The Boulder County Coroner’s Office had one of its busiest years on record in 2009, taking more death reports than any year prior, responding to a record number of suicides and a spike in homicides, and conducting more autopsies than it has in seven years.
Through Thursday morning, the coroner’s office had performed 163 autopsies in 2009, which is four more than 2008 and just one less than the highest autopsy tally in county history, in 2002.
In addition to the high number of autopsies, Coroner Tom Faure said, many of 2009’s cases were complex. For example, he said, 2009 brought more homicides and infant deaths than normal.
“That has impacted the time spent by staff and the costs at the hospitals,” Faure said.
And, at 58, 2009’s suicide tally was higher than any year dating back to 1983 — the earliest year that data were available.
Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle said his office investigated many of 2009’s suicides and noted even before seeing the numbers that there had been a rise.
“It seems like many times, when people intend to kill themselves, they go to secluded areas like the mountains or park areas, so we end up taking care of those,” Pelle said. “It has been a busy year, but I don’t know if you can attach that to any reason. From time to time, you just see spikes.”
Faure said that Boulder County’s growing population is partly to blame for the rise in autopsies and reported deaths. There were 1,207 reported deaths as of Thursday morning, compared with 1,199 in 2008 and 1,094 in 2007.
Through Thursday morning, the coroner’s office had investigated eight homicides, compared with two in 2008 and four in 2007; 58 suicides, compared with 49 in 2008 and 45 in 2007; and seven infant deaths, compared with one in 2008. Faure said it’s important to remember that “one year doesn’t make a trend.”
“You can’t take a snapshot from one year and predict that the next year will be high too,” Faure said.
The county coroner’s office is funded to do about 150 autopsies a year, Faure said, and by August, the county was averaging 14 autopsies a month, or the equivalent of 168 autopsies a year. The fast pace and complexity of the cases prompted Faure to request an additional $90,000 from the Boulder County Board of Commissioners in August, bringing the office’s overall autopsy budget to $172,000 for it’s current yearly budget.
“We have to look at the worst-case scenario because we don’t want to come back and ask for more,” Faure said. “We can’t predict month to month what will occur, and that makes budgeting challenging.”
Thankfully, Faure said, December was slower than expected, and his office won’t need all $90,000.
“Some of it will be used, and some won’t,” he said, explaining that whatever isn’t used will go back into the county budget.
