The substance of the article seems to be that two police officers committed suicide while off duty, and their families are pushing for those suicides to be counted in the line of duty.
Suicide has a negative effect on things like insurance payouts and such, since it is almost always specifically excluded in the signed contracts.
I am on the fence on this. I fully understand the effect that police work can have on a person, you often deal with the worst parts of society, you take your work home with you, people hate you (especially nowadays) and occasionally (more often nowadays) try to injure or kill you.
I have often seen cases of military veterans who commit suicide, and think that in at least some of those cases (not all) that veteran was a casualty of that war just the same as if he had been shot in the head by an enemy combatant. I often think the same thing when I see a police suicide.
I am not advocating for reclassifying suicides in all cases (or even any cases) but observing that I think there are elements of those jobs that tend to do that to people, and understandably so.
I sympathize with law enforcement, though I admit, there are elements of it now that make me less sympathetic (kneeling in support of Black Lives Matter, enforcing mask “mandates” and 2nd Amendment infringements, etc.
But I have always felt most cops are in a job, trying to do that job fairly and well, help people in the process, get paid for it, and make it home to their families at night.
There are bad cops, too. But there are bad McDonalds employees, surgeons, hairdressers (especially those named Tiffany) and so on.
I can say I wouldn’t want to be a cop nowadays. NOBODY has your back. NOBODY. Especially in a blue state or blue city. You do your job, you could end up in jail, characterized as a monster, and completely bankrupt and villainized.
Conjecture I have read in various places suggests the officer who died was bear sprayed and respiratory stresss triggered the stroke. Suggest that the suicides may have conspired with the attackers. One FReeper suggested the second suicide may have been silenced. Perhaps more details will come.