NYPD Officer Found Dead Of Apparent Suicide In Mastic Beach

MASTIC BEACH, NY — An off-duty NYPD officer died Monday in an apparent suicide, police sources said.

A 9-year employee of the NYPD, assigned to Transit District 20 in Queens, was found dead Monday at 5:40 p.m. in a car at the Mastic Beach Marina in Mastic Beach in Suffolk County, Long Island, sources told the New York Daily News and the New York Post. Sources said the officer was found with apparent self-inflicted gunshot wounds to the head. Suffolk County police have not released the officer’s name.

The death is believed to be the fourth NYPD suicide this year, according to the New York Post. On Sept. 7, an NYPD officer killed himself inside his Queens home. In April, two officers shot themselves, according to the New York Daily News.

NYPD suicides rose in 2019 and 2020, leading the NYPD to require its officers to complete a one-hour online suicide prevention training course. According to Blue H.E.L.P., an organization promoting mental health for law enforcement officers, more officers across the United States die by suicide each year than due to felonious assault. Spokesman Doug Wyllie told WSAW News that often, twice as many officers are killed by suicide than by assault, while a 2019 study from the Addiction Center found that the number can be three times as high. The study also found that police officers are at a higher risk of suicide than any other prevention.

B.L.U.E. Help statistics show that 228 police officers died by suicide in 2018.

Researchers attribute these statistics to intense stress, witnessing and interfering in numerous disturbing situations, and easy access to deadly weapons.

Members of law enforcement struggling with mental health issues can find resources at bluehelp.org. Anyone dealing with suicidal thoughts can call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 or visit suicidepreventionlifeline.org.