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FOX 7 Discussion: Suicide prevention in law enforcement
About twice as many law enforcement officers die by suicide than are killed in the line of duty. APD's Wellness Program Chaplain, Rick Randall, joins Marcel Clarke in the FOX 7 Austin studio to talk about a program that is in the works to curb the problem in Texas.
AUSTIN, Texas - It’s no surprise that the weight of being a first responder takes a mental toll on law enforcement, firefighters and emergency dispatchers. According to the National Alliance of Mental Illness, nearly one in four police officers has thoughts of suicide at some point in their life, making the suicide rate of law enforcement officers four times higher than that of firefighters.
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Right now, a program is in the works to curb the problem in Texas and it could mirror what is already being done at the Austin Police Department. Here to talk about this more is APD's Wellness Program Chaplain Rick Randall.