Agency-offered and officer-utilized suicide prevention and wellness programs: A national study.

Abstract

Limited research exists in the area of police mental wellness and suicide prevention, especially regarding programs utilized by these agencies. The purpose of this project was to gain a better understanding of the prevalence of use of police officer wellness promotion and suicide prevention programs implemented in the United States and an understanding of the perceptions of program effectiveness (Part A). We also sought to determine whether differences exist in the mental wellness and perspectives of programming of officers from agencies who utilize suicide prevention and wellness programs compared to those agencies who do not (Part B). Data for Part A was collected directly from agencies via a stratified random sample of city police departments and sheriff's offices nationwide. Part B entailed completion of online surveys by individual officers from agencies participating in Part A. The final sample included 55 agencies for Part A and 144 officers for Part B. At the agency level (Part A), Employee Assistance Programs or counseling services were the most common programs offered, and, notably, planning for programming was inconsistent or not well established. At the officer level (Part B), almost 25% of respondents did not know whether their agency had programming; 35% did not feel their agency supports its officers' mental wellness. For officers who did feel their wellness was supported, they reported significantly less stress and higher overall well-being. Of officer respondents, 12.4% indicated it was either "quite" or "very likely" they would attempt suicide someday. Implications and suggestions for law enforcement agencies are discussed.

After 10–7: trauma, resilience and satisfaction with life among retired police officers

“…In the United States, police officer wellness has been at the forefront of policy discussions. For example, President Obama's 2014 Task Force on 21st Century Policing included a focus on wellness, which was said to include mental and physical health as well as resilience (Thoen et al, 2020). If resilience is not an innate characteristic but something that can be fostered (Masten, 2014), then our findings have important implications for preretirement planning.…”

The Importance of WE in POWER: Integrating Police Wellness and Ethics

“…Initiatives to address one should always, simultaneously, include the other. Although there is a need for wellness and ethics to be addressed on an organizational level Thoen et al, 2020), the present article emphasizes the importance of POWER for individual police officers. The authors make the argument that officers need to expand the way in which they conceptualize their own wellness to include efforts to maintain ethical decision-making.…”

“…The sense of betrayal leads to feelings of anger. Moral injury and the emotions of those suffering from it may be key factors in helping to understand and to curtail the skyrocketing rate of police suicide (Barr, 2020;Thoen et al, 2020).…”

Impact of The HEROES Project on First Responders’ Well-Being

“…For example, social support was found to reduce a sample of firefighters' occupational stress levels and their suicidal ideation (Carpenter et al, 2015). Likewise, police officers who felt support from their agency reported greater well-being and less stress (Thoen et al, 2019). Resilience training improved a sample of female police officers' psychological well-being and reduced their occupational stress levels (Chitra & Karunanidhi, 2018).…”

“…The threats to well-being affect first responders physically, mentally, emotionally, socially, and spiritually (e.g., . Perhaps most alarmingly, in one sample of police officers, over 12% reported a likelihood of attempting suicide at some point in the future (Thoen, Dodson, Manzo, Piña-Watson, & Trejos-Castillo, 2019). Although suicide represents the most extreme outcome, most first responders experience a range of other well-being-related effects (Mumford, Taylor, & Kubu, 2015).…”