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Florida expands first responder mental health line to all 67 counties as suicides persist

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Published  October 28, 2024 4:36pm EDT
Hillsborough County
FOX 13 News

Expanding mental health services for first responders

Evan Axelbank reports     

TAMPA, Fla. - Florida is expanding access to mental health services amid a rise in suicides among first responders.              

The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office has had five employees die by suicide over the last seven years.     

On Monday, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody announced the expansion of an initiative, which got its start in Tampa Bay.

When it comes to real-world experience, it's the kind Sheriff Chronister wishes his agency didn't have.

READ MORE: Phone operators inside Crisis Center of Tampa Bay's HOPE hotline.

"He was getting the help that he needed," Chronister said of Deputy Tim White, who died by suicide in August. "It just couldn't quite get him to the point where he felt that he could overcome whatever struggle he was facing."

White was found in his car after a shift at the Hillsborough County Courthouse in late August.

He was one of twelve Florida first responders to die by suicide just this year and the fifth HCSO employee to take their own life since 2019.

"In the first few months of my tenure as sheriff, I lost two deputies to murder-suicide who killed their family members and killed themselves," said Chronister. "And I knew that right then and there we weren't doing enough."

Phone operators inside Crisis Center of Tampa Bays HOPE hotline.

Phone operators inside Crisis Center of Tampa Bays HOPE hotline.

In 2020, the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay, along with the Florida Attorney General, launched 866-4-FL-HERO.

First responders and their families can call to talk to a fellow first responder who can guide them to help.  

Monday, they announced it's now available for responders in every Florida county. 

"It's not someone who says, I'm trying to imagine what you're going through," said Chronister. "No, it's a veteran who you're talking to. It's a prior first responder." 

Over his three decades in law enforcement, Tampa Police Chief Lee Bercaw has seen countless colleagues struggle with mental health. 

One hit closest to home.

"My brother was a deputy in Collier County, and he took his life," said Bercaw.

In 2010, Dep. Craig Marshall took his own life at 34. Bercaw is convinced that if there was less of a stigma and a helpline, he might still be here today.

READ MORE: Bay Area non-profit pitching in after 2 hurricanes to keep Manatee County beautiful

"We're the first to respond and the last to ask for help," said Bercaw. "And typically, it's because we don't know who to ask for help."

Eighty-one first responders in Florida have taken their own lives since 2019.

In the last four months, out of 340 calls, 42 percent have been from law enforcement, 30 percent from paramedics and EMTs, and 18 percent from firefighters.

The chief says the important thing is that 100 percent of those callers were willing to ask for help.

"It's using those resources and not being afraid to ask," said Bercaw.

For information on the Florida Hope Line, click here. 

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