Under siege: Anti-police sentiment could fuel suicide epidemic, advocates fear

America’s law enforcement officers were suffering a suicide epidemic before anti-police and racial justice protests engulfed the country. Now police advocates worry it will get worse.

Last year, a record 228 current or former police officers died by suicide, according to Blue H.E.L.P., a nonprofit that tracks police suicides. That total is higher than all other line-of-duty deaths last year, the organization said.

The number of suicides slowed somewhat in the first half of 2020 with only 70 deaths, down from 89 during the same period in 2019, though mental...