In 2020, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page, 45 police officers were shot and killed in the line of duty — a decrease from the previous year. Absent from the database of fallen officers, however, are the 173 cops who ended their own watch. After rising for four consecutive years in a row, suicide among police dropped a little but is significantly higher than 2016.
As the number of officers killed in the line of duty decreased, the number of cops taking their own lives has increased. The website Blue H.E.L.P. (Honor. Educate. Lead. Prevent.) has been tracking these numbers for years in an attempt to prevent police officer suicides.
The mainstream media often portrays the unfortunate random killing of police officers as analogous to a larger “war on cops.” The reality is that there is a concerted public relations effort underway, on the part of law enforcement, with the intention of stemming the growing public calls for more oversight and accountability.
If law enforcement were genuine about wanting to save the lives of cops, they would begin by attempting to put focus on the growing number of police suicides, which dwarfs the number of cops fatally shot the line of duty. Cops are killing themselves at a rate nearly equal to 4 times the rate they are dying in the line of duty and this subject seems entirely taboo. Last year, it was nearly five times higher.
