
A spokesperson for the NYPD pointed to a litany of mental health care resources the department offers officers, including a mandatory briefing with a mental health professional and peer counselor after a challenging or traumatic incident.“We're not going to mental health care system our way out of this problem,” he said.
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