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Laredo police sergeant reports rise in suicide-related calls; 11 deaths noted
Summary
A sergeant from the Laredo Police Department’s Mental Evaluation Outreach Unit told the committee that suicide-related metrics rose in June–July, reporting 11 deaths, 43 attempted-suicide reports and 458 emergency-detention calls year to date.
A sergeant from the Laredo Police Department’s Mental Evaluation Outreach Unit reported a recent increase in suicide-related incidents during a July 20 committee meeting. The officer said the department recorded two suicide deaths in the past month and that the monthly total rose from nine in June to 11 in July.
"The number was 9 in June. Now we went up to 11," the sergeant said during a presentation of the unit’s statistics. The officer listed related figures: 43 attempted-suicide reports so far this year and 458 emergency-detention calls for the year. The presentation included specific recent incidents by date, age and method and a breakdown of attempted-suicide calls by day and by council district.
Committee members asked for more detail about the school districts of juvenile callers and whether decedents were veterans; the sergeant said he could provide that information on request. Members discussed immediate outreach steps: creating informational cards or flyers for detectives and first responders to give families after critical incidents and expanding referral resources for survivors.
The sergeant invited attendees to visit the outreach unit’s new downtown office when it opens and said the office will partner with case workers and community groups. The committee thanked the officer and closed the item with no formal vote.
