Despite troubling rise in suicides, CPD falling short on getting help for officers, inspector general finds

Chicago Fire Department personnel take down the American flag outside the Cook County medical examiner’s office after the procession for a high-ranking Chicago Police officer was found dead in an apparent suicide at the Homan Square facility, on July 28, 2020. (Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times file)

Carrie Steiner still remembers the day in 2009 when a Chicago police officer called and told her he had a gun in his lap and wanted to kill himself.

A Chicago cop herself who got a doctorate in psychology while working on the force, Steiner said she encouraged the officer to seek help from the department’s counseling staff.