Suicide among New York City police officers, 1977-1996.

OBJECTIVE The authors assessed the suicide rates of New York City police officers during a recent period. METHOD The authors reviewed death certificates of active New York City police officers who died from 1977 through 1996 (N=668); age-, gender-, and race-specific suicide rates among New York City police officers and the city's residents were determined. RESULTS The police suicide rate was 14.9 per 100,000 person-years, compared with a demographically adjusted suicide rate of New York City residents of 18.3 per 100,000 person-years. Suicide rates among male police officers were comparable to their reference population. Female police officers had a higher risk of suicide than female residents of New York, but the number of suicides of female police officers was small. CONCLUSIONS The rate of suicide among New York City police officers is equal to, or even lower than, the suicide rate of the city's resident population.