As police memorial adds names, union urges inclusion of officers who died by suicide

Bart Jansen, USA TODAY
·4 min read

If you or someone you know may be struggling with suicidal thoughts, you can call or text the U.S. National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 any time day or night or chat online at 988lifeline.org. Additional mental health resources can be found at the end of this article.

WASHINGTON – The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund will honor 556 more officers Saturday who died in the line of duty, but the country’s largest police union is urging the group not to forget officers who died by suicide, including those who defended the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

The Fraternal Order of Police contends long-term exposure to mental stresses and traumatic events can lead to emotional crises. FOP President Patrick Yoes, FOP Auxiliary President Glenda Lehmann, Concerns of Police Survivors President Patricia Carruth and COPS Executive Director Dianne Bernhard suggested in a Feb. 8 letter that the memorial fund should honor officers who died from service-related suicides.

“We intend to pursue this course as it’s not only consistent with law, but it’s consistent with the convictions of our 364,000 members," James Pasco, the FOP's executive director, told USA TODAY.

Serena Liebengood, the widow of U.S. Capitol Police Officer Howie Liebengood, told USA TODAY it was unacceptable not to recognize officers who died by suicide. Officer Liebengood, who was assigned to protect the Senate side of the Capitol during the height of the riot, died three days after the attack.

“I want to put their feet to the fire in a gentle way,” Serena Liebengood said. “I can’t tell you how much it means for the officers who show up to work day after day.”

The memorial fund has engraved the names of more than 23,000 fallen officers on a memorial wall in Washington, D.C. A candlelight vigil is scheduled Saturday to honor the latest additions. But the criteria the group uses to approve names for a wall rejects deaths attributed to substance abuse, intentional misconduct or "caused by the officer's intention to bring about his or her own death."

Marcia Ferranto, CEO of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, said the group is reviewing whether to change its criteria. The conversation was sparked by Congress passing a law in August 2022 that expanded benefits to survivors of first responders who died by suicide, which Ferranto said her group supported.

"We are looking into this and deciding whether we want to even pursue it and if we do, what that pursuit would look like," Ferranto told USA TODAY. “Those kinds of changes don’t happen overnight."

Capitol Hill Police salute as they lower the United States flag over the United States Capitol to half-staff on Jan. 8, 2021 after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ordered the flags at the U.S. Capitol to be flown at half-staff following the death of U.S. Capitol Police Officer Officer Brian Sicknick who died after he was injured when President Donald Trump's supporters stormed the Capitol.

Congress, federal agencies extended benefits to survivors of officers who died by suicide

Congress expanded benefits to survivors of officers who died by suicide to qualify for the Public Safety Officers’ Benefits Program, which had excluded them. In November 2022, Liebengood became the first officer recognized for the benefits.

The Justice Department and the Labor Department have now recognized those suicides as work related.

The issue gained prominence after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol because of the deaths of a handful of officers afterward. In addition to Liebengood, Metro Police Officer Jeffrey Smith died by suicide days after the riot. Metro Officers Gunther Hashida and Kyle DeFreytag were found dead at their residences months later.

“The fact of the matter is that the families of officers who are lost to suicide suffer the same pain and grief as the family of any other officer who dies in the line of duty,” the Feb. 8 FOP letter said. “The death of an officer who suffers from one of these disorders – diagnosed or not – is just as much a service-connected death as any other and we should recognize that.”

More: 130 officers have left Capitol Police since Jan. 6 insurrection, watchdog tells Senate hearing

Candlelight vigil to honor 556 more names to be added to memorial

The dispute over the memorial was rekindled during the National Police Week. An estimated 30,000 people will attend a candlelight vigil for fallen officers Saturday at the memorial wall in a square at 400 E Street NW in Washington.

The wall already holds 23,785 names. The additional names include 224 officers who died last year and 332 who died in previous years and the fund has now confirmed the circumstances of their deaths. Ferranto said the memorial fund is a leading authority on line-of-duty deaths because of its stringent requirements.

“You cannot be honored in a greater way than to be recognized as a line of duty death and recognized on these sacred walls and be remembered in perpetuity," Ferranto said. “Their sacrifice will never be forgotten."

Mental health resources:

  • If you or someone you know may be struggling with suicidal thoughts, you can call or text the U.S. National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 any time day or night, or chat online at 988lifeline.org.

  • National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233 or text LOVEIS to 22522.

  • Trans Lifeline: 1-877-565-8860 (para español presiona el 2).

  • Veteran’s Crisis Line: 988, then select 1, or text: 838255.

  • Support Line for Physicians: 1-888-409-0141 – physiciansupportline.com.

  • Help for Native American people: StrongHearts Native Helpline: 1-844-7NATIVE (762-8483) or chat online.

  • Resources for Black people: 988lifeline.org/help-yourself/black-mental-health.

  • Ayuda en español: 988lifeline.org/help-yourself/en-espanol.

  • Find treatment: findtreatment.gov

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Spurred by Jan. 6 deaths, police union urges memorial include suicides