POLICE SUICIDES DOUBLING

Actions can be tough to discern in heat of the moment

By IRA PORTER and ESTEBAN PARRA • The News Journal • July 7, 2008

Marguerite Bricker says her husband of 20 years didn't really want to
commit suicide on the night of June 11.

But events happened quickly after Gary L. Bliss tried to cut his wrist.

She took the razor.

Police were called.

Bliss fired a pellet gun at officers.

The gun looked like a .45-caliber revolver.

Police fired back.

"My husband was threatened when the police arrived," she said. "I
don't think anybody makes a conscious effort when they're in that kind
of pain that they want police to kill them."

According to state police, Bliss' shooting death is one of several
recent incidents involving Delaware residents who provoked officers.
Some of these cases, experts say, could be examples of "suicide by
cop," in which a person deliberately acts in a threatening way to
trigger a lethal response.

In Delaware recently:

•Richard D. Redmond, 52, a former California Highway Patrol officer
with a terminal illness, was shot outside his Milford home on June 7
after police were unable to subdue him. He fired several shots into an
armored rescue vehicle, forcing police to shoot back.

•Desiree Hogan, 38, fled after shooting her 13-year-old son June 12 in
Pike Creek. When police caught up with her in Midvale, she stood
outside a home, put a gun to her head and asked police to shoot. She
survived after a family member ran out and tackled her.

These cases, police departments across Delaware say, are not
necessarily indicative of a spike in such incidents, but are
situations they would rather avoid.

"We need these people who are feeling distraught to know that help is
available," said Cpl. Jeff Whitmarsh, a state police spokesman.

'Well-recognized phenomenon'

Experts say it's hard to quantify how often suicide by cop happens.

Dr. Laurence Miller, a clinical and forensic psychologist and law
enforcement professor in Florida, said it's an ambiguous category.

"A lot of times there are confrontations with the police, but you
can't say that it was a suicide," said Miller, who also works as a
psychologist for the West Palm Beach Police Department.

Dr. Carol A. Tavani, a neuropsychiatrist and executive director of
Christiana Psychiatric Services, said this type of suicide is
"essentially the same mechanism that would cause people to commit
suicide for any reason: that they are desperate and depressed and they
don't see any way out."

In the vast majority of cases, it is done by men, Tavani said, adding
that women tend to overdose, while men use firearms.

"Sometimes it would occur to somebody it may be better to have it
occur by somebody else because then they feel that somehow that's not
technically suicide," she said. "You have to remember when people are
in that state of mind they're not thinking too clearly to begin with.
So they will provoke a situation where it will become almost
inevitable that the police will perceive a threat and then will shoot
them."

While this is not a common form of suicide, it happens often enough to
be "a well-recognized phenomenon," Tavani said.

Bricker doesn't believe that happened the night her husband died.

"I don't believe in this suicide by cop stuff, at least not in this
instance," said Bricker, 51. "It's a cry for help. If you don't suffer
from this kind of depression, I don't think you can understand it."

Bliss, she said, suffered from mental issues ever since he returned
from military service in Vietnam. In 2002, police were called to their
Millsboro home when he threatened her with a shotgun.

When police arrived on June 12, Bliss didn't plan to die, Bricker said.

"I will never hold the police at fault," she said. "It was just a
tragedy."
After shooting, the counseling

In police departments across the country, officers are trained to use
deadly force if their lives are threatened.

If they're forced to fire on people, officers typically are put on
administrative duty, which takes them off the street and puts them in
an environment where they can seek counseling and mental help.

The Delaware State Police have a program called C.I.S.M., or Critical
Incident Stress Management. New Castle County Police also have
officers who help other officers deal with stress.

The state troopers involved in the recent shootings could not be
interviewed, Whitmarsh said, because of the possibility of litigation.

However, Cpl. Trinidad Navarro, a New Castle County Police spokesman,
described his own experience of being forced to shoot at a suspect.

In December 1995, Navarro said he fired two shots at a Bear man who
held a shotgun to his wife's head and threatened to kill her.

The man led police on a chase in a Delaware City warehouse. At one
point, Navarro said, he saw the suspect point the weapon at the
woman's head and looked like he was about to shoot.

"I was scared," Navarro said. "I followed our training and we acted as
if we were in training."

One of Navarro's rounds hit the gun, the other lodged in a wall. He
was placed on administrative duty and his weapon was taken as evidence.

"It's a very uneasy feeling when your peers are reading you your
rights because you have to be interviewed and it could lead to you
being prosecuted," he said.

Navarro was reinstated after the investigation. The incident was ruled
justified.

"Nobody wants to be in a situation where it's us or them. We have to
look in the mirror and know that you made the right decision," said
Whitmarsh. "Most of us have families. The worst-case scenario for any
police officer is to not go home at night."

In many cases, officers show tremendous restraint when confronted by
people with weapons, Navarro said. But in others, police have to do
what they are taught to do.

"Officers have to protect themselves and other people," Navarro said.
"When someone pulls out a weapon, officers are well within the
continuum of what they are trained to do."

Contact Ira Porter at 324-2890 or iporter@delawareonl ine.com. Contact
Esteban Parra at 324-2299 or eparra@delawareonli ne.com.