Author(s):
Birgitta Sticher

Institution:
Hochschule für Wirtschaft und Recht Berlin

Title:
Effective suicide prevention in the police. Assisting colleagues (bottom-up) and support from leading police officers (top-down) as necessarily complementary suicide prevention measures

Abstract:
The article deals with the subject of suicide prevention in the police. First, some basic information about suicide and suicide attempt will be briefly outlined. The particular concern of this article is to present two important building blocks that necessarily belong together if suicide prevention is to be effective in the organizational culture of the police. The first building block is the „peer support“, i.e. helping the police officers in a suicidal crisis with colleagues who do not have a professional additional qualification. The second component is the support of the suicidal police officers by sufficiently professional and socially qualified leading police officers. These two components will be explained in more detail. Both components should contribute to a more open approach to police suicidal behavior and provide police offi­cers with ways to accept internal assistance from police and external assistance.

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