Operation Longevity – “Less Mourning, More Living”

By Jon Adler, FLEOA Foundation President

When it comes to deja vu discussions on how to prevent law enforcement suicides, I have zero patience. Two hundred and twenty-eight law enforcement officers took their own lives in 2019, and redundant dialogue by do-gooders is not the remedy. While presenting at one particular suicide prevention forum, I barked out, “Less Mourning, More Living!” My simple blunt point was let’s stop mourning the loss of our teammates by keeping them alive. At the end of my rant, I was approached by a scholarly gentleman whom I expected was going to tell me that my neanderthal styled remarks were not helpful. My prediction was wrong.

The scholarly gentleman, Dr. Peter Killeen, introduced himself, shook my hand, and said, “Thank you.” I quickly learned that…