The figures handed out for law enforcement
are certainly exciting numbers, snatched up enthusiastically by police officers and the media alike. Unfortunately, no one has ever bothered to question their validity--or do the math to realize they don’t
work.
We contacted one highly popular group responsible
for disseminating these numbers and asked, several times, that they provide us enough information (minus names) from their
database (if they had one) for any one year that would allow us to follow up and validate their numbers. Each time, our requests were refused with excuses that all their information, no mattter
how far back, was some kind of "living document" that couldn't be revealed and, when pushed, that they simply
"don't have to."
This only made us question it more.
In January, 2008, we began a study of our
own, this time a scientific one, with the intent of accurately measuring the number of police suicides in all 50 states. It was based on actual suicide cases gathered through a web-based year long surveillance
of news reports on police suicide. Approximately 119,000 suicide-related news articles were read during the year for
information relating to police suicides in the United States. In addition, daily checks were made of police websites,
forums, blogs and emails sent by contributors and verified. A 17% error
factor (based on research) was given for misreported suicides and another 20% for missed suicides. This meant a 37% error
factor.
We also watched for the supposed "mystery"
suicides--suspected of occurring in secret, disguised as "murders," covered up as accidents, or otherwise planned such
as driving into bridge abutments, etc. Between our vigilant examination of such cases and our 37% error factor,
we were satisfied with the result.
The results showed 141 police suicides in
2008. The study was published in the International Journal of Emergency Mental
Health.
We repeated the study through 2009, and our
preliminary results show 148 police suicides. Both year’s results are in
keeping with CDC/NOMS data and reveal a police suicide rate of 17/100,000 (not
56/100,000). By comparing our information to other sources available, we are satisfied
that these figures are a valid representation of the actual trend in police suicides.
_____________________________
We repeated the study through 2009, and our preliminary results show 148 police suicides. Both year’s results are in keeping with CDC/NOMS data and reveal a police suicide
rate of 17/100,000 (not 53/100,000). By comparing our information
to other scientific sources available, we are satisfied that these figures are a valid representation of the trend in
police suicides.
____________________________
Is it important that we ask sources to back
up the supposed data they give us? Of course it is, particularly when we're dealing with lives and programs that are
designed on the basis of that data. "Just trust me" isn't good enough. With our study we can provide the
full year's material from which our data was derived.
Why would it be dangerous to put out
inflated numbers? Because it creates the illusion that police officers are killing
themselves so fast it’s hard to keep count, that they’re dropping like flies from suicide, and that the best we
can hope for is to spot the next officer waving his gun around in the locker room. We
don't have time to implement a sounder, more rounded answer to the overall problem.
Suicide is a bad enough problem in law enforcement
and higher than it should be. But being whipped into stopgap measures by totally
unverifiable, pandemic numbers does us no good.
The 141 suicides we verified in 2008 were
almost three times the number of officers killed by felons. Yet for every officer
who commits suicide, there are a thousand more officers still working and suffering from extreme stress or from work-related
trauma. We need to focus on them, just as much as we do the suicides. It’s not, in other words, just a matter of waiting until the officer is suicidal or “in crisis.”
Improved mental health programs, ongoing throughout an officer’s career, teaching them how to improve their resilience and be prepared for
stress and trauma long before it even occurs, is what will solve our suicide problem
in the long term. Simply waiting for them to cry for help, to get into crisis, has never worked and never will.
Suicides continue to climb.
Reacting to panic cries, like those of Chicken
Little, won’t do us a bit of good. We need sound, visible information from which
to work so that we can plan our programs effectively and find long term solutions, for all our officers.
It’s
time to bring some reality into our programs rather than shooting blindly in the dark at an elusive and unknown target. It's
time to stop hiding things from one another. It's time to stop worrying about "our turf" and what's "all about us."
The first place
we can begin is by insisting on the best possible information with which to plan for the future.
For a summary of our 2008 study,
go to 2008 NSOPS Study.
For a copy of the 2008 study,
contact the International Journal of Emergency Mental Health.
For a law enforcement copy of
the 2008 study, contact us at BadgeOfLife@yahoo.com
The 2009 study will be published
in early 2010.
