 NPSF Home NPSF News Events Support Books FYI Nationwide Agencies Projects In Memory Of... Police Suicide Awareness Training Program Newspaper Articles, T.V. & Radio Membership Related Links 
|
  Robert E. Douglas Jr., Executive Director of The National P.O.L.I.C.E. Suicide Foundation, is a retired police agent from the Baltimore City Police Department. He served as Chaplain for Baltimore City from 1988 until 2002. He is currently serving as Chaplain for ATF in Baltimore and Washington, D.C. During his time in these positions, he became aware of the need for assistance for police and emergency workers as well as the families of suicide victims. Rev. Robert Douglas, with the help of his wife, Carolyn, survivors of police suicide and friends, formed the National P.O.L.I.C.E. Suicide Foundation, Inc. They feel many of these suicides occur because of the high stress level of law enforcement and emergency workersThe mission of the National P.O.L.I.C.E. Suicide Foundation is to provide suicide awareness and prevention training programs and support services that will meet the psychological and spiritual needs of emergency workers and their families. Their goals are to provide suicide related counseling and support for families and officers ( including law enforcement, paramedics, IRS agents, fireman and other emergency workers), provide encouragement and hope to families of suicide victims by helping them to under stand and deal with their anger and guilt, provide educational seminars to educate the general public and government employees on suicide awareness, and provide a network of communication among suicide survivors. Through quarterly membership newsletters they provide information on suicide support group services, seminars, counseling hot lines, statistics, and provide a means of supportive communication for survivors. Future Services To Include: 24 hour hot line, financial support for families of suicide victims and scholarship programs. Their POLICE Suicide Awareness Lectures are being given from coast to coast with great success and drawing attention from national newspapers such as USA Today. They have also received responses worldwide.
From the Director's Desk Recently while giving a Police Suicide Awareness program in the Northeast part of the United States, a police administrator made this statement. "If most police officer's kill themselves at home and their primary reason for wanting to commit suicide is relationship issues, what responsibility do we as Police Officials have in dealing with this issue of Police Suicide?" As long as this type of attitude is found within our police leadership, we have our work cut out for us. The key to preventing and reducing the nationwide police officer related suicides starts at the top of our Law Enforcement management. The development and implementation of a Police Suicide Prevention Model needs to be in place.
Dr. John M. Violanti, Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, University of New York at
Buffalo, feels that a Police Suicide Prevention Model must include:
Our police agencies need to be "proactive" and develop a Police Suicide Prevention Model before they have an officer related suicide. We are seeing where more and more agencies are seeing the need for this type of program. Our "Train-the-Trainer" Seminar provides the training you need to establish this model within your agency. Recently I was invited to speak in Redding, California at a 3 day training program for the Western Division of the International Conference of Police Chaplains. Their enthusiasm and concern for our police officers and their families inspired me. Police Chaplains play a major role in the prevention and intervention of police officer suicides, so their awareness of the issue is crucial. I would like to thank all of our members and supporters of our Foundation for your timeless effort in dealing with this issue of police suicide and for your prayers for our Law Enforcement family during this most stressful time. The day to day routine of our police officers is stressful enough in itself. Now with the added responsibility of Homeland Security and many officers being deployed to active duty overseas which has left our agencies understaffed with even greater responsibilities, their stresses have increased. As the stresses of our officers increase, so does the risk of suicide. I ask that you continue to work and pray to bring about an even great awareness of this issue. Robert E. Douglas |
Robert Douglas knows how it feels to lose a fellow police officer to suicide. He brings that experience of being out there in facing the day to day hassles that can drive even the strongest officers to their knees.Site designed by ONC™®© 2001 - Tennessee
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
National P.O.L.I.C.E. Suicide Foundation, Inc. ™®© 2003
Use of any National P.O.L.I.C.E. Suicide Foundation material must be approved
with written
permission and is subject to certain terms and conditions.
We respect your privacy.