Officer Suicide… a Sad Day for All

PTSD, Depression, Stress on the job

Like the photo shows on the surface, “I’m good” is only what we see in people or what they choose to share with us. What’s beneath the surface is what might be brewing, that no one is aware of. Career resiliency for officers is getting harder with all of the pressure and stress they endure day in, and day out.

Suicide is the final statement

It’s that final act when a person says, “I’m done.” Officer suicide is a fact that is happening, and one that can not be ignored. We have to ask ourselves is there something more we can do to prevent that final act? These are the men and women that took an oath to protect and serve us all. We need to do our part to protect and serve them!

Richland deputy commits suicide in patrol car while on duty

Sheriff Lott, “We have people amongst us that got issues that we just don’t see, we don’t understand. And sometimes when they cry for help we don’t answer that cry.”

“Talk to someone and try to get some help. We need to help each other. We need to do what we can to make sure that we don’t have another Derek Fish, or those that we’ve lost a law enforcement.”

The State.com By Teddy Kulmala

JULY 31, 2017 3:02 PM RICHLAND COUNTY, SC

A Richland County sheriff’s deputy killed himself using his service weapon in his cruiser while on duty Friday afternoon, Sheriff Leon Lott announced Monday.

Senior Deputy Derek Fish, 28, shot himself with his department-issued gun in his patrol car Friday, Lott said. After finishing his shift, the deputy drove his patrol car back to Region 3 headquarters on Bishop Avenue and parked behind the building, where he is believed to have shot himself between 6:30 and 8 p.m. Another deputy found him.

“We’re all struggling to try to understand why, and we don’t have an answer,” Lott said at a Monday news conference to discuss Fish’s death and suicide prevention, a move approved by the deputy’s family. “He didn’t leave a note, he didn’t communicate with anybody what his intentions were. For all purposes, that shift was a normal shift.”

Help your officers improve their Communication, from EI to SI

We all talk to ourselves. But have you ever stopped long enough to listen to the words and names you call yourself? Maybe you’ve said to yourself (or even out loud)…

“I’m such an idiot” or “That makes me so angry” or “Why do bad things keep happening to me?”

Talking to yourself is common, we all do that. But putting yourself down constantly will take its toll. Talking to someone about the stress you feel, and what you’re going thru is helpful, and will serve you much better than keeping it inside. But learning to communicate what you feel (to yourself), what makes you happy and what makes you sad, is a great place to start.

Emotional Intelligence (EI) is learning how your emotions or emotional state effects you, which in turn will effect others. Social Intelligence (SI) is learning how navigate and negotiate our emotions, to help us interact better with others. We put it all together in a simple to understand training called Racial Intelligence. It starts with “treating myself fairly first.”