In law enforcement there are many things we face that not everyone gets to see on a daily basis like suicides, terrible sex crimes, robberies, murders, and much more. There are many things that law enforcement officers struggle with when it comes to being at home and off-duty as they thrive on adrenaline, they thrive on the chaos. Law enforcement gets lost when things slow down and there is no chaos to respond to. This creates many problems while at home like alcoholism, failed marriages, abuse, and much more. The mental toll the job law enforcement faces on a daily basis is way more than the normal person experiences in their entire life. It is said that law enforcement officials experience 130-900+ traumatic events in a 20-30 year career while the average person in life will only see 1-3 traumatic events. That rate and gap is significant enough and is a thing that is overlooked amongst the general population.

People call law enforcement when they at their worst point. Whether that be someone who is on the edge with suicidal or homicidal ideation, or when someone is on the brink of death, or when someone is so scared about a certain situation they do not know where to turn to. This is law enforcements calling. It is much more than just wearing a badge and looking "cool." It is about how can I make a difference in this persons life, who called us during their darkest hour, how can I help make the situation better. These are all things that law enforcement does day in and day out that does not need recognition, because it is part of the job, but they need more attention because law enforcement is human as well. There are many things that they cannot fix, there are many things that they wish they can help but can't.

This amount of trauma experienced by law enforcement transitions over into their everyday lives away from the police station or patrol car. It is a battle at home and in the outside world as well. There are many cops who fall to alcoholism to help take the pain away from the trauma experienced, there are many cops who fall to suicide, and many more things that is brought home and they do not even realize it until it has effected them to a much greater capacity and sometimes is unfixable. There is an epidemic of law enforcement suicides. Compared to the average civilian suicide rate which is approximately 14-17 out of every 100,000 people will commit suicide. Law enforcement on the other hand is at a rate of 17-19 per every 100,000. This rate is a lot. These problems stem from officers not getting proper help and just pushing the traumatic incidents they encounter to the back of their brain and claim they are good to go.

As suicide rates amongst law enforcement are at an epidemic level, so are divorce rates amongst the law enforcement community. I think this stems from bringing work home and not working with their partners within the household to get ahold of the underlying issues at hand which is the trauma experienced while on the job. As there are many law enforcement officers who turn to drugs or alcohol to take the pain away, this also takes away a positive family dynamic within their own household. Taking away one positive thing in a law enforcement officers life is only the start to the steep spiral effect that makes rates like divorce and suicide increase. A study was done by Utah Valley University and the study shows that 54% of surveyed law enforcement officers experience trouble within their romantic relationships. These causes of these issues have a three headed foundation comprised of work-related stressors, financial issues, and insufficient time together. This is important to recognize because there needs to be resources available for law enforcement and their families to learn how to work together on how to solve these issues besides therapy and counseling. 

To wrap this weekly entry up, I am going to end with this. Check in on your fellow law enforcement officers who sacrifice so much to keep the communities they serve safe. For my non-law enforcement officers, check on your friends who are in this career field, be an open and safe space for them to open up and have the difficult conversations. You may not know how to help directly but allowing them to feel and express the emotions they are feeling is only the start to this up-hill battle they face while off-duty.