KENOSHA, Wis. — It’s an often-overlooked reality of American policing. Law enforcement officers are 54% more likely to die by suicide than the average American worker, according to a study published in the National Library of Medicine.
What You Need To Know
Kenosha Police was one of the first departments in Wisconsin to hire a full-time therapist
Leaders are changing the stigma behind mental health
To help protect privacy concerns, Kenosha Police helped pass PEER Support Privilege legislation
Research also shows that more police officers in the United States die by suicide each year than are killed by suspects in the line of duty. According to First HELP, a nonprofit that tracks officer suicides nationwide, at least 184 public safety officers die by suicide annually. In comparison, an average of about 57 officers are killed by suspects each year, according to statistics from the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
For members of the Kenosha Police Department, the statistics feel personal.
“The types of things we get exposed to are not normal,” said Kenosha Police Officer Jason Tetrick. “On a normal night, our officers respond to two car accidents, and that doesn’t include the child neglect they see, sexual assault, and battery.”
Tetrick and Kenosha Police Chief Patrick Patton have worked together for nearly 20 years. Early in their careers, the loss of two coworkers changed them forever. Tetrick said he’ll never forget getting the call that his friend on the force, Officer David Gaede, had died by suicide.
“This was a guy I worked third shift with, gone on calls with, seen many times a week,” Tetrick said. “It was surreal that he was gone.”
Just a few months later, another officer, Erich Strausbaugh, also died by suicide. As the department was dealing with the two officer deaths, Patton, who was a patrol officer at the time, was severely injured on the job.
“You kind of feel like you are out on an island by yourself,” Patton said about his recovery. “As traumatic as the injury was and the surgeries after that, that’s not where I had my struggle. It was being removed from work and removed from my support system.”
This chain of events led Kenosha Police Department leaders to start a PEER support team. The team is a group of officers specially trained to provide mental health support and crisis intervention to fellow officers and their families.
Tetrick is now the PEER coordinator and works with the Therapy K9 Tilly as part of the officer wellness program.
But the Kenosha Police Department went one step further to improve mental health resources.
According to Patton, it became one of the first departments in Wisconsin to hire a therapist. That therapist meets regularly with officers and conducts annual one-on-one check-ins with every sworn staff member. The therapist is contracted through the city and supports the police and fire departments.
“She is on call 24/7,” Tetrick said. “I could call her right now, or any of our other guys. If there is an officer-involved shooting, she meets with them within an hour.”
The department also has other therapists throughout the city who can be called to help officers and their families. Police department staff are able to schedule roughly 22 health visits a year, which are mostly covered by insurance.
For many officers, talking about mental health once felt risky. Some feared it could cost them their careers. Patton said that concern drove the department to push for PEER Support Privilege legislation, which “allows peers to have the same confidential exemptions that a doctor or therapist would have.”
Patton said the goal is to keep moving away from the old narrative that makes law enforcement officers feel like they need to be tough, do the work, and not talk about feelings.
“We know that the vast number of officers who experience trauma will take it out on their house or personal life; they will let financials go downward.” Patton said. “The last thing they will let fall will be work. We don’t want that.”