title: Assessment of police calls for suicidal behavior in a concentrated urban setting.
abstract: As a result of deinstitutionalization over the past half-century, police have become frontline mental health care workers. This study assessed five-year patterns of police calls for suicidal behavior in Toronto, Canada. Police responded to an average of 1,422 calls for suicidal behavior per year, 15 percent of which involved completed suicides (24 percent of male callers and 8 percent of female callers). Calls for suicidal behavior increased by 4 percent among males and 17 percent among females over the study period. The rate of completed suicides decreased by 22 percent among males and 31 percent among females. Compared with women, men were more likely to die from physical (as opposed to chemical) methods (22 percent and 43 percent, respectively). The study results highlight the importance of understanding changes in patterns and types of suicidal behavior to police training and preparedness.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Research on Inner City Health, St. Michael's Hospital, and Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. mathesonf@smh.toronto.on.ca
authors.forename: Flora I
authors.initials: FI
authors.lastname: Matheson
authors.forename: Maria I
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Creatore
authors.forename: Piotr
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gozdyra
authors.forename: Rahim
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Moineddin
authors.forename: Sean B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Rourke
authors.forename: Richard H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Glazier
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D002170:Canada; D003419:Crisis Intervention; D004637:Emergency Services, Psychiatric; D005260:Female; D015277:Hotlines; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016495:Police; D012737:Sex Factors; D013405:Suicide / Q000523:psychology* / Q000639:trends; D014505:Urban Population; D000092864:Suicide Prevention