Search Result: Suicide by Cop

People who choose to force cops to shoot them to death often wound and kill bystanders and even cops in the process.

When a person jumps to his death, we don't persecute the sidewalk, but time and again, society will blame the cop.

In any given year when we are willing to celebrate the fact that only 50 or so of our brothers and sisters were murdered in the line of duty, it is readily apparent that too many of us are still messing up — fatally — on far too many occasions. Nevertheless, we are doing a much better job of recognizing the fatal errors. And in many cases we are counteracting them.

Despite the officer's repeated pleas for him to drop the weapon, Pergament continues to advance.  Faced with the prospect his own impending death, the officer fires three times, killing Pergament.  Only later does the officer learn the brutal truth: the weapon wielded by the suspect is nothing more than a toy gun.

At least one lawman, who has participated in perhaps the only study done on these incidents, prefers to call them "officer-assisted suicides," but whatever the description, they are increasing. What can you do to help ensure that you and your colleagues don't get take down by people with a death wish?

I once attended an FBI class on Critical Incident Negotiations which touched on "suicide by cop" and showed videos of different actual cases where people had made the conscious decision to die at the hands of law enforcement. It all seemed fairly learnable, information that was impressive but not overwhelming. That was before Aug. 3, 1997.