A high-ranking and recently promoted Chicago deputy police chief died in an apparent suicide on July 28. Dion Boyd, 57, was found by co-workers in his office at the Chicago Police Department’s Homan Square facility.
Chicago police say Boyd committed suicide. According to CBS Chicago, Chicago police Chief David Brown confirmed that Boyd was found dead in the morning of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. Boyd spent 30 years with the Chicago Police Department and he was recently promoted on July 15 to the rank of deputy chief of the department’s criminal networks group.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot had this to say:
“This devastating loss will not only be felt at every level of this Department, but in the countless communities and homes Deputy Chief Boyd touched during his decades-long service to our city.”
Boyd had two sons.
Chief Brown released the following statement:
There’s really no way to convey or express the magnitude of this loss. We are shocked and saddened at the loss that is deeply felt by me and the many colleagues and friends with whom Deputy Chief Boyd worked and mentored throughout his career.
Boyd’s career included experience as a tactical officer, undercover officer in narcotics, homicide detective and internal affairs officer. Boyd is the second Chicago cop to fall victim to suicide in the year 2020.
Chicago Cop Suicide
Suicides are a mounting occurrence for cops with the Chicago Police Department. The suicide rate for Chicago cops is 60% higher than the national average. 13 Chicago cops killed themselves in the year 2018. Chicago is a very violent city and has already had 430 homicides this year. And in 2019 there were 530 Chicago homicides.
With the city being so crime and murder ridden, PTSD among officers is a serious problem.
Seeing so much violence on a daily bases can touch on the psyche of a human being. Chicago has deadly shootings every week. Psychological counselors are provided for officers at all Chicago police precincts throughout the city.
