Police Suicide

Risk Factors and Intervention Measures

Richard Armitage

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9781315410593
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Sciences sociales
• Subtopic: Criminologie

This text makes a primary and informed contribution to a subject that is under-researched in the UK — the suicide of those who work in the UK police service — by offering an analysis of UK case studies of officers and staff who have either completed suicide or experienced suicide ideation, and referring to the likely prime suicide precipitators in these situations. This analysis is followed by an examination of literature that discusses general and police-specific suicide. The text then examines intervention measures and support mechanisms that are currently offered to those working in the police service, as well as other measures that might be introduced in the future. Designed for criminal justice professionals and affected laypeople, including the families of those in the police service, Police Suicide is a crucial text for any who have an interest in the holistic and psychological welfare of police officers and staff.

1 A Way Forward

Prologue

In 2013, Police Oracle reported:

A Devon and Cornwall Police officer has been found dead, the force has confirmed. The 46-year-old woman, whose rank and name have not yet been disclosed, was found in a car in the Hornick Hill area of St Austell, Cornwall on June 15. Police were called at around 9.15am after concerns were expressed for the woman’s welfare. A force spokesman said there were no suspicious circumstances. Next of kin have been informed and a file will now be prepared for the coroner.¹

Media reports such as the one above appear with regrettable frequency. Having read in the media of similar deaths some time ago, it was with unease that I realised that, within less than two years, four people who were employed by the force in which I worked as chaplain and one who had recently retired from it had completed suicide. Of these five people, four were male and one was female; all five had been officers, although one had retired as an officer and was working as a staff member at the time of his death.

Working within this force, I had also become increasingly aware of a number of officers and staff who had been involved in parasuicidal incidents. (The term parasuicide, as opposed to attempted suicide, is used within this book to embrace those whose self-harm was such that it was life-threatening. Further comment on the term parasuicide is made in Chapter 3.) In addition to these incidents, I had a growing awareness of other officers and staff who had spoken confidentially to me of their suicidal ideation. As a police chaplain, my initial response to these human dilemmas was, not surprisingly, one of deep concern.

Following the deaths of those who had completed suicide within the force in which I worked, when talking with many force members, genuine concern was evident. Awareness of officer and staff vulnerability to suicidal ideation was noticeably evident among chief officers, human resource managers, the Occupational Health Unit (OHU) and line-managers generally. The speed with which line-managers referred personnel who indicated signs of stress to the OHU appeared to accelerate markedly. This quickening pace in referrals appeared to arise out of a concern for personnel but also, it appeared, because line-managers felt they needed to be seen to have given all possible support when officers and staff were displaying signs of stress.

My personal challenge was to determine what actions I might undertake that could lessen officers’ and staff members’ vulnerability to suicide. Suicide was not unheard of in the world in which I had worked as a priest; yet there was a sense of caution on my part. My hesitancy to enter this arena lay in an awareness that others would have greater knowledge of the stress under which police personnel work, and still others, such as psychologists and psychiatrists, would have a more detailed understanding of suicides and suicidal ideation.

However, as a police chaplain who had worked within the service since 1990, I felt increasingly confident that my knowledge of both the police service and the stress under which police personnel work was sufficient to develop my own understanding.

Over the past three decades the number of chaplains appointed to the police service has grown at a quickening pace, and they have come to have an acknowledged role within many forces. In these forces, chaplaincy has a privileged position working alongside officers, staff and management. Therefore, as a chaplain contracted by the police service, I decided that I would be well placed to embark upon research into the suicide of officers and staff. Any knowledge I could glean which might lessen the number of suicidal or parasuicidal incidents could only be for the good of those working in the service.

I was encouraged by the knowledge that chaplaincy, offering confidentiality and sensitivity, has the trust of many police forces, as demonstrated by the increase in chaplaincy posts. These qualities of confidentiality, sensitivity and trust would be essential in the examination of issues relevant to suicide. Furthermore, it seemed that chaplaincy also offers the means by which, through ‘reflective friendship’, research conclusions might be articulated and fed back to those in positions of authority and responsibility within the service. Chaplaincy can speak with an independence that might at times be denied to other roles, and the sharing of any conclusions would need to be as sensitive as the research itself.

Consequently, because of my role within the police service and because of my concern for the vulnerability to suicide of those working in the police service, I concluded that I could make an informed contribution to a dilemma that causes deep distress to many.

An Initial Hypothesis

The suicide of police officers is an issue that is reported in the media with some frequency and because of these reports, I gained the initial impression that officers could be at greater risk of suicide than others in the general community. This was the hypothesis to be explored. In examining this hypothesis, there were a number of accompanying issues of related concern. As the examination of the hypothesis commenced, it was important to me that:

i.	My own understanding and development should be enhanced to enable me to offer greater support to members of the force who were experiencing suicidal ideation.
ii.	The support I might offer could be developed if I were more aware of the potential precipitators leading to suicide ideation.
iii.	My support would equally be enhanced if I had greater knowledge of the effectiveness of current intervention measures.
iv.	I should extend my knowledge and understanding of police suicides so that my support could be extended to the family members and colleagues of those who had completed suicide.

My concern originated at a time of great change for the police service nationally. Because of the changes to the police service brought about by the well-publicised national economic constraints on local policing budgets, there were new pressures and stresses within the workforce. Redundancies, questions of job security and greater expectations of a limited workforce could only have a detrimental effect on the psychological stamina of the workforce. Clear objectives needed to be set if research were to be undertaken that would potentially enable me to offer informed, relevant comment and enhance my further understanding of an under-researched issue.

Aims and Objectives

There were two initial aims in exploring the initial hypothesis:

i.	to make an informed contribution to a subject that appeared to be currently under-researched in the UK;
ii.	to determine whether there are specific groups within the police service that may be particularly vulnerable to suicide, for example officers or staff, males or females.

To meet these aims, the following objectives were set:

i.	to examine available statistics of those in the police service who had taken their own lives and thereby determine whether officers and staff might be more vulnerable to suicide than those in the general community;
ii.	to determine the specific vulnerability of those employed in the police service – that is, which factors and issues, if any, might significantly contribute to suicidal ideation;
iii.	having researched the vulnerabilities, to examine the available intervention techniques and suggested coping mechanisms;
iv.	to do the above in order to ascertain whether current measures might be enhanced or others introduced to further minimise the risk factors for suicide;
v.	if it was established that these measures fell short of the ideal, to consequently make recommendations and seek to influence policy makers, leaders and implementers of policy to improve intervention techniques.

After consideration of all these factors, a working title was adopted for the research: The suicide of police personnel in the UK: an analysis of risk factors and an identification of appropriate intervention measures to reduce the number of completed suicides and parasuicide incidents. This working title served me well throughout the research.

When deciding upon this working title, I was aware that because of my personal interest in the research issues, I would need to ensure that I retained a level of objectivity as I undertook the research and examined its findings. As I was a part of and belonged to the system that I wished to research, objectivity would be essential. This requirement was demonstrated, even as I formulated a potential research scheme, by the difficulties and successes I was experiencing in the preliminary discussions. Even though, as Jennifer Platt suggests, ‘a single case can undoubtedly demonstrate that its features are possible and, hence, may also exist in other cases and, even if they do not, must be taken into account in the formulation of general propositions’ (Platt 1988: 11), the research had to be objective, and if it were to be unbiased, then it would need to adhere to a strict methodology.

Initial Difficulties and Successes

The initial difficulties and successes in the work were important in the development of my research and the choice of a research methodology. In the first place, I felt it was important to have the support of my chief officers, which I gained after a lengthy exchange of correspondence. Their concerns related to issues such as the need for the research, my intended aims, sensitivity and confidentiality. Their support was given once the aims of and the need for such research were explained and an assurance was offered concerning the sensitivity and confidentiality of my intended approach to the research, as explained in Chapter 3.

Having gained this support, particularly the support of the Chief Constable, I was confident to approach potential contacts – people whom I had identified both internally and externally to the force in which I worked. I assumed that the heightened level of concern within the force in which the five police personnel had completed suicide might be equally shared by managers within the force and others within the police service generally who might be aware of and concerned about similar situations.

Within my force, I spoke with the lead personnel of a number of departments, including the Occupational Health, Communications, Human Resources and Professional Standards departments and the Force Disclosure Manager. A number of individuals within the force were most supportive. However, when I sought to obtain families’ contact details, departmental heads explained that they would be unable to assist me in identifying details of the families of those who had completed suicide, and offered a number of reasons. These included:

• the breaking of data protection regulations;

• the fact that some of those who had completed suicide had been under investigation by the Professional Standards Department, and therefore contact would be inappropriate from the force’s perspective;

• principles of client confidentiality in terms of releasing family contact details;

• the fact that family contact details held by the departments would probably be incorrect because of the time that had lapsed since the death.

At the early stage in the research, with the hope of engaging a force-wide audience and thereby identifying potential respondents, I had hoped to write an article for publication in the force magazine. Initial approval was received ...