Survivor

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Dave Betz and his son David (left)

The death of nine New York police Officers this year, Family Members , law enforcement, and the politicians have left to point fingers and assign blame. But Suicide is a deeper problem That is deeply rooted in The Police culture. What's behind the epidemic?

speeding on route 1 on a cold, gray February morning, Dave Betz's heart raced. As a valiant Police Officer of 32 years, he was used to car chases, but This Morning , he was a father looking for his son. Dave received a phone call earlier That morning, at 09:21, That his 24-year-old son David , also a Police Officer show up for his shift at work. Something didn't sound right.

After he hung up the receiver, he opened the door to his room of my son where he is missing with a gun holster resting on the dresser - his gun.

"I don't call my friends to let them know," listen, this is good. I have no good feeling at All . "You know, I had That pit in my stomach. "

Recharge via the empty Parking lot of the Boston Sports Club, Dave noticed That his son is a Volkswagen, window fogging, hidden in the far corner behind the overpowering concrete gymnasium building. As he walked to The Front of The Car , his police training kicked in.

", The mentality of a cop - Fight or Flight - this is the kind of thing That came in to respond to, how they are trained," he says.

"death is not something, which anyone may see. You just do not want to see it, You know. You do, but it's someone else's family member.

"He was sitting in his car, he and he had his phone in his lap. And I knew, You know. I just didn't want to know," he says as his voice drops. He makes a break.

Country Music blared from The Car radio, as Dave , dressed in pajama pants and a t-shirt, stood over his son and realized That he was dead.

David Betz died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, without any explanation of what led him to this moment says the father. He is among hundreds of Officers in the United States, which have their own Life and leaves behind a trail of questions.

"I always thought I was a good judge of character, able to see things and to see, whether someone needs help or I should know it, if someone needs help," he says.

"I couldn't see it in my son, You know, so, That bothers me. "

Dave in the Parking lot, where he with his son, while displaying a photograph of them found together in 2018, A nationwide study, more police Officers died by Suicide than in The Line of duty. Researchers say That The Police Officers are at a higher risk of Suicide than any other profession by a combination of intense stress, pressure to hide the emotional distress and easy access to Deadly Weapons .

In fact, 13 out of every 100,000 people murder and die by itself in The General population. But this number rises to 17 out of 100,000 euros for The Police Officers , according to the Ruderman Family Foundation.

in the Past year, 167 police Officers took their own lives, while 130 have done so this year, four months on the calendar, according to Blue Help, a Massachusetts-based police Suicide prevention group, which tracks The National rate.

These figures are only the suicides show confirmed. Some of the Suicide -prevention advocates say That the current estimates could be higher, as some families decide not to report The Cause of death or, instead, to describe it as accidental.

< p > unspoken realityNew York City, the brunt of most of the recent national attention bears. New York Police Department (NYPD) Commissioner James O'neill declared a Mental Health crisis, as the town dealt with the Suicide death of nine police Officers .

"We need to change the culture," he told reporters in June. "We must ensure That our police Officers have access to Mental Health care. So You can do to keep well and do The Job That You want. "

However, The Crisis put the cascade in the whole city.

Robert Echeverria, 56, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in August, just A Day after the 35-year-old officer Johnny Rios took his own Life .

His sister, Eileen Echeverria, said to the BBC, she contacted Internal Affairs about the concerns for your Brother the Mental Health of the several times, most recently in the June before his death.

The Department said it would investigate, but the 25-year-police-returned veteran of the weapons to him within Two Days . She throws The Top brass for his Suicide .

New York City police Commissioner, James O'neill "is The NYPD's broken on so many levels. It is not the same, to be Officers used to be respected, she said to the BBC before the meeting of The Deputy Chairman of the employee relations outside The Police headquarters in New York .

"Now You are spitting on The Streets And Then come back to the boss, and You spit on him. I could not be home and to go normally after That . I couldn't do it. I'm not strong enough. God Bless those who are. "

The New York police Department says Echeverria ' s death is under investigation.

"We need change," she says.

cities and States around the country are confused by a similar problem. California, Florida, New York and Texas, where everyone reported to Help at least 10 police suicides in The Last year, according to Blue to.

Earlier this year, the Chicago Police Department, The Nation , the Officers , the second-largest force of 13,000, was forced to confront his own wave of police, and suicides.

tragedy triggered the introduction of the Mental Health " campaign, a doubling of The Number of therapists available to Officers , as well as a video campaign shows high-ranking Officers , including a Superintendent Eddie Johnson - recording of their own struggles with Mental Health .

President, Donald Trump is entitled to up to $7. 5m (£6. 1m) in grants in the year for The Police , Suicide prevention, Mental Health screenings and training of departments throughout the country work to pay the halt.

But the problem is hardly an American. A similar trend appeared in other countries, where Officers armed with a pistol.

Last year, France saw a 36% higher rate of Suicide among police than The General population, and this year, 64 have taken Officers already Life .

For comparison, about 21 to 23 Officers took their own lives in the UK between 2015-17, according to the UK Office for National Statistics. In contrast to France, the majority of British police Officers not carry guns.

Almost two-thirds of the gun deaths in the USA are suicides, according to data compiled from every town, a gun safety group.

If people are less likely to attempt Suicide with a gun (6% of All attempts), the nature of Deadly Weapons makes death more likely, with about half of All deaths from Suicide with a firearm.

at least six of The Nine deaths in the NYPD involved a weapon, many with their own service weapon.

Why is Suicide so high in The Police ? John Violanti, a 23-year police veteran and a professor at the University at Buffalo That focuses on police stress and Mental Health , refers to the nature of the work as a part of the equation That leads to Suicide .

"You see abused children, they find the bodies, You see a terrible traffic accidents. And what That means is That the traumatic events and stressful events kind of build on each other. "

"If You a bullet-proof vest, before You go to work, That is a sign That they are already under the possibility of being shot or killed and their family under the same probability. So All of these things weigh heavy on the psyche, and in the course of time, they hurt the officials. "

He also points to an increasing anxiety of driving a wedge between law enforcement and the communities they protect.

"We have the political conflict. We have social conflict. We have groups at each other's throat All the time. And The Cops stuck in The Middle of All this stuff," he says. "So, they are moved sometimes in different directions, and You really don't know what your role is. "

More votes on this issue, mark DiBona, a 33-year police veteran and spokesman for Blue Help, has practical experience in the development of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the workplace.

He volunteered for three weeks in New York , four days after the 9/11 attacks and remembers his nightmares began shortly. This trauma, coupled with other encounters, including the response to a car fire is locked up with a car, led to his depression.

"I wanted to die. I just don't want to go any further because I felt like a failure," he says.

Sitting in The Front seat of his car, in addition, a letter to his mother, and his wife wrote a furious letter to The Police and an apology, before he used his gun in the mouth.

In a random moment, Another officer moved to intervene up to his car, before he pulled The Trigger .

But, along with many of the Officers are to be believed, one of the largest barriers in seeking help is the stigma That comes with the You need.

"That 's what We need. But we have very little training when It Comes to the protection of us mentally. "

help

suicide prevention, mental health, new york city

Source of news: bbc.com