Topic > Suicides in the police: the hidden problem of working as a police officer

The Australian police are downplaying the problem of suicide, VICE to date In Victoria 2706 people committed suicide between 2008 and 2012 but in Australia there Very few studies have been done on the suicide of police personnel. There is currently one made by Griffith University by Dr. Jaqueline Drew. So, there is little evidence of the number of police officers who take their own lives through suicide, so many police suicides are hidden so that they pierce families and so they can get insurance money. We say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay If you look at the police memorial list, none of the deaths are listed as suicides. The first police officer who died that could have been a suicide was on February 1st and his name was William Harvey, he was a corporal and all the honor rolls say he was shot. Police assessment and collection of suicide statistics are problematic; the accuracy of the data is concerning. This has led to a debate in the literature about the comparative suicide rates of police versus the general population. Estimates range from 26% (predominantly in the United States) and 30% (Australia) below comparable populations to 3 times higher (United States). Gaps in data on police suicides The current study represents one of the very few comprehensive empirical studies of police suicide in Australia. Have you undertaken research into the NSW Police Force but only studied officers who had committed suicide whilst on duty? Considering only on-duty suicides can be misleading and is often the case with existing research. Recent Senate Inquiry into the Mental Health of First Responders Lack of Data Overall and Cause of Death of First Responders in the 10 Years Post-Service If we view policing as a precursor to death by suicide, its impact is likely to extend well beyond service. Considering only on-duty suicides is likely to give us a distorted understanding of police suicides. Gaps in police suicide data. In one of the most recent studies, Milner and colleagues, using NCIS data, studied suicide rates among emergency services personnel and first responders in Australia. Identified 62 police officer suicides over the 12-year period. Coronal data do not routinely record employment (in particular, prior employment); such research that relies on coronal data will likely grossly underestimate suicide deaths. As undertaken in the current research, a comprehensive study must involve the participation of police agencies to identify all officers who have had a history of service, so for those officers who have died, identifying the cause of death leads to the problem of even capturing the incorrect classification of death. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay In conclusion, scientists have already described the typical profile of a “most at risk” officer. It is helpful, however, to focus on a better understanding of how the experience of operational and organizational harm is filtered through police culture and organizational perceptions that give rise to the health findings of current research; the focus on suicide and the wide-ranging harms that impacted that journey and how they led that person to suicide. This must involve the role of trauma but also the organizational environment..