Unveiling the Silent Battle: Suicide Rates among Law Enforcement Personnel

The researchers examined 977 law enforcement officer deaths by suicide in the United States (US) from 2016 – 2022, collected by First H.E.L.P., and calculated rates disaggregated by year, sex, and geographic location. Overall rates ranged from 19.0 to 27.5 per 100,000 officers per year, averaging 21.4 over the 7- year timeframe. Three key findings included: (1) overall deaths by suicide peaked in 2019 at 196 or 27.5 per 100,000, (2) male officers averaged higher rates than female officers (22.7 vs. 12.7), and (3) the Midwest (27.5) and Northeast (24.0) had higher suicide rates than the South (19.4) and West (19.7), although variation was noted across divisions within these regions.