Arizona veterans commit suicide at a far greater rate than non-veterans
A new report shows Arizona veterans commit suicide at nearly three times the rate of non-veterans. The ASU Center for Violence Prevention and Community Safety found that 277 military veterans took their own lives in Arizona in 2016. That's about two suicides every three days. Another 22 veterans were victims of homicide last year. For perspective, there were 370 homicides and 877 suicides in Arizona in 2016.
The center, part of the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Arizona State University, analyzes data on violent deaths for the Arizona Violent Death Reporting System in conjunction with the Department of Health Services and Centers for Disease Control.
"We collect data from the police, medical examiners and the state with respect to homicides, suicides as well as undetermined deaths," said Charles Katz, a criminology professor and director of the Center for Violence Prevention and Community Safety. "And every November we attempt to do a report to shine the light on issues pertaining to veterans."
Rates are determined by the number of suicides and homicides per 100,000 population. There were an estimated 505,794 veterans living in Arizona in 2016, according to the U.S. Census and American Community Survey 2016 estimates. Male veterans had a rate of 57.7 suicides per 100,000 population compared to 20.8 for non-military veterans. The suicide rate for female veterans was also nearly three times higher than female non-veterans at 21.6 per 100,000 population versus 7.3 for non-veterans.
Four of Arizona's 15 counties had suicide rates far greater than the state average. Mohave, Graham, Navajo and Yavapai counties had rates of 90.9, 83.4, 70.9 and 69.8, respectively per 100,000 population.
"We also have some counties that don't have any veteran suicides that are rural," said Katz. "But what we're hoping to do is shine the light on veteran suicides and be able to help agencies allocate resources appropriately toward those locations or counties that need the most support and to hopefully focus that support on those veterans that deserve all of our help."
Santa Cruz and Greenlee counties reported no veteran suicides in 2016. The state's most populated counties had veteran suicide rates below the state average of 57.7 per 100,000. Maricopa county's rate of veteran suicide was 54.4 per 100,000 population, slightly less than the statewide average. Pima County's rate at 42.0 was the fourth lowest in the state.
Read the report
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