In 2018, at least four Chicago Police Department officers died by suicide. To us, these officers weren’t distant statistics but colleagues and friends. Those losses caused us to ask a difficult but necessary question: What resources were available to help law enforcement officers in crisis?
What we experienced wasn’t isolated. Most years, more officers are lost to suicide than in the line of duty. The issue to us wasn’t whether resources existed, but whether those resources were reaching the people who needed them most. That became our catalyst to found Bank The Blue, a nonprofit that provides free, confidential and independent mental health support with licensed clinicians specializing in trauma therapy, crisis management and evidence-based care for active law enforcement officers in Illinois.
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Law enforcement officers encounter psychosocial stressors on- and off-duty. Our goal is simple: Make it easier for officers to reach someone who understands the job before the weight of their work becomes unmanageable.
This week, the country is observing National Police Week, honoring officers who lost their lives in the line of duty. It brings deserved attention to the risks of the profession and includes ceremonies such as an annual Candlelight Vigil, organized by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund. It’s a time of remembrance, recognition and collective respect for the risks inherent in the profession.
It’s also a time to expand the conversation. Not every loss happens in the line of duty.
Let’s consider what the job demands, day after day. Officers move from calm to chaos in seconds, often repeating this cycle multiple times in a single shift. Each member of law enforcement encounters crisis situations regularly, shifting from the uneventful to the chaotic, with every state in between.
The consequences of the job do not appear all at once. Relationships begin to deteriorate, sleep becomes disordered and fleeting, alcohol changes from social to necessary, and emotional stability dwindles.
While many departments have support systems, officers may hesitate to use them. They question the financial and emotional costs of using that help.
They think about confidentiality. They think about their career. They think about how others will see them. These concerns create a wall. Many officers stop before they even try. In roles where calm and control define success, asking for help feels risky. It feels like breaking character. It feels like exposure.
Accessing help without fear is the crux of the problem we face.
The challenges that bring officers to seek support vary. Some face repeat trauma over years on the job. Violent scenes, loss, constant stress. Others deal with personal issues that grow under pressure from the job, such as long hours, irregular schedules and high expectations.
These factors often overlap. Work stress feeds personal strain, and that affects job performance. The job doesn’t stay at work. It follows officers home. Family relationships change, social connections weaken and self-perception shifts. Support matters because the impact spreads across every part of life.
There’s another piece of this that doesn’t get enough attention: purpose. Many individuals enter law enforcement with a keen sense of responsibility and commitment to others. That sense of purpose doesn’t disappear at the end of a shift, and it doesn’t automatically fade at retirement. Maintaining a connection to meaningful work and to a community of peers plays an important role in long-term well-being.
One of the most effective parts of Bank the Blue is the ambassador program, built around a simple premise: Officers are more likely to listen to someone who has done the job.
Bank the Blue’s ambassadors are retired law enforcement professionals who return to departments to speak directly with active-duty officers during roll call. There aren’t presentations in a conference room or optional sessions added to an already full schedule. They happen in the moments where officers gather, preparing for their shift, hearing from someone who understands the realities of the work.
That context matters.
It turns mental health support from an abstract concept into something accessible. It removes a layer of hesitation. It makes the first step feel possible.
Working within a network that includes tens of thousands of active and retired officers, we see how continued engagement provides structure, identity and a sense of contribution. Opportunities for retired officers to remain connected to service-oriented roles can complement formal support systems in ways that are both practical and deeply personal.
But even with that connection, the impact of the job doesn’t simply fade.
National Police Week highlights the cost of the job, but the full cost isn’t always visible. If you want to support law enforcement, look at the full picture and recognize the risks in the field and the strain of duty.
The most difficult moments in this profession aren’t always the ones that unfold in public. In many cases, they’re the ones that happen quietly, after the call is over, when the immediate crisis has passed but its impact remains. Support starts with understanding both.
Because some days, the most important call an officer may need to make is not over the radio.
It’s the one asking for help.
Anthony F. Varchetto and Jeffrey T. Salvetti are co-founders of Bank the Blue, which provides confidential mental health support for law enforcement. Also, Varchetto, a retired Chicago police sergeant, is president and Salvetti, a former Chicago police officer, is division vice president of Protos Security’s Specialized Off-Duty Division.
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