8th NYPD officer dies by suicide this year
YONKERS, New York -- For the eighth time this year, a New York City police officer has died by suicide, officials confirmed.
The officer was found dead inside his Yonkers home of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The 35-year-old, seven-year veteran of the department, was discovered dead at 3:30 a.m.
The officer, who was not immediately identified, was assigned to the 50 Precinct and was part of the security detail at Yankee Stadium.
He is the eighth NYPD officer to die by suicide this year and the sixth since June.
The spate of officer suicides has prompted Police Commissioner O'Neill and Chief of Department Terrence Monahan to convene mental health experts. They're considering putting peer counselors and clinicians in each precinct.
"We are bringing in what outside resources we can into the agency to talk to our cops," Monahan said on Tuesday. "We are also making a lot of changes within in the organization itself. We are looking to get peer counselors so cops at each level. If you are in crisis you can go talk to someone at your level that will have the training. We are working with Thrive to get these cops training, we just put it out. We are getting a lot of volunteers. We are looking to hire a lot more counselors."
More police officers have died by suicide this year so far than in the line of duty, the statistics show.
BLUE Help, a nonprofit organization that tracks these numbers, found that 120 officers had killed themselves this year. The group goes through the painstaking process of calling each family to verify their death. There is no government database that keeps track of these numbers, like line of duty death numbers for law enforcement.
The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline provides 24/7, free and confidential support for people in distress, prevention and crisis resources for you or your loved ones, and best practices for professionals. The number to call is 1-800-273-8255.
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