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Third apparent suicide by a Chicago cop in a week
The officer died at his home Thursday morning in the Chicago Lawn district on the Southwest Side.
CHICAGO - Another Chicago police officer has died by an apparent suicide, the third in just a week.
The officer died at his home Thursday morning in the Chicago Lawn district on the Southwest Side.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot addressed the officer’s death during her Covid briefing, calling depression and mental health a difficult but necessary conversation.
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"It’s important for us to make sure that when we know someone is having struggles, that we don’t ignore it. That we reach out. That we offer our own assistance and just to be a listening ear," Lightfoot said.
Chicago Police Supt. David Brown released the following statement:
The men and women of the Chicago Police Department are everyday heroes who serve and protect with great honor and courage. Each day, they make the choice to put their own safety at risk to protect the people of our city. Our officers repeatedly respond to traumatic incidents and are not immune to the pain and cruelty surrounding these incidents. They do this while balancing their own personal lives and difficulties. This is why it is crucial we strengthen and expand the resources and support systems for our officers.
The recent tragedies we have faced are immensely devastating for the families and loved ones of those we have lost to suicide, as well as every member of the Department. I ask that the people of Chicago continue to keep all those affected in your prayers. I also ask that you take a moment to think about everything our officers give of themselves to do this job that many others wouldn’t. We must do more to protect the brave men and women who protect us.
On Tuesday, an off-duty officer was found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. She had been on the force five years and had been working as a tactical officer in the Central District downtown, Ahern said.
On Dec. 15, a 58-year-old officer was found dead in the 5800 block of North Northwest Highway, also of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, authorities said.
"If we don’t start talking about this, then people are going to do what just happened in this last week," said Dr. Carrie Steiner, a psychologist whose practice focuses solely on law enforcement officers and their spouses.
Steiner said she understands the pressures and traumas police face each day because she’s done the job.
Steiner worked for the Chicago Police Department for 13 years and knows officers who have committed suicide. She said she decided to leave the department to focus on the mental health of officers after she was approached by a colleague who told her he was considering suicide.
The deaths in the last week brings the total number of Chicago police officers who died by suicide this year to eight, according to records kept by the Sun-Times. At least a dozen Chicago police officers have committed suicide since 2018.
Steiner said numbers like that are evidence the city is failing to address the mental health of officers who feel overworked with nowhere to turn.
The city will "say we have all these programs and all these things," Steiner noted, "but if people aren’t using them or — what I experience — that people will try to go to them and not be able to get in for a long period of time … that’s not helping."
Family members of officers who have taken their own life have said the stress of the job is magnified by the department’s practice of routinely canceling days off.
In late August, city Inspector General Deborah Witzburg released a report that found nearly 1,200 officers had to work at least 11 straight days earlier this year.
An officer who spoke to a reporter Thursday on the condition their name echoed Steiner in saying members of the force don’t believe Lightfoot or Brown understand the gravity of not giving officers more time off.
"They just don’t get it," the officer said. "I don’t think they’re out to get us, I just think they don’t have any understanding of what it’s like.
"We’re not machines," the officer said. "We’re people."
A reminder there is a National Suicide Prevention hotline that you can call at any time. That number is 9-8-8. You can also text.
Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.