title: Police suicide in small departments: a comparative analysis.
abstract: The majority of police suicide research has focused on larger police departments. Very little research has been done within small departments. The present study compared suicide rates between small and larger police departments. Two Hundred ninty-eight departments were drawn from the U.S. Public Safety Officer Benefits database totaling 119,624 officers. Annual suicide rates were calculated per 100,000 for each of four category (by size of department) and p-values from Chi-square tests were employed to assess differences in rates across categories. The annual suicide rate varied significantly across departments. Smaller police departments had a significantly higher suicide rate than large departments. Possible reasons include lack of availability for mental health assistance, increased workload and danger and community visibility.
authors.affiliation: Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, at the School of Public Health and Health Professions, University at Buffalo, USA. violanti@buffalo.edu
authors.forename: John M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Violanti
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mnatsakanova
authors.forename: Cecil M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Burchfiel
authors.forename: Tara A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Hartley
authors.forename: Michael E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Andrew
mesh_terms: D002423:Cause of Death; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D006801:Humans; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000600:supply & distribution; D009786:Occupational Health Services / Q000600:supply & distribution; D016495:Police / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012931:Social Environment; D013405:Suicide / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data* / Q000639:trends; D014481:United States; D017132:Workplace / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
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