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I just recently attended a Police Suicide Awareness class at one of our local Criminal Justice Schools.  It was very informative, but it was also very alarming.  The rate that LEOs are taking their own lives is a lot higher that LEOs being killed by a prep in the line of duty. 

I would recommend this class for Dispatchers/Communications Officers and at the minimum Administrators.  This class will open your eyes to the problems that face our brother and sister LEOs.  Although I'm only a Communications Officer, I feel that each and every officer on the street is my brother or sister.

If you or your department is interested in this class you can contact the National P.O.L.I.C.E. Suicide Foundation for further details. 

TRUST ME THIS IS WELL WORTH THE TIME AND OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS ARE WORTH IT!!!

wellm please tell us more?

As an officer with the Missouri DOC, this class is a require course to be taken in the academy & then it is offered again as a class to be taken on your own time but its waaay more in depth. Its not a bad idea for anyone associated with a department to take

We recently attended some very good training on this subject. Dr. Gilmartin's Emotional Survival for Law Enforcement, The live lecture is about 8 hours long. He also offers a video thats about 2 and a half hours long. 

http://emotionalsurvival.com/about.htm

The class is very good.  It shows you the signs to look for in our brothers and sisters.  The signs vary from officer to officer, but they all are visible if you know what to look for.

Relationship problems, changes in attitude, changes in work ethic, changes in appearance are all signs.  I have seen these signs in some of my friends in the past.  It's scary now that I have the basic knowledge.

My biggest suggestion to you all is to contact the National P.O.L.I.C.E. Suicide Foundation for more information...

AND NEVER LET SOMEONE TELL YOU THAT THESE PEOPLE ARE WEAK.  THEY FEEL IT IS THE ONLY WAY TO END THE PAIN IN THEIR LIVES.  ALL WE CAN DO IS TRY TO STOP AND BE THERE FOR THEM.

captrich says ...

wow... this topic really hits home with me...  I took a pass on answering the first few times I read it but here goes ...

Each and every one of us should be watching out for our brothers & sisters every day and always be there for one another ...  If you think there's a problem there may be.... be there and take action.

An uncle of mine on the job in Jersey City NJ took his own life back when I was about 14 ...  very tramatic indeed.

Just last november, my best friend in the world and brother PO took his own life as well. His name was Jefferey Olsen and he was a remarkable human being and a cops cop through and through ... there was NOTHING he would not do to help a brother..any brother , friend or citizen for that matter ....  He was a Whackers Whacker with a heart of pure gold....   After catching his second wife cheating on him  ....  he was having what seemed to be a tough time with it but NOTHING that would ever raise any red flags...  I mean nothing ...  I was looking for an apartment for him.. we were planning get togethers....  he was doing all ther things people do when a relationship goes bad and seemed to be in very good spirits 95% of the time ... even found a few holster sniffers to help him over the rough patch .....   As it turned out...  we met for breakfast at the usual spot at the usual time...talked about the usual shit... made our plans to get together later that day and that was the last time I ever saw him ....  He left the diner... went to court for a couple BS cases and then went to his marital counselor to meet the wife.... he felt he owed it to his 2 small kids to make every atempt but I suspect he knew it was going nowhere ....   anyway ...  after some harsh words from the wife he handed her his wallet containing his badge/is and walked out to the parking lot...  retrieved his sidearm and walked behind the building never to return ....  It was a devastating loss for the dept and for the literally 1000's of lives that he touched....   I gave the eulogy at his service and to give you an idea of what kind of guy he was ..unlike most services of this type there were over 1000 people easily ...  departments from up and down the east coast and several federal agencies were represented....  for that I was proud... 

anyway ...   the last year has been a tough one for many of us to say the least ....  did we miss something??? could we have said something???  and on and on.... 

My reason for sharing this is to convey to every brother and sister at PL to go with your gut...when in doubt take action ...

We're now planning a 1 year memorial for the jerk and to raise money for the trust fund we setup for his kids ...

If anyone would like to leave a few words or a prayer for a brothers brother you can find his site here  olsen.memory-of.com/Tributes.aspx">http://jeffrey-olsen.memory-of.com/Tributes.aspx

 

 

I hate to hear that, very sad . You sounded like you were a good friend to him.