Laredo committee hears rising suicide-call totals, reviews 988 data, website and survivor-response proposals

The Laredo Suicide Prevention Committee on Sept. 24 heard a report from Laredo police showing 73 attempted-suicide calls and 17 suicides recorded so far this year, and discussed 988-call trends, a city-hosted resource page, and steps to create a local survivor "lost team" to assist families after a death.

The police presentation, led by a Laredo Police Department sergeant, summarized calls from Jan. 1 through Sept. 23 and listed recent incidents by date and method, including overdoses, cutting, hanging and a self-inflicted gunshot on Sept. 4 that resulted in a death. "As you can see that number, 17, ... we're really close," the sergeant said, describing the department's concern about the year-to-date totals.

Committee members also reviewed a 988 (suicide-prevention hotline) briefing that covered January–August 2025 traffic and routing. A presenter representing Integral Care/988 data told the committee the local center logged hundreds of contacts in the period and that a significant share of calls routed into the national network. The presenter urged members to use state-level dashboards for more granular planning and outreach.

Why it matters: committee members said the combination of rising local call volume and national 988 trends argues for clearer, centralized public information and better local coordination among health providers, schools and first responders. Several members recommended a city-hosted resource page and clearer workflows for dispatch and post-incident response so survivors and families can find help quickly.

Discussion and proposals

- Heat map and incident details: The police sergeant displayed a heat map showing clusters across multiple neighborhood beats (B1–B20). The sergeant explained the beat boundaries and noted the map covered calls from the start of the year to the present so members could see emerging patterns. The department declined to post exact addresses publicly for privacy reasons but offered to share detailed call logs to committee members by email.

- 988 and data-sharing: A presenter recommended using the state/national dashboards (impact.vibrate.org referenced in the presentation) to guide outreach. The presenter said, for the January–August window, callers citing depression and anxiety constituted the largest categories and that many calls were handled locally while others were routed to national backup centers.

- Repository for materials and legal compliance: Committee staff presented options for a city-hosted, view-only repository (Microsoft SharePoint/OneDrive) to store meeting materials while complying with the Texas Open Meetings Act and the Texas Public Information Act. Staff said the design would limit edits to comply with city policy and state law.

- Local "lost team" (survivor response): Members discussed establishing a local survivor-response team (a "lost team") of trained therapists and survivors to support families after a suicide. Committee members reported Texas has only a few such teams and recommended pursuing local capacity with city support, potentially via a city webpage that centralizes available counseling and survivor resources.

Actions and decisions

- The committee approved the meeting minutes (motion moved by "Mr. Ramqued," seconded by Maxine). The Chair called for the question and the committee recorded the motion as approved.

- The meeting adjourned on a unanimous voice vote after final announcements.

Events and outreach noted

Committee members and partner organizations listed several planned events: a 988 community partner gathering on Wednesday, Oct. 8 at Las Castaneda Park (10 a.m.); two 988 rallies the coming Friday (Del Mar/McPherson and a South-Side location hosted by AOT/Colorado Public Health); continuing 5K/1K runs and local school- and library-based awareness events; and a proclamation planned for Oct. 6 at City Hall chambers.

Closing and next steps

Members asked staff to (1) follow up with the police department to share more detailed call logs privately, (2) research how specific calls reached dispatch (988 vs. other lines), (3) develop a proposal for a read-only city resource page and (4) explore the feasibility and funding options to stand up a local lost team. Several members volunteered to serve as liaisons for the website and outreach efforts.

The meeting concluded after adjournment was moved and the committee voted "Aye."