The Psychological Impact on Police Officers of Being First Responders to Completed Suicides

Abstract

When a suicide is completed, police officers are often among the first responders. Little attention has been paid to the emotional and psychological impact on the police officer in this specific situation. This study examines the effects encounters with completed suicides have on the emotional and psychological well-being of the police officer. This is a qualitative study, which intends to bring alive the feelings, thoughts, actions, choices, and challenges of police officers who have encountered completed suicides as imparted through participants' stories. Interviews were done with eight police officers. In addition, interviews were done with a coroner, a police chaplain, and a police psychologist to add some unique perspectives to the police officers' experiences of encountering completed suicides. Interviews were done in a semi-structured, focused format involving an ongoing fine-tuning of questions. The overarching finding reveals the central role played by police culture in shaping how police officers come to perceive this experience, and how they subsequently choose to mediate it. This study identifies ten strategies police officers use to mediate this experience, and discusses the possible psychological consequences of employing each strategy.

Negative perceptions of asking for support in law enforcement

“…Research indicates that officers can turn to a number of negative coping mechanisms such as alcohol or other drugs (He et al, 2002; Violanti et al, 1985), and avoidance of loved ones (He et al, 2002). Even when the officers use positive coping mechanisms, these do not often include using benefits offered by the department to minimize stress (He et al, 2002; Koch, 2010), which may be due to the potential stigma officers fear.…”

Providing support following exposure to suicide: A mixed method study

“…Awareness of the impact of suicide on those left behind can be devastating and long‐lasting without appropriate support (Cerel & Campbell, ), yet the majority of research has only focused on the family or friends of the deceased (Maple, Cerel, Jordan, & McKay, ). Occupational exposure to suicide among some professions has been given attention, particularly first responders where suicide exposure is a by‐product (see Koch, ), where cumulative exposure has also shown to be harmful (e.g. in firefighters, Kimbrel et al., ).…”

Occupational exposure to suicide: A review of research on the experiences of mental health professionals and first responders

“…A total of 11 papers assessed suicide impacts among psychiatrists and psychologists only [4,[28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37], one assessed the suicide impact on nurses [38] and one assessed exposure to suicide reactions among counselors and social workers [39]. Only five papers addressed exposure to suicide among first responders (firefighters and police) [3,[40][41][42][43]. The findings of each paper are summarized on the Table 1.…”