Without question, police work can be dangerous and stressful anywhere. In New Jersey, it has taken an alarming toll on officers, who are increasingly committing suicide.
Gov. Corzine wants to break the deadly cycle and has created a new state task force to find out what more can be done to prevent police suicides.
In New Jersey, there are more suicides among law enforcement - police, corrections, retired and disabled officers - than officers killed in the line of duty. Between 2003 and 2007, there was an average of 12 law-enforcement suicides each year in New Jersey. So far this year, there have been nine suicides.
Nationally, a law-enforcement officer suicide occurs every 17 to 21 hours - about 400 annually, according to Robert Douglas, executive director of the National Police Suicide Foundation.
"One is one too many," he says.
Law-enforcement officers need to know that there is no shame in getting help. Their superiors and fellow officers need to know how to identify warning signs and how to help those in trouble.
New Jersey has taken a step in the right direction by creating a task force that has been long called for by the Police Benevolent Association. The task force should look to a model taught by Douglas that requires mandatory police-suicide-awareness training and a peer support network, and adds more psychologists to departments.
Experts say law-enforcement officers are reluctant to talk about the stresses of the job and often maintain a "code of silence." That leads to higher rates of alcohol abuse, depression and divorce.
The demands of the job can be overwhelming, especially when they involve high-profile cases that bring more pressure and public scrutiny.
A former Hamilton Township deputy police chief took his own life last summer after he was criticized in a public report and demoted to captain.
New Jersey already has a program that provides a crisis-intervention hotline and puts law-enforcement officers in touch with their peers to talk about problems. Since it was established in 1999, the program has fielded more than 22,000 calls and has been credited with preventing at least 40 suicides.
But more must be done. The task force is a good first step.