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Teresa T. Tate

Founder, Survivors of Law Enforcement Suicide

Ms. Tate became a survivor of suicide in 1989, and is an advocate for survivors of law enforcement suicide.  In 1995, she established a national network called Survivors of Law Enforcement Suicide (SOLES) and offers assistance to law enforcement agencies when a police officer has died by suicide.  She is also credited for the development and implementation of the Survivors of Suicide support group in Lee County, Florida.  She was a member of Governor Bush's State Task Force on Suicide Prevention as well as a member of the Florida Suicide Prevention Coalition (FSPC) and past director of Region 8.

While employed with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), Ms. Tate was a member of ATF's peer support team and attended several critical incident/peer support training seminars. Over the years, Ms.Tate has been requested to assist law enforcement families from various agencies affected by suicide.

Ms. Tate has written articles on police suicide for various magazines and newsletters for law enforcement organizations. Ms. Tate has been a guest on several radio talk shows, including "American Under Siege" which is sponsored by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial. In February 1997, Ms. Tate was the first survivor to speak at a suicide awareness conference for police officers, which was sponsored by the Fraternal Order of Police. In September 1999, Ms. Tate presented a paper titled, "Police Suicides: Assessing the Needs of the Survivor" at the FBI Academy in Quantico, VA. This paper was presented during the Suicide and Law Enforcement Symposium. In November 1999, Ms. Tate was a speaker at the first National Survivors of Suicide Prevention Day teleconference, which was hosted by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, and she is continually invited to various chapters to speak.

Ms. Tate is listed as a resource in several books, including "I Love A Cop" by Dr. Ellen Kirschman and "Copshock" by Allen Kates. Ms. Tate was a contributing writer to the books, "Police Suicide: Tactics for Prevention" by Dell P. Hackett and John M. Violanti, Ph.D., and "Police Suicide: Epidemic in Blue (2nd Ed.), by John M. Violanti, Ph.D.
 
While working with survivors, Ms. Tate realized the importance of remembering the loss of law enforcement officers to suicide. She designed three quilts in which 45 law enforcement agencies and family members participated in memorializing those officers who died by their own hand. These quilts are displayed nationwide at training events, survivor conferences, and during an annual remembrance ceremony in Washington, DC.

Since 2001, Ms. Tate has partnered with several law enforcement organizations in developing and presenting a nationwide training program for police officers called In Harm's Way.

 

 


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In Harm's Way: Law Enforcement Suicide Prevention

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