'It's long overdue:' New law has potential to help officers who suffer
DAYTON, Ohio (WKEF) — Blue H.E.L.P. reported 183 first responders died by suicide in 2020 and 147 died in 2021.
“It is not talked about, it’s not reported,” said Sergeant Beth Prall from the Greene County Sheriff’s Office. She said two officers have died by suicide in Greene County since 2018.
“I knew both of those officers,” said Sergeant Prall. “Two wonderful men. Two very devoted men to their families, to their careers.”
According to the CDC, those within law enforcement are considered at ‘increased risk’ for suicide.
On June 16, 2020 President Donald Trump responded to this rise in numbers, by signing into law the Law Enforcement Suicide Data Collection Act. Congress passed it in 2020.
The Act requires the FBI to gather anonymous data on police suicides and attempted suicides from local, state and federal law enforcement agencies.
“It’s long overdue,” said renowned psychologist Dr. Kathy Platoni. “There’s been 99 officers who have taken their lives as of September of this year alone.”
She said many are "missing the point" when it comes to the mental health crisis.
“A lot of police departments do not appreciate that we need to have mental health available because there’s still such a stigma in alpha-male dominated professions,” said Dr. Platoni.
Amy Blasher, Unit Chief with the FBI, Crime and Law Enforcement Statistics Unit, said the Law Enforcement Suicide Data Collection Act would launch January 1, 2022.
Blasher said the pilot program was used to ensure the FBI was meeting the intent of the collection’s needs.
However, the information gathered during the pilot, and any previous recorded deaths by suicide before January 1, 2022, would not be included as part of the data.
“Being that we're going to launch in January. I think allows us to have that uniformity with that set series of questions,” said Blasher.
- Circumstances and events that occurred before each suicide or attempted suicide;
- Location of each suicide or attempted suicide;
- Demographic information of each law enforcement officer who dies by suicide or attempts suicide;
- Occupational category for each law enforcement officer who dies by suicide or attempts suicide; and
- Method used in each suicide or attempted suicide.
Dr. Platoni said when a person dies by suicide, there’s a worn pathway in the brain.
“Once you start thinking about suicidal ideation and the freedom that might bring you, it becomes easier and easier to go down that path once you continue to think about it — to the point that you become desensitized to the very idea of taking your own life,” said Dr. Platoni.
Dr. Platoni said the lasting victims of suicide are those left behind to pick up the pieces, something William Harden is all too familiar with.
“They’re gone and you feel yourself, that you didn’t do enough,” Harden said. Harden is a retired officer, but now serves as a minister. He also works at the Greene County Coroner’s office.
His friend, who served as an officer in Greene County, died by suicide two years ago.
“He just evidentially decided to do it, to take his own life,” Harden said. “I was more hurt, I was more hurt than anything else because he was a good friend of mine.”
Harden said he continues to talk to the officer’s wife and family to help them cope as suicide often has a ripple effect.
“It really bothered me and it still bothers me today. You try to put so much into people and help them out as much as you can. It really hurts when they do something of this magnitude. You can’t erase it, you can’t take it back,” said Harden.
Sergeant Prall said she’s thrilled the Law Enforcement Suicide Data Collection Act is finally happening.
“My hope is that all agencies will get on board and we will make sure to get that data to the FBI so that this can start being tracked so that we can make long-term decisions and laws and funding to help us, to help law enforcement, to help firefighters,” Prall said.
Many left behind are forever haunted with questions they’ll never get answered.
“Should have, could have, would have. What did we miss?” Prall said.
“Whenever somebody takes their life, you feel as though maybe there was something else you could have done,” Harden said.
More law enforcement agencies need to have knowledge about the January 1 launch of the Law Enforcement Suicide Data Collection Act because it’s a voluntary program, meaning it’s up to each agency to report the data to the FBI.
Reporter Payton Marshall asked the FBI's Blasher, “What is your message to them [officers] because this is something that — at the end of the day — is ‘encouraged’ and not required?”
“My message to them, I would certainly encourage full participation in this collection,” Blasher said.
The FBI is required to report the data to Congress in June 2022, but it’ll only include a few months of data.
“I think forming any conclusions about just a couple months worth of data, I think would be a disservice to law enforcement,” Blasher said.
Many say that collecting this data is the first step to sounding the alarms on the need for mental health resources and funding for these resources to help officers.
“Even though this [suicide] should be considered a line-of-duty death, they consider it something that should be swept under the rug. They see it as a sign of weakness,” Dr. Platoni said.
She added that the reason many commit suicide is because they feel it’s the only option that might bring them peace.
“These are the people you call on the worst day of your life. Our law enforcement community does what nobody else will do and so that nobody else has to and that isn’t realized at all,” Dr. Platoni said.
“You don’t see us [officers] get upset, we do that for you,” Sgt. Prall said. “We’re there to comfort you when you need us the most. What you don’t see is when we go home at night and we can’t sleep or we can’t eat, or we cry.”
“We as law enforcement officers — men and women — we all put our clothes on the same way, and we get to the point where we think we’re invincible sometimes,” Harden said.
However, first responders are not invincible, they’re human.
Dr. Platoni said many departments do not offer mental health resources for their officers and many live in fear that if they speak up, their jobs would be taken from them.
“If they’re scared that their badge is going to be taken away, that’s because of us. We shouldn’t put them in that situation,” Harden said. “Get them the help that they need, they’re just as human as anybody else.”
To learn more about the Law Enforcement Suicide Data Collection Act, click here.