NYPD confirms detective dead by suicide

A New York Police Department detective died by suicide in Queens on Monday, the NYPD said.

The detective, whose name was not released, was “an active member of the service,” Sgt. Lee Jones told CNN.

Monday’s suicide comes after a somber 2019 for the nation’s largest force.

An off-duty NYPD sergeant who died by suicide in October was the 10th NYPD member to do so last year, according to the department. The NYPD averaged between four and five officer suicides a year, former Commissioner James O’Neill told CNN.

The suicide of police officers is not an issue unique to the NYPD, but the recent rash of suicides rattled the force as leaders sought to find ways to help officers overcome the stigma of seeking treatment for mental health.

“Am I scared? I’ve got to be honest with you. Yeah, I am,” O’Neill, who retired recently to take a job in the private sector, told CNN last August. “Maybe there’s somebody out there right now that’s in crisis or approaching crisis and just unable or unwilling to come forward.”

New NYPD commissioner Dermot Shea told reporters the suicide of one officer is “one too many.”

“We have to do everything that we can to ensure that that number is zero,” Shea said when he was named commissioner in November. “We have a robust program in effect already.”

In a tweet Monday, Shea wrote: “Today, we tragically lost another member of the NYPD family. PLEASE—If you or ANYONE you know is Going through something, help is available.”