New IACP Program on Police Officer Suicide
The International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) has just released a new resource for law enforcement on police officer suicide, with information and resources on prevention and response to the problem of law enforcement officer suicide. The resources on their website are from their symposium entitled: “Breaking the Silence: A National Symposium on Law Enforcement Officer Suicide and Mental Health” and their website is loaded with lots of downloadable and reproducible materials.
According to the IACP website: “To address the mental health stigma within law enforcement as well as the critical issue of law enforcement suicide, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, in partnership with the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, U.S. Department of Justice (COPS) hosted Breaking the Silence: A National Symposium on Law Enforcement Officer Suicide and Mental Health in July 2013. The participants at the symposium, which included the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention, law enforcement and mental health professionals, worked together to develop a national strategy to address officer mental health wellness and suicide prevention”.
You can find their information… here: http://www.theiacp.org/Preventing-law-Enforcement-officer-suicide
The IACP site is also loaded with lots of links to free downloads and links to other agencies that support their work in suicide prevention.
IACP suggests that “The information contained within is intended for use by professional law enforcement agencies. These materials were submitted by agencies throughout the country and reflect material designed specifically for their law enforcement population. The specific applicability to other agencies depends upon a multitude of factors”.
Check out these RESOURCES on the IACP site:
DOWNLOADS:
Breaking the Silence: A National Symposium on Law Enforcement Officer Suicide and Mental Health
Developing a Suicide Prevention Program
Sample Suicide Prevention Materials
Sample Training Materials
Sample Presentations
Sample Funeral Protocols
Their page also includes these HELPFUL LINKS:
American Association of Suicidology at: http://www.suicidology.org/home
American Foundation for Suicide Prevention at: https://www.afsp.org/
Badge of Life at: http://www.badgeoflife.com/
Brain Line Military at: http://www.brainlinemilitary.org/
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at: http://www.cdc.gov/violencePrevention/suicide/
Living Works at: https://www.livingworks.net/
National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention at: http://actionallianceforsuicideprevention.org/
National Institute of Mental Health at: http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/suicide-prevention/index.shtml
National Police Suicide Foundation at: http://www.psf.org/
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at: http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/
SAVE: Suicide Awareness Voices of Education at: http://www.save.org/
Serve & Protect at: http://serveprotect.org/
Suicide.org: Suicide Prevention, Awareness and Support at: http://www.suicide.org/suicide-hotlines.html
Suicide Prevention at: http://www.larasig.com/suicide
Suicidology Online: Open Access Journal at: http://www.suicidology-online.com/
Tears of a Cop at: http://www.tearsofacop.com/police/police.html
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs: National Center for PTSD at: http://www.ptsd.va.gov/
Their page also links to the IACP’s Center for Officer Safety and Wellness where you will find many more useful resources:
http://www.theiacp.org/CenterforOfficerSafetyandWellness
There you will find links to resources like a report on “The Impact of Shift Length in Policing on Performance Health Quality of Life Sleep Fatigue and ExtraDuty Employment”
Remember June is PTSD Awareness Month and the week of September 8-14th is National Suicide Prevention Week in the United States. These would be great times for you to initiate campaigns within your agency or organization to promote information and prevention strategies to help reduce the problem of police officer suicides.
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