'Suicide by cop' phenomenon occurring in over a third of North American shootings involving police

[Barrett808]

Source: EurekAlert!

Journal of Forensic Sciences examines the prevalence of a phenomenon among a large sample of officer-involved shootings

Pasadena, CA—February 18, 2009—"Suicide by Cop" (SBC) is a suicide method in which a person engages in actual or apparent danger to others in an attempt to get oneself killed or injured by law enforcement. A new study in the Journal of Forensic Sciences examined the prevalence of this phenomenon among a large sample of officer-involved shootings.

Results show that SBC occurs at extremely high rates, with 36 percent of all shootings being categorized as SBC. The findings confirm the growing incidence of this method of suicide, with SBC cases more likely to result in the death or injury of the subjects 50 percent of the time.

The study was led by noted police and forensic psychologist Kris Mohandie, Ph.D., who has over nineteen years of experience in the assessment and management of violent behavior. Dr. Mohandie responded on-scene to the O.J. Simpson barricade and assisted the L.A. County District Attorney's prosecution of the stalker of Steven Spielberg. He has appeared in numerous news programs, including CNN and MSNBC, as well as on the Discovery Channel, A & E, and the History Channel addressing issues pertaining to violent behavior.

Using the largest empirical sample of police shootings to examine the issue of SBC, Dr. Mohandie, J. Reid Meloy, Ph.D., A.B.P.P., and Peter I. Collins, M.C.A., M.D., F.R.C.P., examined 707 cases of North American officer-involved shootings from 1998 to 2006. Materials reviewed included police reports, witness statements, criminal histories on subjects, photographs, videotapes, and external review reports.

SBC was found to occur at a momentous rate among officer-involved shooting cases. The fact that 36 percent of all shootings in the sample could be categorized as SBC underscores the significance of suicidal impulses among those who become involved in shootings and other uses of force with police officers.

Read more: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-02/w-bc021809.php

[rocktivity]

1. I wonder if a significant percentage of them are veterans...

:(
rocktivity

[depakid]

2. It would be nice to see how the authors define suicide by cop

By bet is that they've got VERY broad criteria.

[daleo]

4. Agreed, it could be a very wide definition

"The fact that 36 percent of all shootings in the sample could be categorized".

Note the conditional "could be".

[depakid]

7. There would have to be some credible evidence of intent

Simply acting crazy in a manner that one might imagine would get you shot in the states isn't enough in my book to conclude a person intended suicide.

[crim son]

3. I think it's significant that they believe they can count on the cops

to kill them.

[Gormy Cuss]

6. Good point.

No wonder how they get that impression these days.

[DCKit]

16. Yet no mention of the cops state of mind.

Of course, they're all immune to the current economy, state of politics and none just returned from serving overseas.

[crim son]

20. Nobody gets a pass for killing somebody

because they've lost their job. Oh wait. The cop obviously has a job.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

18. When confronted with deadly force what should they do?

[MindPilot]

5. "suicide by cop" is a polite euphemism for "he was asking for it..." n/t

[Heidi]

8. In most cases termed "suicide by cop," I couldn't agree more.

Or be sadder about the whole freakin' thing. I wonder how many of these "suicides by cop" involve the mentally ill? (Obvious answer, I'd think.)

[99th_Monkey]

11. ... and the Cops are all too eager to oblige. imho. ~nt~

[RobinA]

14. Yeah, The Police

just love to shoot and kill people. The ignorance in this space just amazes me sometimes.

[99th_Monkey]

23. Tell that to the family of the handcuffed young man shot in the back on BART in S.F. 3 weeks ago ~nt

[EFerrari]

25. Agreed. n/t

[libodem]

9. Idaho is fairly podunk

but over the last 20 years our police have gone to the use of deadly force if you even point your finger at them. Boise has a review system which has never placed officers in the wrong even if the perp had a glue gun. Seems like there was at least one a year for a while. It has slowed down a bit since many of the victims have been under 20.

[Piewhacket]

10. SBC? Is that what the whack-wing shrink is now calling "Murder by Cop"?

It isn't what you call it, you sick little "John Yoo" style
forensic whackogist, its what it is.

"Results show that SBC occurs at extremely high rates, with 36 percent of
all shootings being categorized as SBC. "

Is that what your department attorney told you to say when defending
unjustified police shooting of innocent bystanders? You're the "expert"
they call who will swear the innocent victim jumped right in from of that
police bullet because they were really depressed and wanted to commit suicide.
Thats what happened to Amadou Diallo, right?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amadou_Diallo_(shooting_victim)

Frankly, "Dr" Mohandie, you sick fuck, you're the one who needs a shrink.

[99th_Monkey]

12. Are they talking about CONSCIOUSLY doing SBC? .. or UNconsciously?

a case could be made for both, but it's not clear how they're defining intent to commit SBC.

[cosmicone]

13. It is a clever way to get insurance money...

Most life insurance policies exclude suicide for the first few years and desperate people wanting to support their families, buy life insurance and do SBC so that their families will be solvent.

Sad indeed.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

19. They also usually exclude death during the commission of a crime.

[ipfilter]

15. I had a former neighbor who did this.

He was a doctor who was under investigation for raping patients. He ran into a police station and was pointing a gun at the dispatchers. He was shot and killed. It was a very obvious "suicide by cop" incident.

[Zhade]

17. Yeah, there's no way it's a convenient excuse for trigger-happy cops to cover their crimes.

Nah. Cops NEVER do anything wrong.

:sarcasm:

[IDFbunny]

21. I would SBC myself

if cornered and capture meant 20+ years in prison. Some fates are worse than death.

[ConcernedCanuk]

22. I'm a target shooter - just self trained - I can hit a 2" circle 100 yards away consistently

.
.
.

I only practice about 100 rounds a year - I think cops do more than that

WHY CAN'T THEY SHOOT ARMS, LEGS, etc. that don't kill them right away unless they let them bleed out . . ?

cops use hollow points

one of those will rip your arm half off and spin you around

but no

they aim for your heart - -

I know one cop got in a fight with a neighbor's pet up here

pulled his 9mm Glock and blew it to shit

yeah

right here in small-town Northern Ontario

I'm not a cop fan

doh . .

[christx30]

24. I guess the theory is...

aim small, miss small. Cops are trained to aim for central mass because that is the largest target on a person. The arms and legs are moving too fast and too erratically for someone to be able to hit. If the cop believes his life or the life of someone else is in danger, he is not going to shoot for an easy to miss target. He is going to shoot at the big thing that isn't moving as much.
I don't want anyone to think I'm defending cops. I don't like cops. I don't trust them. It's best to think of cops as scared, wounded animals and stay the hell away from them. They are dangerous. Hard to imagine anyone having the power to decide life and death like that.
But a cop is going to shoot to stop the threat. Not shoot to wound. Safest way for him to do that is to aim for the chest. A cop doesn't want to have to explain a dead mom or a kid because he wanted to shoot at a perp's legs.
Still... there needs to be more prosecutions of the cops in police shootings. How many have there been? Just the one involved in the BART thing?