There are plenty of stressful jobs out there (like air traffic controller) that don't have high suicide rates.

I'd imagine that the reason for the high rates is that the profession attracts a lot (not all, but a lot) of mentally imbalanced people.

Outside of very few, how many people actually WANT to be police? It's kind of like the army. A lot of people who have burned down all of their other options see it as a last resort.

Marry that type of personality (reckless, angry, violent, authoritarian, controlling) with the realities of the job (chaotic, uncontrollable) and a service weapon and someone is going to get killed.

As the police state increases it's need for soldiers, the quality of those soldiers will continue to diminish.

So sad.
RIP
http://www.tearsofacop.com/police/articles/lewis.html

My heart goes out to his family.

May he rest in peace.

Quote:

Just guessing this suicide out of nowhere was probably due to a divorce, severe debt, or he must of done some serious crime to end up killing himself. As for your comment Alb there might be a slim chance it could of been for that but I highly doubt someone could kill them self over a secret especially in Hudson County where crooks at the top get away with anything.

Quote:

It would be interesting to see if there's an especially high rate of suicide among Hudson County officials who "know too much." Maybe there are folks out there who are good at assisting these people with suicide.

Head of Jersey City police internal affairs found dead in apparent suicide

by Michaelangelo Conte
Friday May 30, 2008, 2:07 PM


The head of the Jersey City Police Department's Internal Affairs Bureau was found dead in a Pennsylvania motel yesterday with an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, officials said.

Capt. Edward Shinnick, 51, of Midland Park, who reportedly had put in his retirement papers, was reported missing Wednesday night and the Jersey City Police Department, with the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office, began trying to locate him, Police Chief Tom Comey said today.


Comey said an alert was broadcast for Shinnick's vehicle and yesterday the department got a call from the Hamlin Township Police Department when the car was found in the parking lot of the motel where the captain's body was discovered.

Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio said Shinnick died of a gunshot would to the head.

"It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of Capt. Edward Shinnick," Comey said this afternoon. "Capt. Shinnick will be remembered as a dedicated officer who served this city valiantly for 23 years. Our thoughts and our prayers will remain with his wife and children in this time of need."

Comey said he believes Shinnick had put in retirement papers but he was not certain.

"We are checking to see when exactly he retired," Comey said. "The process may have been started but not completed. They are trying to get those answers right now."

Asked if Shinnick's suicide could be linked to any investigation he was involved in, Comey said: "I don't believe that that is in fact the case."

Asked if his office would look into the matter, DeFazio said, "At this point it is in the hands of Jersey City police and the local authorities in Pennsylvania."