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Suicide Kills More LA Cops Than Criminals
Grim nature of job biggest hazard for officers
By Rob Quinn
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Posted Mar 26, 08 5:59 AM CDT
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(Newser)
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Cops in Los Angeles are more likely to die by their own hand than from a criminal's bullet, the Los Angeles Times reports. Psychologists trying to improve the LAPD's suicide prevention efforts found that 19 police officers in the city killed themselves between 1998 and 2007, while just seven died on the job. The police say the nature of the work is often to blame.
"When you interact day after day, hour after hour with either the victims of crime or the perpetrators of crime, you start thinking this world is dangerous, this world is violent," said the force's top psychiatrist. "It's depressing." The LAPD is working on ways to reach out to troubled officers—including placing dashboard stickers in police cars advertising counseling services.