Law Enforcement Suicide

Abstract

The issue of suicide among law enforcement personnel has garnered increasing attention. Unfortunately, little is known about the etiology of suicide for this group, and whether its rates warrant unique consideration as an at-risk population. This project used the psychological autopsy technique to examine the etiology of eight law enforcement suicides. Findings indicated that all employees in the sample demonstrated risk factors for suicide congruent with those of the general population. Prehire risk factors were elemental to most employee completions, including those related to family-of-origin context and substance abuse. Exposure to traumatic on-duty critical incidents was not a primary theme. The findings challenge the dominant theoretical perspective that law enforcement training, vocational culture, and exposure to traumatic on-duty events generate cognitive restriction and then patterns of substance abuse for those who complete suicide within this vocation. Suggestions for prehire screening are made, with a focus on the assessment for preexisting polarized cognitive styles.

Keywords

law enforcement suicide psychological autopsy extended case method

Research indicates that law enforcement personnel are no more likely to complete suicide than their demographically similar peers in other occupations (Aamodt, 2013; Aamodt & Stalnaker, 2001; Loo, 2003). However, the approximately 140 completions (O’Hara, Violanti, Levenson, & Clark, 2013) each year justify efforts to study the etiology of law enforcement suicides to better inform prevention. The primary aim of this community-partnered, action-research project was to examine a sample of eight completed suicides among sworn personnel employed with a large municipal agency. Incorporating record review and survivor interviews, the extended case method (ECM; Burawoy, 1991, 1998) was used to employ the psychological autopsy technique and thus offered the opportunity to explore a secondary aim: theoretical augmentation for the topic at hand.

Law Enforcement Suicide: Risk and Protective Factors

Most persons who complete suicide show one or more signs before they take action (Cheng, Chen, Chen, & Jenkins, 2000). Thus, a number of protective and risk factors have been identified for suicide within the general population regardless of vocation (see Table 1).

Table 1.

Suicidality: Protective and Risk Factors.

Protective factors	Risk factors
• Access to quality healthcare • Restricted access to highly lethal means • Strong support network • Skillfulness in conflict resolution, nonviolent problem solving • Belief system discouraging suicide (“American Foundation for Suicide Prevention,” 2013)	• Diagnosed mood disorder or personality disorder; recent major depressive episode • Alcohol or other substance abuse • Traumatic exposure • Impulsivity and access to lethal means • Major medical illness • History of attempts, exposure to suicide clusters, suicide in the family • Major loss • Low social support or isolation • Reticence to seek help • Poor access to care • Belief system accommodating suicide (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2013)

Protective factors

Risk factors

• Access to quality healthcare • Restricted access to highly lethal means • Strong support network • Skillfulness in conflict resolution, nonviolent problem solving • Belief system discouraging suicide (“American Foundation for Suicide Prevention,” 2013)

• Diagnosed mood disorder or personality disorder; recent major depressive episode • Alcohol or other substance abuse • Traumatic exposure • Impulsivity and access to lethal means • Major medical illness • History of attempts, exposure to suicide clusters, suicide in the family • Major loss • Low social support or isolation • Reticence to seek help • Poor access to care • Belief system accommodating suicide (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2013)

Perhaps most importantly, research among the general population demonstrates that among all the risk factors studied, mental disorder is the one most strongly linked to completion (Cavanagh, Carson, Sharpe, & Lawrie, 2003).

Interestingly, several of the risk factors for suicide have also been found to be preexisting vulnerability features associated with the likelihood of developing posttraumatic stress disorder (e.g., family history of psychiatric and substance abuse disorders; Inslicht et al., 2010). Recent research indicates that many of these factors—which have long been viewed as outcomes of traumatic exposure—are in fact characterological and contextual pretrauma risk factors (DiGangi et al., 2013). Such findings, along with those specific to suicide, challenge the assertions among some that the etiology of completions among law enforcement officers is closely correlated with on-duty traumatic exposure.

Research in Law Enforcement Suicide

Aamodt and Stalnaker (2001) and Aamodt and Werlick (1999) examined the published literature on law enforcement suicides, creating a profile of those who complete. A snapshot of the typical law enforcement suicide was developed: a White, 36.9-year-old married male with 12.2 years of law enforcement experience. The authors did not compare the completions to the general law enforcement demographic; thus, it is difficult to know whether this profile is more reflective of the average employee demographic of the time, and also how it compares to the general population. A different profile presented in the literature indicates the typical law enforcement suicide profile to be a male ≥50 years, exposed to severe violence in the workplace, hesitant to ask for help, able to easily access to firearm and to use a duty weapon to complete, at increased risk for alcohol or drug abuse, experiencing an active or lifetime mood disorder, exposed to more life event stressors, less able to cope by the fifth year of the career as characterized by impaired behaviors in the work and home life, and a smaller support network (Violanti, 2007). These factors help discern impairment; however, they mirror many of the risk factors for the general population, with little context specific to law enforcement.

Aamodt and Stalnaker’s (2001) and Aamodt and Werlick’s (1999) work examined the specific context of law enforcement suicides without the benefit of survivor interviews. They identified trends that indicated the typical completion occurred off-duty (86.3%), with a gun (90.7%), at home (54.8%); however, these findings too represent the expected context, given the population’s ready access to a service weapon. Additionally, Aamodt and Stalnaker’s findings indicated the reason the officers committed suicide was difficult to discern. They noted that studies inconsistently applied categorical coding, creating across-study incongruence. Interestingly, their findings illuminated legal problems as a major contributor to stress for those who completed; however, they found no study had coded that construct. The authors characterized relationship problems as the most prevalent risk factor for the officers at 26.6% (relationship problems + murder/suicide), followed by legal problems (14.8%). Approximately a third of the suicides reviewed by Aamodt and Stalnaker cited no reason for completion.

Important findings in the Aamodt and Stalnaker’s (2001) study not particularly emphasized by the authors included the fact that most completions were nonpromoted personnel who experienced psychological problems and work-related stressors (unspecified). Further, a larger number of cases indicated what the authors referred to as unknown reasons for suicide. The primary finding of their work indicated that apart from legal troubles, the vocation’s rate (18.1) does not appear to outpace the rate for the general population (11.4) when basic demographic information is considered. They assert that suicide rates for law enforcement are predictable by the vocational demographics and that “speculation about such factors as job stress and the availability of weapons are not factors that are exclusively associated with law enforcement suicide” (p. 10).

Finally, like all research, the Aamodt and Stalnaker’s (2001) and Aamodt and Werlick’s (1999) studies suffer from the impact of their historical timeframe in conceptualizing suicide (e.g., that relationships as causal to suicide vs. a forum in which mental health troubles manifest) and outdated labels and language (e.g., reason for committing suicide vs. correlation to completed suicide).

Law Enforcement Suicide: Theory

Presently, Violanti and Samuels’ (2007) Psychological Model of Police Suicide is the primary framework specifically conceptualizing suicide within this vocational context. The model hypothesizes that law enforcement employees have, from the time of recruit training, likely developed a diminished ability for the use of multiple social roles. Such employees then may progressively lose their capacity to consider the depth of their non-work-related and emergency-driven contexts. The model asserts that these employees, therefore, cope through overutilization of the law enforcement vocational role (rather than the prehire identity), which over time can become highly de-individualized, drawing upon a deeply constricted pool of psychological coping strategies aimed at base-level survival, rather than the nuanced tasks of daily living. Exposure to traumatic events in law enforcement then, coupled with a constrained and polarized cognitive style and a restrictive agency context for help-seeking, can result in a downward spiral often marked by alcohol abuse, and culminating in completed suicide for some. Interestingly, this presentation would be difficult to discern from that of others who complete suicide after experiencing a traumatic event, regardless of vocation.

The present model would benefit from further context to address the aforementioned nuances of individual employees. Many other risk factors related to individual- and family-of-origin context are also well documented in the suicide literature; however, these are nearly absent in the literature examining law enforcement suicide. In fact, much of the literature on law enforcement mental health positions the employee’s experience as correlated with on-duty exposure to extreme stress and trauma, with unresponsive/under-informed agencies/coworkers, all manifest in a work culture steeped in a hypermasculine mystique that stigmatizes self-care. Some have asserted that such a perspective negatively stereotypes the resilient vocational population and positively stereotypes the trouble coping strategies of the few (Honig, 2006).

Finally, a review of the literature found that much of the foundational work in law enforcement suicide is also now decades old, riddled with language not relevant to a diverse workforce, is heavily influenced by larger, east coast police departments, and seemingly contains a significant sample of Vietnam era veterans who may have had remarkable preemployment, war-related traumatic prehire contexts. The present literature is lacking a base structure integrating critical and elementary psychological knowledge established through prior research on both suicide and stress and trauma studies with other populations. Little consideration has been given to the life experiences of employees prior to hire or the evaluation of any posthire change in presentation after a traumatic event. Extreme stress and trauma are distinct, and the literature would benefit from working to distinguish employee exposure to extreme stress, from those events the employee experienced as traumatic. The psychological autopsy (life review) process currently presents the best holistic means of discerning such etiology, and its use is recommended as the preferred technique “for obtaining comprehensive retrospective information about victims of completed suicide” in law enforcement (Hackett & Violanti, 2003, p. 123).

Method

The Extended Case Method

A case analysis approach is most appropriate when exploring situations in which phenomena (coping) and context (individual and career interaction) are difficult to disentangle (S. L. Morrow, 2007). It is also useful in accommodating macro influences on intersectionality such as home and career role conflict with completed suicide (micro influences). The ECM (Burawoy, 1991, 1998) is a methodological theory offering data collection options beyond the sole use of case studies, incorporating other data sources (e.g., employment records). The method is seated in a sociopolitical and historical context that well accommodates this project’s vehicle for data collection, the psychological autopsy, or life review. An elemental focus of the ECM is the validation, extension, or reconstruction of existing theory, thus allowing for generalizability via a deductive orientation to data acquisition and analysis and also accommodating inductive processes as data analysis may dictate. The ECM has been used previously to explore experiences of those working in law enforcement (e.g., Charles & Rouse Arndt, 2013; Rouse Arndt & Davis, 2011). It views the method (design) of data collection and the technique of gathering information (e.g., interviews and record data) as discrete, accommodating for emic needs as well. Negative case analysis and reflexivity are utilized to examine potential points of theoretical reconstruction or augmentation.

Research Partnership: Community-Partnered Action Research

The primary researcher has a long-standing professional relationship with both the law enforcement agency and peer support nonprofit partners. This context created the venue through which the peer support nonprofit requested aid in investigating the agency’s completed suicides. The project personnel chose to submit to the highest level of institutional review board oversight, despite qualifying as an expedited project. Approval for the project was also sought from the governing public safety committee and the municipality’s common council. The peer support nonprofit also reviewed the project through its Board of Directors.

Partnership structure, consultants, and research team training

The research partnership chose a community-partnered, action-research model. This allowed the partnership, project, and deliverables to be informed by insider advisors. It also facilitated critical data sharing with the peer support and agency partners as urgent issues emerged (e.g., to ensure officer-involved shootings received psychological debriefs when the notification system did not deploy). This process allowed the partners to intervene with employees who required support during the course of the project. The team was augmented by a number of community consultants. They provided insider guidance and included: a retired police officer and former peer support coordinator; a retired police sergeant and survivor of a child’s suicide; a retired police assistant chief; three law enforcement peer support coordinators; and three chairpersons from the peer support nonprofit’s Board of Directors. Additionally, the team consulted nationally with a number of professionals having relevant areas of expertise, including military psychology, depression, suicide, death and dying, stress and trauma treatment and research, and industrial and organizational psychology.

The research team included two academic faculty and 13 graduate student members representing a diversity of men, women, the five primary racial groups, and a variety of vocational insiders. Training was undertaken by the student team members in a number of areas including qualitative research, theory, practice, and data collection, coding, and analysis; suicide risk education, assessment, intervention, pre- and postvention; grief and loss; the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act; ethics and confidentiality issues with the target population and their records; the relevant laws in the state related to threat of harm to self and others; and law enforcement vocational culture. Additionally, the student members participated in two 8-hr ride-along experiences with patrol officers in the agency, spent 4 hr observing the agency’s communications center, observed recruit training classes for a day, and attended a training held by the partner agency on law enforcement vocational culture. Finally, student team members underwent background checks and signed confidentiality agreements with the law enforcement agency to ensure protection of data and participants’ rights. The agency’s Internal Affairs Division oversaw research team activities in data analysis for document sources.

Reflexivity

Team member interviewers and analysts routinely participated in the reflexive process to explore their individual perspectives, as well as the synergy of perspective created by the reflexive process (known within some qualitative traditions as bracketing). These meetings involved debriefings with the community consultants to process biases and individual lenses, in preparation for member-checking with participants on data analysis decisions. One example of the need for this process arose when one of the doctoral team members encountered a completed suicide during the agency ride-along experience. The reflexive process allowed the student member to process a new level of empathy for the population given their routine exposure to death. The student also shared personal reactions and strategies to manage such exposure, given the recent increase in completed suicides within the student’s ethnic community.

Participants

Employee case inclusion and general demographics

Employee cases included all eight completed suicides for active sworn personnel within a large police department between 2000 and 2010. While the agency did suffer completions of nonsworn and retired sworn personnel during that same time frame, only the suicides of active sworn personnel were included. The mean age of the sample was 33 years with time on the job ranging from 4 to 17 years (median = 8.5; mode = 5). The sample included seven men and one woman and was diverse, with three racial groups and a variety of white ethnic backgrounds, and all were reportedly heterosexually identified. The decision to gather data from both male and female employee cases was made based upon the blue identity vocational literature within law enforcement identity research (Charles & Rouse Arndt, 2013; J. L. Morrow, 2011; Violanti & Samuels, 2007). This perspective asserts that law enforcement training and socialization (much like that of the military) serve to develop a unique vocational cultural identity, as much as to develop the skills needed to work in that career. To further ensure confidentiality, all employee cases were assigned male pseudonyms for the purpose of reporting findings. The sample size precludes reporting the number of individuals with military service backgrounds. All employee cases were nonpromoted personnel with time of employment ranging from just less than 5 years to more than 17 years. None of the employee cases contained data indicating they were employed with another law enforcement or civilian employer after being hired by the project partner agency. Seven employee cases reported a religious affiliation, all of which were Catholic. All employee cases were hired prior to the institutionalization of the work setting’s current psychological testing process (presently including both assessment tools and an in-person interview). The agency’s previous policy required an in-person interview with a clinician only if the paper and pencil testing indicated elevated risk or concern.¹

Participant interviewees

Interviewee contributors represented first-degree family members, friends and other loved ones, coworker-peers, and supervisors of the employee cases. Participants were identified as holding critical information for the project after review of the employee case records and in conjunction with the peer support coordinator and the agency’s project designee. All completed informed consent. To protect confidentiality, demographics are reported in aggregate. The interviewees included 10 family members, five close coworker/supervisor-friends, nine coworker-peers, and three supervisors. The interviewee sample included 15 males and 10 females. Supervisor interviewees were represented from two promoted ranks. The interviewees included three racial groups and a variety of white ethnicities. Two participants contributed interviews on more than one employee case, for a total of seven interviews among those participants who were knowledgeable about multiple employees.

Data Collection

Two tools were utilized to gather both pre- and postemployment data for each employee case. They included a life review protocol (LRP) form and semistructured interviews.

Life review protocol

The LRP was adapted from the best practices protocol recommendations of Knoll’s (2009) and Seltzer, Croxton, and Bartholomew’s (2001) work. Detailed demographic and historical data were gathered on each employee case regarding life and career experiences, mental health and wellness, strengths and risk factors, and the context of the employee’s completion. These data informed contextual trends that may correlate with completed suicide for this specific population. Basic demographics were collected including: age, gender, socioeconomic status of upbringing, rank at time of death, height/weight, relationship status, religiosity/spirituality, history of adoption, foster care, immigration/refugee status (self/family/acculturative stress), residence/mobility, military service, and previous or family emergency services employment. While space limits prohibit inclusion of the entire protocol, example data collection domains are included in Appendix A.

A summary of the record data for the week prior to each employee’s completion was recorded in the final section of page one of the LRP. Page two of the LRP entailed a summary timeline of remarkable lifetime events for each employee case (e.g., suicide of a family member, traumatic incident) and merged data from both the document and in-person interviews. This allowed researchers to examine the proximity and relationship of risk factors to completion, as well as to track potential time on job context.

Interview protocol

The interview used a semistructured protocol developed after an extensive review of the literature on issues in law enforcement suicide (Appendix B). Open-ended questions allowed the participants to express themselves with minimal influence by the interviewer(s). Data from the LRP were also used to inform probes to the interview questions as they arose. The interview questions targeted the following areas: (a) prehire life experiences and core character, (b) posthire experiences and core character, (c) the presence of mental or medical health risk factors for suicide, and (d) the presence of experiential risk factors (e.g., traumatic events). Interviewers used a script that first instructed that participants could pass on any question or stop the process at any time and then asked them to characterize their relationship with the employee and its length if nonfamily members. The interview questions addressed the following objectives: (a) What preemployment suicide risk factors existed for each employee? (b) What posthire suicide risk factors existed for each employee? (c) In what way(s) did the employees seek help, including responsiveness to any attempts at intervention? (d) How, if at all, did role conflict impact help-seeking among these employees (e.g., male gender role)? and (e) How do the data inform best practices in suicide education, intervention, and pre- and postvention?

Interviews were conducted at the location of the participants’ choosing, provided it ensured confidentiality. Most chose to be interviewed at their home or a confidential work location. Three individuals interviewed by phone due to their distance from the researchers. Interviews ranged from 1 to 3 hr in length, with an average of 1 and 1½ hr. Interviewees were given a list of referral sources for ongoing support.

Psychological Autopsy

The psychological autopsy combines interviews and examination of evidence from multiple sources (e.g., medical, mental health, employment, legal, and medical examiner records) to assess “mental and physical health, personality, experience of social adversity and social integration … to produce as full and accurate a picture of the deceased as possible with a view to understanding why they killed themselves” (Cavanagh et al., 2003, p. 395). It is broadly viewed as the most efficient and comprehensive technique for examining the etiology and context of law enforcement suicide and is considered the cornerstone of suicide research and empirically based prevention education by many (Hawton et al., 1998). The project merged the best practices psychological autopsy protocol template recommendations of the two most recent and seminal publications in the project’s area (see Knoll, 2009; Seltzer, Croxton, & Bartholomew, 2001) to develop the template used with this sample. Further, the project adhered to these best ethical practice recommendations for the conduct of suicide autopsies, including attention to survivor catharsis and support (Beskow, Runeson, & Asgard, 1990; Cooper, 1999).

Procedure

Participants were contacted by the coordinator of the nonprofit partner to explore interest in contributing to the project. Potential participants received a hand-delivered or emailed packet containing the consent form. They then received a call from the interviewer to overview the project and answer preliminary questions. Informed consent included an overview of the types of deliverables that might be developed from the project (e.g., internal trainings, empirical publications, etc.). Interviews were conducted by one or two research team members. They averaged 1 and 1½ hr in length and were conducted at a location chosen by the participant that provided comfort and confidentiality. The interviewer often made notes during the interview to provide further context for interpreting both the interview data and the LRP during analysis. Thirty participants completed their interview face-to-face or by phone and consented to being audiotaped. Audiotapes were transcribed and audited for coding accuracy three times. Three participants consented to be audiotaped; however, taping was not completed due to the participants’ spiritual worldview, and instead notes were taken. Member checking was utilized when clarification of data with participants was required and was conducted by the principal researcher via phone calls. Participant transcripts of the interview protocol portion of the in-person meeting ranged in length from 5 to 12 pages double-spaced. Team member notes were also analyzed for missing thematic data and researcher biases. Interview and note data were merged with LRP data to gain a more in-depth summary of each employee life review.

Data Analysis

The principle investigator and at least two student investigators each independently read and coded cases. An across-case analysis was completed in consultation with the community consultants and via member-checking with participants. Data were categorized first by abstracting the deductive domains of received theory and research in law enforcement suicide: (a) career context (e.g., rank, critical incidents on duty, etc.), (b) symptoms of risk and resiliency (e.g., preemployment mental health, reported cognitive styles, legal troubles, etc.), (c) help-seeking behaviors (e.g., peer support, voluntary medical and mental health treatment), and (d) the presence of role conflict in career or personal life/community. Once the data were analyzed for the deductive themes, an inductive analysis was conducted. Themes were then further rendered to categories and subcategories utilizing an inductive analysis process and thus were not imposed by the researchers, but emerged from the data. The study’s credibility is consequently strengthened by bringing data, analyses, interpretations, and conclusions back to the research team and community, and expert advisors for feedback and by the primary researcher’s own experience within the vocation. While the ECM offers the researcher the opportunity to remain the expert scientist and take a position on data analysis based on theory that may be contrary to that of the analysis team, there was no divergence among the faculty academic investigators and the community or professional consultants in rendering themes, categories, and subcategories.

All findings were also viewed and processed through a historical lens for the law enforcement vocation, considering high-profile media events that arose for the agency during the project. Each participant case was viewed in this respect, considering regional–historical influences for the agency at which the participant was employed. Historical and contemporaneous data considered included newspaper and broadcast coverage of law enforcement-related community conflict and interactions, laws and legislation that affected law enforcement vocation, and criminal cases against agency employees. A final step in analysis included a second literature review for any new literature that might influence conceptualization.

Procedural trustworthiness and participant power

To help avoid the imposition of personal biases on data analysis, the project incorporated Lincoln and Guba’s (1985) standards for trustworthiness throughout. Project partner input was sought during the development of the design, as well as during data gathering and analysis. Two formal presentations were given to partners during the course of the project on preliminary findings. Additionally, the team presented several trainings for peer supporters and during recruit training and incorporated feedback gathered in those venues into the analyses. One clear demonstration of reciprocity and power exercised by the participants is manifest in the fact that all participated without receiving a material incentive and were happy to contribute to the knowledge-base alone. All participants were updated periodically regarding the team’s progress and early findings. Several participants offered to become involved in trainings on law enforcement suicide, and two survivor parents also provided training for peer supporters on risk assessment and family perspective.

Findings

Aside from general demographic data, 10 themes were identified: Preemployment Stressors; Posthire Career and Coping; Critical Incidents in Law Enforcement; Posthire Off-Duty Stressors; Mental Health Support; Posthire Injury; Posthire Medical Health; Posthire Mental Health; Suicidality; and Alcohol and Other drugs of Abuse. All themes contained categories, and some included subcategories. Table 2 displays the themes, categories, and subcategories, as general (all cases), typical (4–7 cases), or nontypical (<4 cases; adapted from the recommended standards of Miles & Huberman, 1994). The findings significantly illuminate prehire risk factors, as well as details of the posthire context. In some cases, the findings included a glimpse into the perspectives of coworkers and family, as they watched their colleague or loved one struggle with wellness.

Table 2.

Themes, Categories, and Subcategories, Number of Cases, and Classification.

Theme	Category	Subcategory	No. of cases	Classification
Preemployment stressors			8	General
	Family history mental health		5	Typical
	Family history substance abuse		4	Typical
	Family relationship strain		5	Typical
	Family history of suicide		2	Nontypical
	Officer negative life events		8	General
	Officer history mental health		7	Typical
	Preemployment injury		2	Nontypical
	Prehire suicide attempt		2	Nontypical
Posthire context/coping			8	General
	Job performance		8	General
		Positive job performance	8	General
		Impaired job performance	7	Typical
	Negative view of vocation		7	Typical
	High sick-time use		7	Typical
	Rule violations		3	Nontypical
On-duty critical incidents			3	Nontypical
	Mandatory debriefing		2	Nontypical
	No agency policy		2	Nontypical
Posthire off-duty stressors			8	General
	Financial troubles		4	Typical
	Criminal case		5	Typical
Mental health support			8	General
	Self-referral		2	Nontypical
	Peer services referral		7	Typical
	Voluntary in-patient treatment		2	Nontypical
	Emergency detention		1	Nontypical
	Fitness-for-duty referral		2	Nontypical
Posthire injury			3	Nontypical
	High on-duty injury rate		2	Nontypical
	Medication-seeking		2	Nontypical
	Off-duty, personal-time injury		2	Nontypical
Posthire medical health			7	Typical
	Somatic issues		7	Typical
		Medication	5	Typical
	Brain injury		2	Nontypical
Posthire mental health			8	General
	Impulsivity		6	Typical
	Prescription adherence		5	Typical
	Violent ideations		3	Nontypical
	Psychosis		2	Nontypical
	Relationship troubles		7	Typical
	Domestic violence		6	Typical
Suicidality			8	General
	Major stressor		8	General
	Threat communication		7	Typical
	Previous attempts		3	Nontypical
		Poisoning	3	Nontypical
	Foreclosure		5	Typical
	Gestures		8	General
	Departure behaviors		5	Typical
	Intervention		8	General
		Awareness	5	Typical
		Offer of concern	3	Nontypical
		Preparedness	8	General
	Means of completion		8	General
		Service weapon	3	Nontypical
Alcohol and other drugs of abuse			8	General
	Prescribed medication		5	Typical
	Alcohol proximate to death		7	Typical
		In system at death	3	Nontypical
	OWI		2	Nontypical
		MVA	2	Nontypical
		OWI intervention	2	Nontypical

MVA: motor vehicle accident; OWI: operating while intoxicated.

General Case Sample Context

Both male and female employees were reportedly exposed to an environmental tolerance of hypermasculine stereotypes in the workplace, including a common apathy toward alcohol abuse, stigma toward help-seeking, and a tolerance for infidelity or promiscuity (as characterized by participants). Ethnic culture’s intersection with male gender role conflict was a reported factor constraining help-seeking for three employees (e.g., “ … the [ethnic group] player thing and off-duty friends … ” [Paul]; “ … alcohol use is part of our [ethnic group] culture … ” [Ray]). Racial acculturation pressures reportedly posed a challenge to prehire life for two employees (e.g., “[Parent] was very strict and [employee] wanted to do [mainstream cultural] things.” [Tom]). Two employees were members of police families. One of the employee’s Catholic affiliation posed challenges for the family at the time of burial.

Context of Preemployment Stressors

The Preemployment Stressors theme included existing theory in screening for prehire mental health and suicide risk factors and resulted in nine categories. Of the nine categories, four were family-of-origin based (family history of serious mental health issues; family history of substance abuse; family relationship strain; and family history of suicide) and four were individually based (officer history of negative life events; officer history of mental health issues; preemployment injury; and prehire suicide attempt).

Family history mental health category. “[Family member] takes anti-depressant medication and said to [Ray] ‘You have got to get something, some pills, something to help you through this.’” [Ray]; “I know [parent] had some mental health issues.” [Andrew]

Family history substance abuse category (included both abuse and dependency). “There was [substance] and other abuse, [parent] was overwhelmed.” [Chuck]

Family relationship strain category. “When he was with his [first degree relatives] it was a lot different. It was a lot more stressful, a lot more upsetting, difficult.” [Tom]; “He didn’t really talk to [first degree relatives] or even see them.” [Paul]; “I know he didn’t see his [first degree relative] for a really long time. They were feuding or something.” [Andrew]

Family history of suicide category. “Somebody in the family, [first degree relative] committed suicide.” [Tom]; “I asked about suicide, I thought it was appropriate based on the stress that he was going through, and he had a [first degree relative] that completed suicide and [another relative] talking about it … so now I am concerned for.” [Ray]

Officer negative life events category. These events deeply impacted the employees prior to the age of 20s and their agency hire dates. These events ranged from injuries and accidents, to prolonged childhood exposure to troubling, stressful, and traumatic home environments.

Officer history mental health issues category. Data indicated mental health conditions with an etiology predating hire (e.g., bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder). One employee case indicated behaviors consistent with an undiagnosed mental health condition marked by an acute reaction to chronic stress.

Preemployment injury category. “Who knows what was all [impacted] there [regarding mental capacity].” [Ray]; “I always think of that moment when he got hurt as a turning point in life … when he realized he wouldn’t be [doing what he thought in career life].” [Tim]

Prehire suicide attempt category. Data were shared in this category specifying an attempted or substantial threat of suicide prior to hire (e.g., overdose).

Posthire Career Context and Coping

The Posthire Career Context and Coping theme included received theory in screening for mental health and suicide risk factors that reportedly presented after the time of hire. Four categories emerged: job performance (two subcategories—positive job performance and impaired job performance); negative view of vocation; high sick-time use; and rule violations).

Job performance category. The data reported for the positive job performance subcategory indicated each employee was well liked by peers and performed position duties adequately to exceedingly well, in times of healthy coping. However, data shared in the impaired job performance subcategory also revealed periods of decreased productivity and compromised functioning at work.

Negative view of vocation category. “He wanted to leave policing.” [Tim]; “He hated cops.” [Chuck]

High sick-time use category. Few of the employee evaluations in these cases detailed remediation plans to address performance issues (e.g., “It started with the sick time. … I think [supervisors] figured, ‘Just let ‘em get it figured out, give ‘em space.’” [Andrew]). Sick time rates were reported in both interview and document sources.

Rule violations category. These data consisted of information on departmental or criminal violations proximate to the time of death with two employees were advised of forthcoming trial or sanction. Two other notices clearance for internal investigations were forthcoming proximate to death.

Critical Incidents in Law Enforcement

The critical incidents in law enforcement theme consisted of on-duty events to which the employee was exposed that could be expected to be highly stressful (e.g., shooting incident) or which the employee reported to be traumatic and not just highly stressful. Two categories were observed in this theme: mandatory debriefing and no agency policy.

Mandatory debriefing category. One employee incident occurred on-duty and one off-duty. Both were shootings while reportedly enacting police powers.

No agency policy category. Data in this category represented events wherein agency practices either did not cover the incident or could not reasonably be expected to include such. In one case, it appears an on-duty call that would have been routine for many law enforcement personnel may have been experienced as traumatic by the employee in question, based upon its resonance with his personal life. This employee also reportedly demonstrated significantly troubled behavior prior to that on-duty incident. Another employee experienced a nonshooting event that most participants considered a critical event in law enforcement but was not covered by the agency’s mandatory psychological debriefing policy. In this employee’s review, no data (written or interviewed) detailed presentations of extreme stress or trauma related to the critical on-duty event. Both employee cases had substantially documented histories of troubled coping prior to those on-duty events (by nonagency medical or mental health professionals).

Posthire Off-Duty Stressors

The posthire off-duty stressors theme involved high-stakes events in employees’ personal lives that were not related to enacting one’s police powers. The theme resulted in two categories: financial troubles and criminal case.

Financial troubles category. “It was going to be financially hell … borrowed money … I think everything was falling in on ‘em.” [Andrew]). One of these occurred as a direct result of legal troubles resulting from an on-duty incident.

Criminal case category. These data detailed events wherein employees were the subject of criminal investigations with outside law enforcement entities. This was most commonly driving under the influence of alcohol, though one individual was involved in the criminal possession of certain weapons.

Mental Health Support

The mental health support theme included data that detailed efforts by the employee, or referrals by colleagues and family for the employee to seek help. Five categories were found in this theme, including self-referral; peer services referral; voluntary in-patient treatment; emergency detention; and fitness-for-duty referral.

Self-referral category. These data described self-initiated help-seeking by employees without sustaining negative vocational consequences prior to that help-seeking. One of these reportedly completed suicide shortly after starting therapy.

Peer services referral category. “I made contact with him, but he denied needing any help or being suicidal.” [Lee]. Two employees were reportedly supported by individual peer support members without the ongoing support or knowledge of the peer support coordinator and other peer support members (e.g., “I didn’t share any of it with [the coordinator]. I probably should have said something, but I didn’t. I was trying to keep it confidential and he didn’t say he was suicidal or anything.” [Ray]).

Voluntary in-patient treatment category. These data indicated the voluntary participation in in-patient mental health treatment after a crisis by employees. Both of these individuals consented to such treatment after their work setting had become aware of their mental health status.

Emergency detention category. After an outside jurisdiction became aware of one employee’s mental health status, he was involuntarily admitted for in-patient treatment.

Fitness-for-duty category. Data indicated two employee cases were asked by their agency to submit to an external psychological evaluation to determine their capacity for carrying out the duties of a law enforcement officer.

Posthire Injury

The posthire injury theme characterized the nature of employee injuries sustained after their date of hire with the agency. Three categories were found in this theme: high on-duty injury rate, medication-seeking, and off-duty injury.

High on-duty injury rate category. These data contextualized employee cases who reported an unusually high number of on-duty injuries compared with peers. The on-duty injuries were witnessed by coworkers, documented, and not generally of equivocal nature. One of those employee cases had a mental health diagnosis that is often manifest in impulsivity and an increased propensity for injury over the lifetime.

Medication-seeking category. These data indicated the possible seeking of pain-relieving prescriptions from multiple outlets, wherein the employees were reportedly warned against such by their treating physicians (e.g., “He ended up doing the doctor shopping. He had an issue with drugs. Prescription pain killers came in.” [Tom]). The on-duty injuries were also not the first injuries for which these employees sought pain medications.

Off-duty, personal-time injury category. Data in this category indicated that two employees reported suffering serious and debilitating off-duty injuries during their law enforcement careers. These injuries did not occur while working other law enforcement or civilian jobs. One employee’s reported injury was unsubstantiated with ample documentation of such, which framed the off-duty injury as an artifact of the preexisting mental health condition at times manifest in delusions of grandeur. With another, the off-duty injury was substantiated and reportedly exacerbated a preexisting mental health condition. This employee suffered more than one off-duty injury requiring substantial medical treatment and hospitalization. Two interviewees speculated those particular injuries could have been suicide attempts.

Posthire Compromised Medical Health

The posthire medical health category included data for reported overall physical condition. Two categories were found in this theme: somatic issues (subcategory—medication) and brain injury.

Somatic issues category. Data in this category documented physical troubles that were continuous and recurrent in nature and that had no specific medical finding for etiology (e.g., headaches, gastrointestinal distress, and transient pain). The medication subcategory consisted of data indicating the employee received medication for medical conditions that may have been somatic in nature or exacerbated by a chronic stress condition related to compromised mental health (e.g., “He called me and said they won’t give me anything anymore [for the reported pain].” [James]).

Brain injury category. Data indicated two employees did suffer non-job-related brain injuries over the lifetime. One employee suffered complications in daily functioning due to suffering a prehire brain injury and another for a posthire, off-duty brain injury. No data were available in either instance to discern the specific areas of functioning impacted by these injuries.

Posthire Compromised Mental Health

Data in the posthire compromised mental health theme were marked by the appearance of documented or reported risky and troubled behaviors and expressions. Six categories were found in this theme, including impulsivity; prescription adherence; violent ideations; psychosis; relationship troubles; and domestic violence.

Impulsivity category. These data detailed a lack of self-control or usual judgment (e.g., gambling and weapons play) not related to alcohol or other substance use.

Prescription adherence category. This category detailed issues for employees who were reportedly not taking medication as prescribed at the time of death, including psychotropic medication (e.g., “If there is just one thing that could come of this, is to de-stigmatize the use of psychotropic medication. He was afraid to take his medication and be drug tested at work.” [Chuck]).

Violent ideations category. “He told [loved one] he would kill a cop” [Andrew]).

Psychosis category. These data specified likely loss of touch with reality or psychosis at the time of completion for two of these employees (e.g., “I thought for sure that, when he saw me, there’d be some sort of connection and there was nothing. I thought if he saw me it would be good and there was nothing. It was almost like there was no recognition that he knew me. It was…just surreal, just odd.” [Andrew]; “The neighbor said he was crawling around in the bushes … [then] he fired rounds in his basement” [James]).

Relationship troubles category. “We were always fighting and going to therapy.” [Ray].

Domestic violence category. These data included details of a history of domestic violence perpetration by employees, with one of these employees also reportedly a victim of domestic violence (e.g., “He was being investigated for pushing his [life partner].” [Tim]; “He was always waving a gun around, threatening.” [Chuck]).

It is noteworthy that nearly every participant interviewee indicated he/she felt unprepared to identify and respond to the concerning behaviors of their colleagues and loved ones, particularly given the vocational stigma related to help-seeking:

I can’t sit here and say I didn’t have my concerns…any sort of fear I had just slapped me in the face right there … “Holy Christ, this is unreal!” … what the hell do you do with that? And you’re still trying to struggle with this idea of not fucking-over your partner, “cause. … that’s something that at the very least [could] end [a] career, and that was just thrown on my porch.” [Andrew]

They are afraid to go to counseling or take medications. There is that whole thing about not being able to carry a gun then [wives tale]. [Tim]

Suicidality

The suicidality theme applied to all employee cases and included data indicating observable gestures and threats of suicidal risk in both the home and work settings, well before the employee’s completion date. Notably, in one of these cases, participants related extreme difficulty in verbalizing their perception of the employee’s suicidality related to gestures and threats, and characterized it as an instinctual knowing conveyed by the changes they perceived in how the employee carried himself. This theme contained eight categories: major stressor; threat communication; previous attempts (subcategory—poisoning); foreclosure; gestures; departure behaviors; intervention (subcategory—awareness; offer of concern and preparedness); and means of completion (subcategory—service weapon).

Major stressor category. These data indicated employees experienced a series of major losses and stressors within the year prior to death (e.g., death of loved one, financial strain, and legal troubles).

Threat communication category. Data in this category reported communications characterized as threats of suicide that were not proximate to the employee’s completion. Communication venues included letters, texts, phone messages, and direct verbal expressions.

Previous attempts category. These data characterized 11 lifetime suicide attempts made by three employees. Eight of the attempts reportedly occurred during employment with the agency. One of the eight occurred in a different, nonlaw enforcement vocational setting that would have prohibited the agency employer’s notification. The poisoning subcategory indicated that the most common means of attempt was overdose. No attempts were by firearm, fall, or hanging.

Foreclosure category. These data detailed the planful decision for suicide documented days prior to death.

Gestures category. Data in this category addressed specific behaviors that indicated risk of death by suicide. All cases included numerous reports of witnessed behaviors signaling an elevated risk of suicide (e.g., reckless use of a firearm, hording of prescribed/over-the-counter medication, marked change in mood).

Departure behaviors category. These data indicated a suicide plan within a week of the employee’s death (e.g., estate planning and gifting by mail).

Intervention category. Data in this category included details of the awareness by others of the employee’s suicidality and their subsequent attempts to intervene. The category contained three subcategories: awareness; offer of concern; and preparedness. In the awareness subcategory, there were coworkers in all cases aware of the employee’s suicidal ideation and threats. In five cases, family members reported being aware of the employee’s suicidal ideation, threats, and parasuicidal behaviors. The offer of concern subcategory involved three employees, who when approached regarding suicidal ideation, adamantly and convincingly denied such to the intervener. The preparedness category contained data indicating that almost exclusively, coworkers (including supervisors) and loved ones felt a need for training to recognize the signs and symptoms of suicide risk—particularly noteworthy, as sworn law enforcement personnel routinely assess risk in the general public, however, found it much more challenging when facing one of their own:

It’s just so important you actually see the warning signs … the hindsight is just so clear, and people are so afraid to go ahead with bringing anything to the table … It’s never just a random incident … it’s always going to continue unless they get some very serious help … I would just say it’s important to make sure that everything’s documented … I coulda done something at sometime … I don’t know, I guess that was the only thing I’ve learned from this whole thing. [Andrew]

Means of completion category. All employees completed suicide using a firearm. One subcategory, service weapon, was found and indicated that three employees used a service weapon at the time of completion. Notably, these three employees were not the only employees who completed, who had access to their service weapon at the time of death. One individual who completed stole a firearm from a friend’s home. All the other employees who did not have access to their service weapons used a personal weapon to complete.

Alcohol and Other Drugs of Abuse

The alcohol and other drugs of abuse theme included data for all employees. The theme included three categories: abuse of prescribed medication (including not taking as directed); alcohol proximate to death (subcategory—present at death); and operating while intoxicated (OWI) (subcategory—motor vehicle accident [MVA] and OWI intervention).

Prescribed medication category. These data detailed the improper use of prescription medication (e.g., the irregular or complete nonuse of the prescription, or using another’s medication).

Alcohol proximate to death category. These data detailed an abusive pattern of alcohol use proximate to the time of death. This category contained a subcategory, in system at death, which detailed toxicology reports indicating five employees had no alcohol in their systems at the time of death. One employee had a nominal level of alcohol in the system at the time of death. Toxicology reports for two employees indicated a high level of alcohol present in the system at the time of death. One of those who had no alcohol in the system at the time of death reportedly had a history of alcohol abuse but had been abstinent for many years until shortly prior to death.

OWI category. This category contained data indicating employees were stopped for operating a vehicle while intoxicated, for a total of four stops between two employees. Only one individual was actually charged as a result of a stop, and it is noteworthy that this was at the hands of an outside jurisdiction. This category contained two subcategories: MVA and OWI intervention. The MVA subcategory contained data for these two employees who suffered off-duty MVAs, which participants speculated could have been a result of driving under the influence of alcohol, a suicide attempt, or both. The OWI intervention category included data for two employees who were reportedly observed at law enforcement functions or parties, to be impaired by alcohol and operating a vehicle without intervention by colleagues.

Discussion

Much of the previously published literature in the area of law enforcement suicide has not substantially distinguished suicide among law enforcement personal from that of the general population. Perhaps, as Aamodt and Stalnaker (2001) suggest, this is due to the fact that there is no substantial distinguishing context for the vocation regarding suicide, though there may be a smaller number of individuals who are uniquely affected within the career lifetime by remarkable factors, such as profoundly traumatic exposure. The demographics of this sample had some points of convergence with the aforementioned profiles. The mean age of 33 years for this sample is sufficiently similar to Aamodt and Stalnaker’s (2001) and Aamodt and Werlick’s (1999) mean age of 37 years resulting from their literature review, but is significantly different from Violanti’s (2007) profile estimate of the 50 years or older male. While most in this sample were men, and the profiles predicted a male gender for completions, this is merely a prediction based upon the demographic in the field and is essentially nonremarkable for that. Violanti’s profile estimate of nonpromoted employees at the 5-year mark of the career did find some support in this sample. When combined with the other factors identified in Aamodt and Stalnaker’s and Aamodt and Werlick’s model (e.g., mental health troubles, legal issues, etc.), a more holistic picture can be drawn of the risk that may pose a unique context for law enforcement officers, particularly disincentives to help-seeking.

This project found many of the risk factors asserted in previous studies for the general population and added insight to the etiological context of law enforcement suicide to substantiate the need for further research examining the full ecology of law enforcement employees’ lives. Prehire factors were remarkably noteworthy in this sample. These prehire risk factors related to family-of-origin context, mental health diagnoses and substance abuse, traumatic experiences, significant injuries, prior suicide attempts, and life struggles. They challenge the Psychological Model of Police Suicide’s focus on cognitive restriction primarily manifesting after vocational-training, enculturation, and socialization. It may be that for many who complete, cognitive constriction was a core prehire coping strategy and is a factor of already compromised cognitive capacity. Regardless, it is clear that for anyone who completes suicide, the full repertoire of usual coping strategies and support resources is compromised or restricted for any of a variety of reasons. Prehire psychological testing in law enforcement would benefit from incorporating assessment of rigid cognitive styles. The benefits of such screening also likely translate to discerning other desirable qualities for law enforcement personnel, such as multicultural competency and a propensity to practice cultural humility.

Similarly, the presence of substance abuse within this sample was significant but more nuanced than previously published literature would imply. While many in the sample had histories of alcohol abuse (including prehire), some demonstrated long periods of abstinence and few were under the influence when they completed. This calls into question the presence of suicide foreclosure and cognitive restriction, and in this sample indicated a period of time well before completion when intervention efforts by a trained peer or professional would be especially critical. The assertion that the vocation has been generally accepting of alcohol abuse seems to find support in the fact that several in the sample were observed or stopped while operating under the influence but did not face the consequences that the general public would for such conduct. This is alarming, given these outcomes likely lend to the perception by such employees that they are above the law and do not require mental health or substance abuse treatment. There were also a concerning number of employees who may have been seeking prescribed medication as a result of an addiction, and a complex picture of real and falsified injuries and somatic complaints created a difficult context for the agency and medical professionals to discern. This finding warrants significant attention by agencies for policy considerations regarding medical division personnel and consultation with health professionals, general drug testing policies, and mirrors general trends in the United States overall population regarding abuse of prescribed medication.

Interestingly, themes of role conflict appeared to be correlated with alcohol use but were not necessary experienced between vocational and home life roles for most in this sample. Rather, ethnic culture and gender role messaging from the family-of-origin seemed to foster alcohol abuse prior to those employees’ hire. Such a prehire context could be expected to be exacerbated by a vocational culture that was apathetic to alcohol abuse. This finding may also correlate with family members’ assertions that they believed they were less aware than the employee’s colleagues of what struggles the individual was facing. Further, given that many employees work second or third shift, the amount of quality time spent with their law enforcement family member may be minimal. Coworkers in law enforcement, especially in squad work, may spend 8 to 12 hr together routinely and have ample opportunity to observe each other’s behaviors in multiple contexts. Police families may also feel immersed in the vocational culture while at home and may not have the objective insight of nonlaw enforcement family members. The findings did not substantiate the idea that families always know about an employee’s struggles before agency personnel—a perspective the research team heard frequently while conducting the project.

The finding that colleagues felt unprepared to intervene with coworkers they believed to be impaired is noteworthy. Law enforcement officers are trained to assess for risk of harm to self and others. Participants often expressed feeling capable to do so with the general public but that the process became more unclear with colleagues. This finding warrants more research to explore the contextual factors within the vocation that may be at play. The historically closed nature of the vocation and a desire to protect coworkers was one of the issues cited by participants. There may be unique factors related to the structure of these quasi-military systems that further constrain such intervention, including the stereotypical hyper-masculine culture pointed out by many participants. It is likely the periods of positive job performance and the likeable character of those who completed created an opportunity for confirmatory biases for any colleague looking for a reason to not intervene with a colleague.

Little support was found within this sample for the argument that employees were exposed to critical incidents which the current literature characterizes as traumatic. Trauma is not extreme stress, and trauma is uniquely perceived by the individual. It would be impossible to discern retrospectively if any particular incident was experienced as traumatic for any of these employees. What was clear in this project is that each of these personnel was experiencing a number of risk factors prior to hire. Immersion in a vocational culture that stigmatizes help-seeking, aggrandizes alcohol abuse, and exposes an already compromised individual to ongoing, cumulative, and extreme stress could certainly be expected to create further risk for completion. Mental health struggles are expected to play out first primarily within intimate and close relationships, such as with the family-of-origin and life-partner or marital relationships. Agencies could work to establish networks of communication for families seeking information or support for their loved ones. Similarly, such networks could act to provide confidential support and a central reporting and case management system for colleagues who identify someone needing support or for employees seeking to self-refer.

The findings also indicated support for some particular recommendations for agency policy regarding exposure to critical incidents in law enforcement. Employees in this sample did not largely fit the presumed criteria for what is expected to be a traumatic incident (e.g., the traumatic on-duty shooting). Rather, employees seemed overwhelmed—and perhaps traumatized, by other incidents that resonated with their personal lives and struggles, as well as other types of life-threatening on-duty incidents. Agencies should consider their critical incident debriefing policies and whether they are broad enough to provide support to employees who may experience on-duty trauma not related to a shooting incident. Additionally, agencies would benefit from developing policy and procedure for responding to employee suicide. Several interviewees in the project were deeply impacted by multiple completions within this agency, and these included supervisor employees. Supportive follow-up should be an elemental piece of such response.

Agencies may benefit from reviewing their policies on managing employee mental health troubles and access to firearms other than the service weapon. It can be very difficult to take possession of personal weapons against the employee’s will, with the legal argument being that if an individual is unable to possess his/her personal weapons due to threat of harm, he/she should be involuntarily detained. Encouraging employees with compromised mental health to voluntarily surrender their personal weapons for a period of time may be useful; however, in this sample, it is clear that some may continue to seek every possible means of completion. Considering the findings also indicate likely periods of psychosis for some of the employees in this sample, the consequences of agency policy and colleague intervention are great.

That the findings in this project can add deeper context to this body of literature is especially crucial. All of the employees demonstrated signs and gestures of their risk of suicide well before their completions, and many demonstrated efforts toward self-care. Existing literature on police suicide persists in being intensely vague in nature and is presently almost indistinguishable from that for any other populations. The findings in this sample were not congruent with much of the existing literature on law enforcement suicide related to alcohol use as a result of on-duty trauma being highly correlated with suicide. The findings were, however, very consistent with the risk literature on the general population.

Limitations and Future Research

Retrospective data can be limited by the memories of interviewees. This project benefited from the triangulation of both document and interview data. Given that not every family member and coworker could be interviewed for each employee in this sample, it is possible there are missing data. These data would likely not diminish the risk findings, however. The inclusion of such data could only add to the existing themes, including employee resiliency factors. The findings illuminate need for research in the area of vocational counseling and education focused on contextual and emic factors; the intersection of personal (e.g., ethnic culture) and vocational identities (e.g., law enforcement officer) with mental health is an important element of vocational psychology.

Footnotes

Appendix A

Appendix B

Acknowledgements

We would like to extend our deepest gratitude to all those who have contributed to this project, most especially the anonymous participant survivors of law enforcement suicide. We are much indebted to the City of Milwaukee Chief of Police, Edward A. Flynn and his administration for the forward thinking that allowed this innovative and important project to unfold. We express our gratitude to the Police Officer Support Team (POST) Board of Directors and the five Coordinators who worked tirelessly to see the project through in all aspects of the project. We also acknowledge the Civil Litigation Unit of the City of Milwaukee Professional Performance Division, the Recruit Training Staff, the Range Training Staff, the Administration of the Police Training Academy, the Administrators and employees of the Technical Communications Division, and each District that accommodated student training, as well as the City of Milwaukee Common Council and the City of Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission. Special appreciation goes to Assistant Chief (retired), Dale Schunk, POST Coordinator (retired), Kenneth Felsecker, and Sergeant (retired), Brian Yourich, who dedicated countless hours to serve as community team members during the course of this multiyear project. You are all our heroes.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Note

Author Biographies

L. M. Rouse is a licensed psychologist and Assistant Professor in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. Her research and clinical interests include trauma psychology with law enforcement, emergency services, and correctional populations. She has published on mental health issues in law enforcement, including those faced by marginalized populations. She is a former City of Milwaukee police officer, and worked previously for the Wisconsin Capitol Police and the Wisconsin Department of Corrections.

R. A. Frey is a doctoral student in Counseling Psychology in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. Her research interests include trauma psychology with military, law enforcement, sexual assault survivors, and their ethnic-vocational cultural environments. She served nine years in the Army National Guard and separated as a Staff Sergeant (E-6). Ms. Frey deployed in 2003 for Hurricane Katrina relief and is a veteran (2009–2010 Camp Bucca) of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

M. López is a doctoral student in Counseling Psychology at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. Her clinical and research interests include multicultural issues, stress, and trauma for law enforcement and ethnic populations.

H. Wohlers is a doctoral candidate in Counseling Psychology at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, and presently completing her doctoral internship in the Federal Bureau of Prisons, CA. Her clinical and research interests include stress and trauma issues facing law enforcement and inmate populations.

I. Xiong is a doctoral candidate in the Counseling Psychology at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. Her clinical and research work includes multicultural issues in mental health and trauma studies with veteran populations, intergenerational trauma, and the Hmong community. She completed her doctoral internship specializing in veterans’ issues and trauma in the U.S. Department of Veterans’ Affairs, HI.

K. Llewellyn is a graduate of the Master's program in Educational Psychology-Community Counseling at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. Her clinical and research interests include adult survivors of sexual trauma, and stress and trauma issues for law enforcement.

S. P. Lucci is a doctoral student in Counseling Psychology in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. Her research interests include personality and cognitive psychology, including implications for law enforcement wellness.

S. R. Wester is a Professor in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. His clinical and research interests include the psychology of men and masculinity. He was awarded as Researcher of the Year (2006) by the American Psychological Association’s Division 51 (the Society for the Psychological Study of Men and Masculinity) and was recently named a Division 51 Fellow.

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