If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline or chat live at 988lifeline.org. You can also visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for additional support. Families, former officers and mental health experts went to City Hall on Wednesda y to urge Philadelphia City Councilmembers to support increasing benefits for first responders who die by suicide. The City Council’s Public Safety Committee is looking at whether an off-duty death by suicide for Philadelphia first responders should be classified as a line of duty death. An eventual change would mean surviving families would receive more financial, health and other benefits. Supporters of the reclassification say that many officers suffer in silence, ingrained in them to avoid asking for help. Former ATF Supervisory Special Agent Jo Sue Kaufman described the stressors of being in law enforcement and deciding whether she should take her own life. “I just sat there and took my gun out, and I put it to my head, and it felt good, it felt real good,” Kaufman said. Regan Falk also spoke at the event. She lost her husband, father of two kids and Philadelphia police officer Kevin Regan to suicide in October of 2022. Since then, she’s started a foundation in his name to help families of first responders. In addition to more benefits, Falk and others are also pushing for more mental health initiatives as well, including on-going self-care training, regular wellness check ups and education to recognize signs and symptoms of mental health issues. “The lack of resources and benefits available is just astonishing, and honestly hurtful to so many of these families,” she said. However, the reclassification proposal appeared to get a mixed response from city officials. City Council President Kenyatta Johnson welcomed the discussion, saying, “Right now it’s not even a discussion, and that’s unacceptable.” However, Sharolyn Murphy, the Philadelphia deputy director of finance, said she did not support the reclassification. “Creating a line of duty death classification for these employees, we don’t support that because we already have benefits for these employees. We already have contractual obligations,” Murphy said. Since 1985, Philadelphia has paid out two claims for suicide in the line of duty. They totaled less than $1 million. No bill has been introduced so far, but members of the City Council said one could be introduced down the road. ...read more read less