Out of Darkness Walks for Suicide Prevention
State Local 105 attended the Out of the Darkness Walk with a caravan of support for families who have lost an offi cer to suicide.
bers of Local 105 would join her. Sullivan and Sprich agreed.
Over the years, Local 105 members have logged several miles
participating in Out of the Darkness walks across the state, in
honor of their brothers and sisters who were victims and to sup-
port the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. The two
immediately went to work, notifying members and planning for
Local 105 to make a statement of support and advocacy for the
Karakaya family and all state corrections suicide victims.
During the walk’s planning stages, Sullivan and Sprich tried
to list off the top of their heads the names of corrections offi-
cers who had committed suicide. When they could no longer
keep track of the number on their fingers, the Local 105 mem-
bers started writing them down. What started as a conversation
turned into a mission to assemble a master list of corrections
officers who had taken their own lives.
“I wanted to know as many names as possible, so we can
bring more attention to it,” noted Sullivan, who came up with
the idea of putting the victims’ names on the back of T-shirts to
help raise money for the State Corrections Local 105 Founda-
tion, which benefits families affected by suicide. When Sullivan
and Sprich contacted the NJDOC to request a list of officers who
had committed suicide, they were surprised to learn that no
such record existed. The NJDOC could share the number of offi-
cers lost each year to suicide, but that was the only information
available. “There were no names attached to the statistics,” Sul-
livan explained. “It’s a bigger problem than what’s on record.”
The discovery of the NJDOC’s incomplete record motivated
the Local 105 members to try and fill in the blanks of one of the
most pressing issues affecting corrections officers. The list grew
as Sullivan and Sprich began asking other Local 105 members for feedback. A Local 105 Facebook post drew even more names
from corrections officers and family members, who shared in-
formation about victims they had worked with and knew. Be-
fore long, Local 105’s list contained 25 names dating back to
2001. “We’re still missing some officers,” admitted Sprich. “But
this is a start to working with our department to find out how
staggering this number really is.”
On Oct. 13, those names appeared on the back of a suicide
prevention T-shirt worn by Local 105 members from across
the state at the Cumberland County Out of the Darkness Walk.
Honor guards from Union County Corrections Officers Local
199 and Southwood State Prison stood tall at the Cumberland
County Technical Education Center as officers created a path
for families and loved ones to walk in honor of those who were
tragically gone too soon. Among those standing out of the dark-
ness was Asli Karakaya, along with other family members who
were grateful to see Local 105’s participation in the event. “Ev-
ery time we deal with the families, they are extremely apprecia-
tive,” Sprich insisted. “We want them to know that we look out
for our people.”
As Local 105 members and families walked laps to remember
those who have taken their own lives, Sullivan and Sprich felt a
renewed sense of purpose in knowing that each step taken was
not just a statistic, but a representation of a name and his or her
story.
“Our goal is to get a better system of bringing awareness to
suicide prevention by having a better record of why and how,”
Sullivan stated. “The issue started gaining traction years ago.
Hopefully, we’re going to pick it up and bring it to where it’s got
to be with the awareness, training and legislation needed to
take the next step.”
State Corrections Local 105 designed a T-shirt to raise awareness for suicide
prevention and remember correctional police offi cers who have taken their
own lives. Local 105 Executive Board members helped raise money through merchan-
dise sales for the State Corrections Foundation, which benefi ts families who
have lost an offi cer to suicide.
Keeping a record
www.njcopsmagazine.com
■ NOVEMBER 2018 53