Some 86 percent of police officers are male, a group already at higher risk for suicide, and officers have ready access to firearms, which departments are loath to take away for fear of further discouraging cops from seeking help. In many suicides, officers use their own service weapons. Research has shown that proximity to suicide is in itself a risk factor, causing a potential contagion effect.
Police officers have higher rates of depression than other American workers. Shift work, which disrupts sleep, and alcohol use, long the profession’s culturally accepted method of blowing off steam and managing stress, further compound health issues.