Dallas police officer suicide should be a wake-up call to focus on health and wellness

Only about 5% of law enforcement have prevention training programs.

Dallas police Officer Matthew Bacon took his own life after a fatal encounter with a suspect this month. This tragedy should be taken as a red flag for a society that has not prioritized officers’ mental health.

Crime rates across the nation are still high, and law enforcement agencies are working tirelessly to solve myriad community concerns while suffering from serious recruitment and retention issues. How sustainable are the expectations we place on officers to protect and serve without proper attention to their own health and wellness?

Officer suicide rates have increased at an alarming pace — with the Southern region of the U.S. seeing the highest number of deaths. A 2016 Pew Research Center study revealed that only 13% of officers feel that the public understands “the risks and challenges that law enforcement officers face on the job.”

Mental adversities contribute to police staffing shortages detrimentally affecting law enforcement agencies, local budgets and public safety across the country. In recent months, major municipal departments’ staffing levels, year-to-date spending and overall financial health have made headlines.

The Dallas Police Department has been struggling to fill vacant positions amid an underfunded pension system. They are not alone as the New York Police Department surpassed its allotted funds by almost $100 million, and the city of San Francisco passed Mayor London Breed’s request for another $25 million. These numbers are the result of increased police overtime needed to ensure the public is kept still safe despite reduced personnel.

With the public safety expectation for officers to be mentally, emotionally and physically stable so that they may be “fit for duty,” the daily challenges in their work environment directly compete with the demand. With many fearing that going to a health professional will lead others to see them as “unfit” and lead to consequences of that label, rates of PTSD and depression among police officers are five times higher than among civilians.

Dallas Police Chief Eddie García said he and others spoke with Officer Bacon after the deadly shooting, and no one saw signs that he was hours away from suicide. Currently, there is no national protocol in dealing with a traumatic event, and any resources offered are at the agency level. Of the 18,000 law enforcement agencies across the US, only about 5% have suicide prevention training programs, as a study by The Addiction Center revealed, even though law enforcement organizations, such as the International Association of Chiefs of Police, have released guidance on how to identify and understand officer-experienced trauma.

In addition to suicide prevention, law enforcement agencies should add counseling, peer support programs and regular mental health check-ins — just to name a few. Such initiatives would help to normalize conversations about mental health within law enforcement and provide officers with the support they need to cope with the challenges of their job.

Fortunately, the wellness of our nation’s officers has gained attention at the federal level. Last year, the Dallas Police Department created the Texas Law Enforcement Peer Network mental health program, which provides officers with mental health resources, including an app where they can get help anonymously. While the program is a wonderful first step and more than what most police departments offer, clearly more aggressive measures need to be implemented. The death of even one police officer, especially one with 18 years of service, is too great a loss.