LOS ANGELES, CA – The Sheriff’s Office in Los Angeles is reeling after four current and former employees took their own lives during twenty hours early last week. Sadly, the four newly reported deaths bring the total number of suicides the department has faced within the recent year to nine.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna informed the public of the death of three active and one retired member in the course of twenty-four hours. Something, which Sheriff Luna noted, has taken an “emotional” toll on everyone at the agency. Sheriff Luna told Eyewitness News:
“[Law enforcement is]a brotherhood and sisterhood at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, so any loss is tragic, it’s emotional.”
While the exact details as to why the law enforcement members chose to take their own lives will most likely never be publicly known, it is not a stretch to believe the deaths can be attributed to some type of trauma they experienced over the course of their careers.
And sadly, while there has been a recent nationwide push to help law enforcement professionals in realizing it is okay to seek counseling, that has not always been the case.
For much of the history of law enforcement, someone who admitted they needed counseling or some other type of help was seen as a pariah. That those seeking counseling are weak and should not be in law enforcement instead of helping the people strong enough to admit they need help to get it…and maintain their chosen profession.
That mindset perhaps has led to the number of officer deaths, which, according to Eyewitness News, has surpassed the number of officers killed in the line of duty in 2018. According to stats taken by the FBI, there were 118 officers killed in the line of duty, while Blue H.E.L.P. estimates a total of 161 the same year.
Keep in mind, while the numbers provided by Blue H.E.L.P. are eye-opening, there is no way for sure to know how many officers take their own lives every year, as not every officer's death can be given a solid reason.
For instance, in 2021, the FBI reported 56 officers were killed in some type of accident, but could it be that in some of those cases, the death was not an accident, rather, the officer chose to drive off the side of the road or in some other way ensured their death and the payment of benefits to their family.
The strains on an officer’s mental health are not something new. Law enforcement professionals, including dispatchers, witness or are otherwise involved in cases that the average person could not handle on almost a daily basis which takes an unbelievable mental toll that no one outside of the profession considers.
The vast majority of the population could not respond to a simple call one minute, and then deal with the brutal homicide of an infant on the next while having to smile and act there is nothing wrong on the call for service after.
And really, officers cannot either, they just learn to compartmentalize those feelings so that others do not realize they are hurting. Why? So they do not seem weak to their co-workers.
The fact is law enforcement, much like the military, exacts a mental price that has to be paid at some point in an officer’s life. The only question is not if that price will be paid, the question is when the bill comes due and what the final price tag will be.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna informed the public of the death of three active and one retired member in the course of twenty-four hours. Something, which Sheriff Luna noted, has taken an “emotional” toll on everyone at the agency. Sheriff Luna told Eyewitness News:
“[Law enforcement is]a brotherhood and sisterhood at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, so any loss is tragic, it’s emotional.”
While the exact details as to why the law enforcement members chose to take their own lives will most likely never be publicly known, it is not a stretch to believe the deaths can be attributed to some type of trauma they experienced over the course of their careers.
And sadly, while there has been a recent nationwide push to help law enforcement professionals in realizing it is okay to seek counseling, that has not always been the case.
For much of the history of law enforcement, someone who admitted they needed counseling or some other type of help was seen as a pariah. That those seeking counseling are weak and should not be in law enforcement instead of helping the people strong enough to admit they need help to get it…and maintain their chosen profession.
That mindset perhaps has led to the number of officer deaths, which, according to Eyewitness News, has surpassed the number of officers killed in the line of duty in 2018. According to stats taken by the FBI, there were 118 officers killed in the line of duty, while Blue H.E.L.P. estimates a total of 161 the same year.
Keep in mind, while the numbers provided by Blue H.E.L.P. are eye-opening, there is no way for sure to know how many officers take their own lives every year, as not every officer's death can be given a solid reason.
For instance, in 2021, the FBI reported 56 officers were killed in some type of accident, but could it be that in some of those cases, the death was not an accident, rather, the officer chose to drive off the side of the road or in some other way ensured their death and the payment of benefits to their family.
The strains on an officer’s mental health are not something new. Law enforcement professionals, including dispatchers, witness or are otherwise involved in cases that the average person could not handle on almost a daily basis which takes an unbelievable mental toll that no one outside of the profession considers.
The vast majority of the population could not respond to a simple call one minute, and then deal with the brutal homicide of an infant on the next while having to smile and act there is nothing wrong on the call for service after.
And really, officers cannot either, they just learn to compartmentalize those feelings so that others do not realize they are hurting. Why? So they do not seem weak to their co-workers.
The fact is law enforcement, much like the military, exacts a mental price that has to be paid at some point in an officer’s life. The only question is not if that price will be paid, the question is when the bill comes due and what the final price tag will be.
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Comments
491 days ago | Comment by: Jim
Sadly this is all too true. Many Officers suffer from PTSD just as Military Combat Veterans do. We see the worse of people and the needless loss of life of young women and children which is emotionally draining and even the death of our fellow Officers and friends for no reason at all. I also realize that I suffer somewhat from PTSD, not from my Vietnam years from 68-75, but from my active duty police years from 75-85 before I was badly injured in the line of duty and forced to retire, and no I did not get hurt due to any death wish. It was totally NOT my fault and I have everything to live for and fought to live and recover from those injuries. My PTSD was from seeing a baby of 2 yrs old head squashed and burst open from playing under a semi's rear wheels when it started up and ran him over. Another case was from three burned bodies of teenagers in a fiery car crash as well as other fatal car crashes involving young children and young ladies who were just married or getting married with their whole life ahead of them. I could get away with thinking the young guys died because of that "Hold my Beer and watch this" attitude so many had but these kids died not of their choosing and mostly the young ladies who were of childbearing age never had the chance to get married and maybe have children of their own who might grow up to be game-changers in this world, who knows and many of them were simply a waste because of someone else's stupidity. It does affect you after you see so much of it. Then knowing that you might actually have to take someones' life in the line of duty you pray it is not you that has to do it and pray for you brother Officers who did have to and see the changes in their life and sometimes they just quit rather than ever be put in that situation again even though their shooting was more than justified and nothing else that they could have done to change it. It weighs on all LEO's minds, and not just those immediately affected.