The NYPD is working to overhaul its suicide prevention protocols following a disturbing spate of officers killing themselves this month, Police Commissioner James O’Neill said Friday.
“Going forward in the next few days we’re gonna come out with some recommendations and some programs to make sure this never ever happens again,” O’Neill said during a morning promotion ceremony at NYPD headquarters.
His comments came after 53-year-old Bronx cop Kevin Preiss fatally shot himself in the head Wednesday at his family’s Hicksville home while he was off-duty. The veteran officer was just days away from his 25th anniversary on the job and had plans to retire, sources and fellow cops have said.
Preiss’ death marks the fourth NYPD suicide in June, and the sixth department suicide so far this year.
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“In the recent past month we’ve had four terrible tragedies,” O’Neill said during the ceremony, adding, “We have a responsibility to make sure that you’re OK, that you’re well, that you’re safe. Each and every one of us, all 55,000 [officers and civilian employees] have that responsibility too.”
O’Neill told reporters afterwards that the department has reached out to the Chicago Police Department for advice, as that department has dealt with a rash of police suicides over the last year.
NYPD Chief of Department Terence Monahan spoke to Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson on Thursday “to talk about what they did in the aftermath,” O’Neill said.
“We really have to take a serious look at our internal policies,” said O’Neill who added, “We’re also looking at peer-to-peer counseling to make sure we have peers in each precinct … where people feel comfortable to come forward and talk about the issues they may have.”
The department is also mulling its firearm removal policies in regards to suicide prevention, O’Neill said.
The NYPD currently offers mental health services with the Employee Assistance Unit and the Chaplains Unit and also encourages the use of Police Officers Providing Peer Assistance, which is external to the department.
But O’Neill admitted there is a stigma surrounding mental illness in the NYPD.
“I’m not going to stand up here and lie,” he said. “It’s a stigma to admit that you have an issue, the possibility of people maybe not wanting to work with you, the possibility of you not being full duty, this is all part of what we’re looking at it.”
However, he believes the stigma “can be overcome.”
“With that stigma comes a fear that if I step forward that’s going to have a permanent impact on who I am, what I do and in my career,” said O’Neill. “And we have to make sure that people feel comfortable that we’re going to do our best to make sure that they’re going to stay in the job that they love.”
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