Texas sheriff’s office hit with series of suicides

The Harris County Sheriff’s Office, which serves the Houston, Texas area, is large, boasting 5,000 employees. But the massive personnel roster can’t explain the inexplicable string of tragedies that have struck the agency as of late.

CNN reported at the end of March that four current and former deputies connected to the department committed suicide in the span of six weeks — all but one occurring within the course of a single week. Thomas McNeese, who is responsible for the department’s wellness program, described the situation as akin to “a bomb going off.”

One of the deputies had retired from the force roughly a decade ago. Another retired several years ago, while a third left the force last December. The only current active deputy was Christina Kohler. The others were deputies Long Nguyen, Maria Vasquez and William Bozeman, the department shared. When news broke of the deaths, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez told reporters, “It hurts, and I grieve each loss. When a deputy dies by suicide, it is particularly painful because I can’t help wondering what could have been said or done to help them.” McNeese has taken the opportunity to draw attention to the issue of suicide within the ranks of law enforcement. “Retired cops,” he said, “unfortunately commit suicide quite frequently and nobody hears about it.”

Law enforcement officers are 54% more likely to die by suicide than individuals in other professions.

According to University of Buffalo Professor John Violanti, McNeese is right. He pointed out that law enforcement officers are 54% more likely to die by suicide than individuals in other professions. This also isn’t the first time an agency has been hit by multiple suicides in close succession. There’s even a term for it. Experts call the occurrence a “cluster” — a sort of contagion, where one act increases the risk of others following. An example of this phenomenon happened in 2023, when four current and former members of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department died by suicide in less than 24 hours.

According to a 2023 report from First H.E.L.P. and the CNA Corporation, more than 1,200 officers tragically took their own lives between 2016 and 2022. Karen Solomon, founder of First H.E.L.P., a nonprofit that tracks suicides within the profession, told CNN that the true number is likely higher due to underreporting. As of this writing, First H.E.L.P. reports 36 officer suicides so far this year.

Nowadays, it’s not uncommon for departments to implement formal wellness programs, such as the one led by McNeese. His team includes sworn peer support specialists, as well as numerous volunteers. A big part of their job is normalizing mental wellness and overcoming the stigma often associated with talking openly about mental health issues.

The Harris County Sheriff’s Office isn’t alone in its efforts to address these concerns. According to the International Association of Chiefs of Police, about 40% of the 18,000 law enforcement agencies nationwide have similar wellness programs. It’s a small step toward addressing a massive issue. Dr. Luz Mari Garcini, a professor at Rice University’s Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience research group, says there is a scientific explanation for the elevated suicide risk among retired officers.

“The body keeps score,” she says. “Without appropriate support, without coping mechanisms, without support systems it becomes a really high risk for suicide, ideation, suicide behavior, depression, alcohol and substance abuse.”

Garcini notes that officers are exposed to constant trauma and stress as they go from scene to scene, often fueled by adrenaline. When they retire, they have time to reflect on all the trauma they’ve accumulated. That’s when things can get difficult.

For the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, the issue is serious enough to merit its own unit. Sheriff Gonzalez explained that he established the Behavioral Health Division in 2020 in hopes of fostering an agency culture that prioritizes mental health. “We owe it to each other to have uncomfortable conversations and be a little vulnerable,” he said. “We want our deputies to know that the mental health resources we offer them will make them better public servants.”