NCJ Number
193562
Date Published
2001
Length
16 pages
Annotation
This study computed and compared police officer suicide rates with suicide rates in the general population.
Abstract
The statistics commonly cited in the media suggest that the suicide rate for police personnel is 22 deaths per 100,000, compared with 12 deaths per 100,000 in the general population. This estimate of police suicide is based on a 1995 Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) study of insurance claims by 92 local chapters in 24 States. Further, "experts" quoted in newspaper articles consistently state that there are approximately 300 suicides each year by police personnel, or that the police suicide rate is at least double that of the general population. To determine whether this commonly cited suicide rate for police personnel was accurate, the current study examined data published in the June 1, 1999, issue of "USA Today," in which the paper listed the suicide rates for the police departments in eight large metropolitan areas throughout the country, as well as for the FBI. The annual suicide rate for officers in these agencies was a combined 16.34 per 100,000, well below the 22 reported in the FOP study. When all of the authors' sources were combined, their best estimate of the annual law enforcement suicide rate was 18.1 per 100,000. This figure was 52 percent greater than that of the general population, but a more targeted analysis found that suicide by police officers was 26 percent lower than that of a more precise comparison group (white men between the ages of 25 and 55). Thus, the notion that suicide rates were abnormally high in the law enforcement profession was not supported by the data. 11 tables