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The police culture has been described as a culture of fear and intimidation when an officer experiences PTSD and attempts to seek mental health assistance because officers do not talk about these topics, making the police culture a catalyst for trauma, preventing officers from seeking assistance (Hakik & Langlois, Salus Journal, 8: 117–151, 2020). The law enforcement profession has a long-standing, unspoken tradition that has created a mentality that one does not talk about the job’s difficulties or the psychological problems it brings, creating a code of secrecy surrounding police mental illness and increasing physical and mental health problems for officers, including suicide. As the suicide rates of law enforcement officers continue to increase, leadership is called upon to prevent this crisis from continuing. Officers are taught in their academies to run towards danger, ignore pain, and focus on threats. At work this strategy works well; however, officers may not be aware of how their jobs impact their own mental health and the mental health of their families. Using Gestalt and Feature-Intensive Processing, officers can identify what strategies are effective at work. They can also identify what cognitive changes lead to healthier responses both at home and at work. Ultimately, these cognitive changes may in turn reduce the chances of burnout, vicarious trauma, and PTSD. Many strategies to reduce the stigma surrounding seeking professional psychological help and promoting mental wellness are suggested in this chapter.

The purpose of this research study was to review the current literature on the prevalence of suicide deaths, attempts, and ideation, and resistance for seeking help among law enforcement officers by examining current suicide prevention programs among those that support the country's police officers. The exact number of law enforcement officer deaths by suicide is unknown due to inconsistent data collection practices. Approximate estimates range from being at or significantly above the national average; one study reported the rate of suicide to be twice the rate of officers who die in the line of duty, another study reported three times the rate and another reported to be eight times that of the general population. The inconclusive nature of the literature has made obtaining the number of officer suicide deaths challenging. A comprehensive examination of the law enforcement mental health and suicide prevention literature revealed a lack of consistency in reporting; a multitude of maladaptive behaviors; and a lack of adequate suicide prevention programing for this profession.