From: [JEFF 0974] at [aol.com]
Newsgroups: talk.politics.guns
Subject: cops/suicide
Date: 2 Jan 1995 16:13:15 -0500


More Cops Commit Suicide Than Slain On Duty   

    WASHINGTON (Reuter) - More than twice as many police officers committed
suicide this year than those who were killed in the line of duty by guns or
other causes, the  National Association of Chiefs of Police reported Friday. 

    The organization said 300 police officers -- among over 700,000 law
enforcement people nationwide -- committed suicide this year in preliminary
1994 tallies. 

    Of the total, 12 suicides occurred in New York City, which the group said
was a record. 

    The organization said there were 137 deaths among police officers by
other means than suicide in the line of duty and 75 were caused by shootings
- a record 54.7 percent of deaths caused by firearms. 

    Morton Feldman, the organization's executive vice president, said the
association has not been keeping track of suicides as closely as deaths by
other means but generally the suicide rate is double the number of other
police deaths on the job. 

    ``It's a disaster and seems to be getting worse,'' Feldman said about the
suicides among police in the high-stress job. 

    Preliminary figures on non-suicide deaths in the line of duty increase by
some 10 percent as final tallies are filed by the 21,000 law enforcement
agencies for the year, said Feldman in a statement and interview. 

    He projected the final non-suicide death tally of police on duty for 1994
could be about 151 non-suicide deaths with 83 by firearms. 

    Total police deaths have been declining in recent years but the
percentage of those killed by firearms has been increasing. 

    In 1993, guns killed 78 police officers , 51.3 percent of 152 deaths. In
1992, 74 officers were killed by guns, 44 percent of a death toll of 168. 

    The previous record percentage of firearm deaths was 54.4 percent in 1980
with 93 shooting deaths out of 171 fatalities. 

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Thought you guys and gals might find this interesting.
INSTEAD OF TRYING TO BAN MORE AMMO PERHAPS WE SHOULD SIMPLY DISARM THE
POLICE. That would save lives........Remember if it saves Just One Life......

Jeff