Four Harris County Sheriff’s Deputies Committed Suicide in the Past Six Weeks
I don’t believe in coincidences.
I want to hear your thoughts after you read this story. I don’t believe in coincidences.
One current and three former deputies in the Harris County Sheriff’s Office committed suicide in the last six weeks:
- Deputy Christina Kohler – March 13
- Former Deputy Maria Vasquez – March 16
- Former Deputy William Bozeman – March 19
- Former Deputy Long Nguyen – February 6
Kohler went missing a week ago before being discovered on March 13. I’ve seen many outlets describing it as a mental health issue. From KHOU11:
It’s a tough job but every day, agencies like HCSO get it done. The impact may not be seen on the outside but it’s felt on the inside. Behavioral Health Division Director Thomas McNeese said internal battles aren’t easily won.
“The average citizen I think in a lifetime may be exposed to two — I think is the statistic — critical incidents whereas one of our officers might be exposed to that on a shift. So, over time, that definitely takes a toll,” McNeese said.
Deputy Christina Kohler was working for HCSO in the courts division when she took her own life. While sharing his grief on social media, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzales also shared news of other former deputies and retirees who took their own lives.
“It’s cumulative and it takes a toll over time because it depletes your reserves that you have,” McNeese said.
McNeese said the Harris County Behavioral Health Division is one of the first of its kind. It is an agency-wide resource that provides in-person or office care. Karen Altamirano and John Celius work full-time as peer support deputies.
“I would say it’s heavy, especially seeing people that you know, it’s hard on them. And the biggest thing was trying to get them to see that it’s going to be OK — we’re going to push through,” Altamirano said.
But four deputies within six weeks of each other? In my opinion, I believe there is more to the story.
I’m not dismissing the need to encourage people in the job to seek mental health help. Something just seems off about this story.
I’m also curious because the articles I found did not have enough details about the deputies. No interviews with colleagues, not anyone saying how the deputies behaved in the days leading up to their apparent suicides.
I hope someone, whether its the department or a journalist, does some more digging. Again, I don’t believe in coincidences.
DONATE
Donations tax deductible
to the full extent allowed by law.
Comments
Suicide can become a cluster. It happens more frequently in certain groups. I think that Police officers may be one of the groups. You have a tight group with similar values once one person does it, it gives permission to the next that may have been struggling with similar feelings already.
There was such a cluster of teen suicides in Plano, TX during the 1980s
Did anyone ever nail down why?
Nothing definitive. There were a lot of theories thrown around at the time, including the idea that is was a ‘social contagion’ of suicidal impulses. Plano was comprised of numerous ‘master planned’ communities and it was a magnet for the rich and successful. The doctors and the lawyers and the wealthy businesspeople all wanted to live there, and they had high expectations for their kids… lots of pressure. That generation of kids was the first wave to hit high-school after the ‘divorce boom’ of the 1970s. Ready access to hard drugs was becoming mainstream, even for the ‘good kids.’ It was disturbing, more than 20 kids killed themselves over a period of a few years. And there was speculation that a lot of the ‘traffic deaths’ during the same period were actually suicide-by-car. Here is a good article, if you can get around the paywall: https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1984/03/11/cluster-phenomenon-of-young-suicides-raises-contagion-theory/74ec572d-6805-4e66-b533-0c131b5e42eb
Expect the suicides to be blamed on the J6 “riot”.
They were… there were Capitol cops that did. Or….or… was this wet work to trim loose strings?
I knew a guy that committed suicide by putting bull barrel 40 inch shotgun in his mouth. Not a chance in hell his short arms could reach the trigger but the small town law was glad to be rid of him. So no investigation.
Variation on the theme of: were any of these officers found with gunshot wounds (tw)) through the right temple, with a gun of differing caliber found in the left hand?
He used his toe to pull the trigger. It was common among Japanese soldiers in WWII.
Short arms, long rifle.
Reads more like a gangster movie where no one had any intention of doing this. I have no experience in police work, I worked in electronic engineering. But there was a time when we worked on a series of very intense projects which in total lasted several years and as a group we were really at the end of ourselves near the end. There were many divorces, some people developed cancer (maybe stress related), one man went on vacation and simply disappeared. I found myself foolishly climbing over the edge of a cliff which would have been fatal if I had not stopped myself. But in our group I don’t know of even one who committed an obvious suicide and we were about 50 or 60 people.
Weird. But, there’s too little information provided in the accompanying story to presume anything. Three were ‘former’ sheriffs. How long ago did they leave the office (Only Vasquez’ departure of 12/24 was given) and why did they leave? Were they voluntary departures or something else? How long were they working for Harris County? Did any of them know each other and work together? Depending on the answers to those question, it could be a really bizarre coincidence or something far more sinister.
Tragically, one was an actual suicide, but the other 3 had information that would lede to the arrest of Hillary Clinton.
You are a very sick puppy.
I am, but what’s your point?
He doesn’t understand dark humor. It’s like food in a communist country, not everyone gets it.
Harris County Sheriff’s Office is a large organization, covering a large territory:
“The Harris County Sheriff’s Office, founded in 1837, is the largest sheriff’s office in Texas and the third-largest in the nation. The HCSO has nearly 5,100 employees and 200 volunteer reservists dedicated to ensuring the safety of more than 4.1 million residents who call Harris County home. Harris County encompasses 1,788 square miles and includes 41 incorporated municipalities. ” (https://www.harriscountyso.org/)
That said, there is too little information regarding the four individuals (and sheriff’s office) to have an objective “discussion”.
Yet, over recent year +/- it appears (without looking for such articles) many departments have experienced similar trends in current and retired LEO suicides. … There are likely many varied reasons; what are the most common motivations beyond those which might be categorized as: “Lost perspective on the purpose of life.” ?
Beyond the “easy answers” of “job-related stress”, perhaps the current discontinuous changes in America, the society, over the last 5 1/2, 16, 35+, … years including:
society’s intellectual, spiritual and civic decline;
the continual decline of communities (a society constantly “voting with its feet” / “looking for greener pastures”);
failure of governments (pervasive at so many levels);
illegal and legal immigration and failure to assimilate (by so many; society’s factionalization (in the case of Houston – rapid growth/continuous expansion)); … and
the ever expanding number of “laws” LEOs are expected to enforce,
are demoralizing and grating on the humanity of those who entered LE (whether for noble or the “wrong” reasons).
Not just the new “laws”, but I am willing to wager ever-increasing quotas, both of arrests and revenue.
And, for any LEOs or former LEOs reading this, I refuse to believe “there are no quotas”.
Yes, there are. But because it’s “illegal” other methods are used to get to them. Specific numbers usually aren’t spoken. In my experience, criminal enforcement doesn’t get you any advancement, only traffic stop numbers, resulting in all kinds of problems with padding numbers. Supervisors use their underlings numbers as a means to get promoted. They’ll use the lure of a new car, awards, and specialized units to get numbers up. This results in people being placed into positions with zero investigative experience, but a lot of traffic stops. It’s a house of cards.
“Harris County Sheriff’s Office is a large organization, covering a large territory”
Harris County is also the county of Houston, arguably Texas’ largest blue enclave and most crime-ridden hellhole. It’s been controlled by Democrats for nearly two decades now, and boasts its second hand-picked Soros prosecutor.
Houston, the armpit of Texas
It is very rare to actually have contact with a “normal” person. Dealing with the literal dregs of society takes its toll. Most people have no idea how the vast underclass actually lives. It is a sewer of human suffering and degradation.
The article doesn’t even tell us what state Harris County is in – you have to read the comments for that information.
When something like this happens, my immediate impression is there must be corruption, and deputies are punching their own tickets instead of waiting around to get caught. Once one dies, the others involved say OMG and are terrified they will be found out, and imagine that investigators are hot on their trail whether they really are or not.
Is there a culture within the HCSO to not seek mental health treatment, perhaps because them to not promote you?
Ask for help, become a target.
I’ll never condone suicide unless it is because of a painful illness, however, when you look at the justice system today and the bureaucratic crap that LEOs face as well as the public hatred towards them, it isn’t too hard to understand the depression and desponency they must feel. I can not understand why anyone would want to be a LEO knowing what is waiting for them.
Some brought this hatred upon themselves. It isn’t just hippies and “minorities” that hate. or at least distrust, cops.
My first thought is where is Harris County? I don’t believe the story mentioned it once.
Mary, a suggestion. Your story starts with Harris County and goes onward. Had I not seen the callsign of the TV station you quoted I’d still not have been sure about it being in Texas.
Just a grouchy old man channeling a copy editor….
I understand … have had 3 high stress careers…
worked as a navy cryptologist …. worked as a correctional
officer and as a DoD security contractor.
we had a couple of people suicide … most times
ppl would just quit … but I do understand…
Suicide is the final cooping device.
I developed a “I dont give a sh*t” attitude
did my job and left it at the door … I was an Adrenaline
junkie …. scuba, fast bikes/cars, jumping out of airplanes. and then come back to work.
lots of ppl just get drunk. that was their cooping method. GOD was very good to me, I finally aged out
of the crazy and just developed a thick shell.
TDS? The Vax? Did they all go to the same therapist?
I know a detective that covers child porn cases. That has him really messed up. We support him in our men’s group. There are pretty sick people out there. Some people just are not meant to deal with it.
My main thought on this story is that it’s more holes than actual cheese. Even granting the premise that all four deaths were actually suicides, there is zero evidence presented that they were caused by mental health issues stemming from stress experienced working for the Harrison County Sheriffs Office (HCSO). Nor is there any data indicating this represents an abnormal suicide rate for either any large law enforcement agency or for HCSO specifically.
HCSO currently has a little over 2500 deputies. Is 1 out of 2500 an unusually high or low rate for a law enforcement agency? The article doesn’t say. What was the HCSO suicide rate in previous years? The article doesn’t say. Did the introduction of the Behavioral Health Division in 2000 have any measurable effect one way or the other? The article doesn’t say.
With a department that size there are going to be a lot of retired deputies around. How many? The article doesn’t say. What is the ‘normal’ suicide rate among them? The article doesn’t say.
With the exception of Nguyen (who was 58) the article doesn’t say how old any of the former deputies were. It says Vasquez left the department in December of last year, but nothing about when the other two did. Bozeman could have been a 102-year-old who retired in the 1980s for all we can tell.
Why did the former deputies retire (disability, forced out, moving on with their lives, etc.)? Did they have health issues? Did they have other stressors completely unrelated to their times with the department? Did they know one another? The article answers absolutely none of these questions.
Given the article’s severe deficiencies I thought maybe it had been written by some noob fresh out of journalism school, but no. Jessica Willey is apparently an award-winning reporter who’s been with the network for 25 years.
Oooh, I know, I know, it’s because of Texas’s lax gun laws!
Never mind that gun-grabbers’ proposals always exempt cops, so none of them could possibly have affected these people.
And never mind that there’s no reason to suppose restricting guns would have any significant impact on suicide.
If it saves even one life… Think of the children…