Should Suicide of Capitol Police Officer Be Considered ‘Line of Duty’ Death?
The widow of a Metropolitan Police officer Jeffrey Smith, who took his own life after being assigned to the Capitol riot response argues that denying him a death in the line of duty designation ignores realities of the job.
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Erin Smith, the widow of Metropolitan Police officer Jeffrey Smith, who committed suicide eight days after responding to the Capitol riot, is petitioning the Police and Firefighters’ Retirement and Relief Board to designate her husband’s suicide as a death in the line of duty. But the odds are against her, reports the New York Times. Unlike in the military, which commonly awards benefits to families of soldiers who take their own lives, police suicides are not considered line-of-duty deaths. In fact, the law generally forbids that designation. The families of officers who kill themselves say the rules represent an outdated approach that recognizes the physical dangers of policing, but not the mental ones.
