What’s Happening In Chicago? Police Suicide Rate In ‘War Zone’ 60 Percent Higher Than Average

A lack of resources and widespread violence combined with increased pressure and pervasive stigma has wrought havoc on the officers of the Chicago Police Department. The suicide rate in the department is 60 percent higher than the national average, according to a new report issued by the Department of Justice.

“Chicago is a war zone,” Alexa James, executive director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, Chicago, told Reuters. “The [officers] are seeing the worst day of everybody’s life every day.”

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There were more than 760 murders in Chicago in 2016 alone, more than New York and Los Angeles combined, and more than 4,300 shooting victims. More than 1,000 people were shot in Chicago already this year, Chicago’s CBS affiliate reported Monday.

The suicide rate among Chicago police was 29.4 per 100,000 members between 2013 and 2015 according to the report, though the police department itself said the rate was more like 22.7 per 100,000 members. Either way, both numbers far exceeded the national average of 18.1 law enforcement suicides per 100,000.

It’s likely a result of the horrific scenes those officers see on a daily basis, exacerbated by limited mental health resources and intensified pressure on the department.

“Law enforcement historically has been seen as a very macho profession,” Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said in a public forum in February. “To say you needed help was seen as a sign of weakness and we were wrong for looking at it that way. We were simply wrong.”

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An unidentified police officer told Reuters if an officer were to seek help from the department’s Employee Assistance Program, they would be deemed unstable, leading many to forgo asking for help. And even if officers reach out for assistance, the department’s resources are inadequate.

Only three clinicians serve an estimated 12,500 officers as well as their families, according to the report.

The department has struggled since the 2015 shooting of black teen Laquan McDonald by a white police officer, an incident caught on camera and investigated by the Justice Department. The Justice Department revealed in the report that Chicago police often violated civil rights and said suicide was a “significant problem” among officers.

“Suicide is killing officers, alcohol is killing officers, at a far greater rate than ambushes,” said Christy Lopez, a former Justice Department official. “But there is not the same sense of urgency around this issue.”