“Greg believed in the Iraq war and
in his abilities as a warrior. Twice he served his country in combat, first in Kosovo and then in Iraq as an
elite Army Ranger. He went back to his job as a Milwaukee police officer shortly after returning home from Iraq. Greg
typed a suicide note on his computer and left two copies in his home. The final line states: "We will just leave it as war
being one hell of a bitch no matter how big or small it’s found." Greg died two days before he would have turned 27.
He shot himself in the head with his police gun in the basement of his home. He won't be listed among the American soldiers
who died so far in Iraq, but people he loved and even those he served with in combat consider his death a casualty
of war”
http://www.lineofduty.com
In an article in Police Chief
Magazine (2006), Matthew Hickman from the Bureau of Justice Statistics estimated that 11,380 law enforcement officers were
called for military reserve service from all agencies during the time period studied, compared with gains of about 2,600 new
hires. At least 23% of all police agencies had officers called for reserve duty during that time, according to Hickman. There
is no official count of how many reservists are police officers, but Hickman says the trends in military call-ups and police
hiring appear to have been consistent since the period he examined.
Last year, the Army had
140 suspected suicides among active-duty troops, an all-time high. It reported 24 suspected suicides in January, followed
by 18 suspected last month. Each military branch, however, saw an increase in the number of suicides among its ranks from
2007 to 2008. This is a situation that is all too common among returning deployed veterans. It appears that the risk of suicide
may be even greater among combat veterans who are police officers. There has been research which points to this grim possibility,
however, we do not yet know the actual number of returning police officers who have completed suicide.
Military Suicide
Of
the more than 180,000 Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom veterans who have accessed VA healthcare services
since 2002, 38% have been diagnosed with mental health disorders. Rates of co-occurring mental and substance use disorders
in veterans are especially high, with 44% of VA inpatients treated in 2001 for having a co-occurring disorder. Many of these
disorders are precipitants for suicidal thinking. The prevalence of significant depressive symptoms among veterans is 31%,
2 -5 times higher than among the general US population. Veterans
with co-occurring disorders, such as depression and alcohol abuse or depression and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD),
have been reported to be at much higher risk for suicide. Other risk factors for suicide common in VA patients include the
male gender, the elderly, those with diminished social support, medical and psychiatric conditions associated with suicide,
and the availability and knowledge of firearms.
Exposure to combat has been
described as one of the most intense stressors that a person can experience and for many people who experience combat, it
is the most traumatic experience of their life. Previous research conducted after other military conflicts has shown
that deployment and exposure to combat result in increased risk of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), major depression,
substance abuse, functional impairment in social and employment settings, and the increased use of health care services.
A recent study showed that 17% of soldiers and Marines who returned from Iraq
screened positive for PTSD, generalized anxiety, or depression, a prevalence nearly twice that observed among soldiers
surveyed before deployment.
Combat is not the only
stressor endured by deployed military personnel. The Department of Defense Mental Health Advisory Team surveys of both active-duty
troops and reserve and National Guard soldiers deployed to Iraq
during Operation Enduring Freedom in 2005 and 2006 found that the most important noncombat stressors were deployment length
and family separation; deployment length was of even higher concern to soldiers who had been deployed more than once.
Police Suicide
In
my view, police work may be considered “civilian combat”. Research in police suicide indicates much the same type
of effect as military combat. The officer involved in both military and civilian
combat can experience the “double-barreled” effect of trauma. A good amount of epidemiological evidence suggests
that there is an elevated rate of suicide within law enforcement. Most recently, a study by O’Hara and Violanti found
that 141 officers committed suicide in the U.S.
Planned Research
Given research findings
of increased suicide risk among veterans and police officers, it is probable that a combination of both experiences will only
make things worse. The question is what to do about it. Police officers are often quite hesitant to seek help for such problems
as PTSD or mental depression. It has been my experience that police officers
view themselves as “problem solvers”, not people with problems. There
is also a fear of repercussions resulting from seeking help for mental health issues. Officers (and military personnel) may
perceive that seeking help may compromise their position or promotions. Having
your firearm taken away and being placed on a desk job may be considered an ultimate factor of shame among police peers. Given
the hesitancy to seek help, it becomes even more difficult to detect suicidal thinking among veterans and police officers.
Exposure and job socialization in policing have profound impacts on officers. This exposure, combined with war, can certainly take a terrible toll on law enforcement. Exactly how to
measure the impact over time that police work has on individuals is a difficult question.
It will likely take long term studies to make sense out of suicide, and I am optimistic that our present research will
open new doors to detection and prevention. I can with some assurance state that police work serves as a fertile arena for
suicide precipitants, including relationship problems, culturally approved alcohol use and maladaptive coping, firearms availability,
and exposure to psychologically adverse incidents. Contextually, police work
is a therefore a probable part of the causal chain of suicide. Suicide rates are important to understand, but the more important
task is to determine how to prevent police suicides. When the brave men and women
serve our country as well as protect our society, they deserve no less.
