Police Suicide: Epidemic in Blue.

Police Suicide: Epidemic in Blue by John Volanti, published by Charles C. Thomas, Springfield, Illinois, 1996.

Considering the obstacles in the scientific study of suicide, the author's efforts in Police Suicide: Epidemic in Blue are courageous and admirable. Suicide remains an intimidating subject, especially because the individuals researchers really need to talk to are dead. By adding this complication to a law enforcement culture already not anxious to be studied, examining a resistant subject poses problems.

Still, the author discovers critical information regarding police suicide, not only to police officers and their families but also to the departments and communities in which they live, work, and sometimes die. After spending 23 years as a police officer, the author knows where to look for answers.

The book begins with individual case studies, followed by a review of the limited research currently available about police suicide. The author lines up the usual suspects in the course of his survey: stress, experience of traumatic events, alcohol abuse, and a final failure to cope with the multiple job and personal problems that some officers encounter. The book provides a brief review of the theoretical work of others and then describes the author's own theoretical model, one which deserves more study in other high-risk occupational groups. This model, The Role Constriction Theory, suggests that selection procedures, training, job stress, and expectations cause police officers' lives to become overly constricted and, therefore, potentially dangerous as their options to change or get help become limited. While this theory makes intuitive sense, it requires more research.

Prevention and intervention received a lighter touch, which, unfortunately, may mean that most departments do not have procedures in place to identify troubled officers as early as possible, to provide confidential counseling services, nor to enable routine critical incident debriefing, follow-up, and assistance for troubled officers and their families. Untreated depression remains the primary culprit behind the majority of completed suicides worldwide, and police officers are not immune to it. Because depression usually follows on the heels of acute and chronic stress, this reviewer recommends that perhaps depression screening, a simple and inexpensive procedure, should become as routine as a blood pressure check.

Does living life inside a uniform put an individual at a higher risk for self-destruction? Perhaps, if its wearer becomes psychologically unable to reach out for help or take help when offered. Individuals disguise depression, alcohol abuse, and personal fears and demons easier than people realize, especially those individuals who are trained to keep their feelings out of sight. Recognizing this, in the last chapter, the author discusses the needs of survivors of police suicide (i.e., spouses, children, fellow officers, and friends). By tackling this delicate subject, the author proves that Pogo was wrong when he said, "There is no problem too big you can't run away from it." The author's advice and direction in this area could help to ameliorate the complicated bereavement and grief suffered by the survivors of suicide. This book deserves a wide audience, from police officers and their families to police administrators and mental health professionals.

Reviewed by Paul Quinnett, Ph.D. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science University of Washington School of Medicine Seattle, Washington