Resource Tag: SUICIDE BY COP

This article discusses suicidal aspects of victim-precipitated homicide. The author asserts that suicide by cop (a form of victim-precipitated homicide) may be chosen over other methods of suicide in order to absolve the victim of the stigma & social taboos usually associated with suicide. Other reasons for this choice (such as a lack of determination […]

This article discusses the phenomenon of suicide by cop & recommends actions for police executives & officers to minimize the danger.

To understand the dynamics of individuals who are attracted to the death penalty as a form of suicide, the authors argues, one must first probe the dynamics of the so-called murder-suicide syndrome. Following a review of the literature on murderers who killed themselves shortly after committing murder, a sketch of twenty-two cases of murderers in […]

Numerous psychiatric reports & newspaper articles depict seemingly bizarre cases of killers who committed their crimes in order to be executed. Each story & article typically presents only one case. This paper describes each of 20 cases briefly to show the pattern in the murders. The conclusion of this paper is that the death penalty […]

Seven cases of mass homicide in Australia, New Zealand, & Britain between 1987 & 1996 are presented in this article. All perpetrators were identified as socially unsuccessful, self-absorbed, & resentful individuals. It is also reported that they experienced lengthy violent fantasies prior to the event & had overt suicidal intent or a preparedness to die […]

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This paper reviews the literature pertaining to the phenomenon of “suicide by cop” – any incident in which a suicidal individual attempts to get law enforcement to kill him. This article defines the term “suicide by cop”, discusses the various motivations of individuals who engage in this type of behaviour, presents the risk factors & […]

This article discusses a study which analyzed a sample of newspaper accounts of police shootings to determine the prevalence of incidents in which victims committed suicide by instigating police use of deadly force. 240 articles were found suitable for analysis. Evidence of probable or possible suicidal intent was found in 16% of incidents. A follow-up […]

4 decades ago, Marvin Wolfgang offered one of the most influential concepts in contemporary criminology when he coined the term “victim-precipitated homicide”. Whereas criminologists have largely ignored Wolfgang’s ideas about suicidal homicide victims, others have noted the presence of suicidal intent among victims of one specific sort of violence: police gunfire. The present article uses […]

Also published in “Policing”, v.21, no.3, (1998), pp.432-448. Co-authored by S Verdun-Jones.

In this article by a FBI Special Agent, Suicide by Cop (SbC) is discussed. Several examples of SbC are given, as well as a profile of the kind of person to initiate a SbC, indicators of a potential SbC, and what police response to a potential SbC should be. Statistics of law enforcement officers assaulted […]

Categories such as attributes of the participants, attributes of the setting, and the actions, intentions & resources of the suspect often combine to lead to the use of deadly-force by police. Victim-precipitated homicide, or suicide by cop is one example. In British Columbia, suicide by cop factors in half of all of the lethal threats […]

Suicide by cop, in which a suicidal individual intentionally provokes law enforcement to kill him/herself, is investigated. Files of officer-related shootings between 1987-97 from the Los Angeles area were reviewed to see if they met criteria for suicide by cop. Characteristics of the suicidal individual & the events leading to their death are discussed. The […]

A number of philosophers have questioned whether or not Socrates really committed suicide. This essay critiques the views of philosophers on the nature of Socrates’ death in the context of ideas & concepts from suicidology. Discussion includes the role of intent, suicide under duress, choosing the time of death, does suicide rule out murder, the […]

The phenomenon of revenge killing, suicide that has the intent of harming another person, is discussed in this chapter. Most of the data is from Papua New Guinea but comparisons are made to many other cultures. The rules which govern this practice are presented. The cross-cultural evidence which suggests a significant & complex relationship between […]

This article documents the life of playwright, Joe Orton, & his lover, Kenneth Halliwell. Each of their difficult childhoods is detailed. When they met, they were both poor, struggling actors; however, as Joe became a successful writer, Ken felt jealous & believed he was a failure. In 1967, Ken beat Joe to death & then […]

This chapter discusses suicide as it exists within culture. Various cultural explorations of suicide are reviewed, including Durkheim’s. 2 aspects that encourage a positive evaluation of suicide are given, with examples drawn from Japanese customs such as seppuku. Examples of “masked” suicide from different cultures are given, in which an individual arranges to have himself […]

This introductory chapter reviews many aspects of suicide. Definitions of self-destructive behaviors (e.g. attempted suicide, suicidal gestures) & characteristics of typical suicidal persons are given. The etiology of suicide, ambivalence & its relation to suicide, the illogic of the suicidal mind, & the involvment of significant others are discussed. Losses involving self-image & significant others, […]

Discusses the responses of police officers to sudden death in traffic collisions, suicides, homicide, accidents & when police must take a life. After a suicide, police must investigate the incident to make sure that the wound was indeed self-inflicted & intentional. They may also be involved in attempting to dissuade a suicidal person from committing […]

Analyzes the suicide of Antigone to illustrate the social learning theory of suicide. A brief summary of Antigone’s actions, in the play by Sophocles, is given & then reviewed. Her death is seen as a case of victim-precipitated homicide, imitating the mother’s method (hanging). Her death followed a series of losses, including the actions of […]

This is a case processed by the Philadelphia Office of the Medical Examiner, in which a person with a known suicide attempt clearly provoked police into shooting him. It is believed that this incident exemplifies a suicide mechanism in which the victim provokes another into administering the fatal injury. (K M)

Evidence & theories about the relationship between suicide and homicide are examined. Studies on the relation between suicide and homicide rates show inconsistent results. Since both are comparable in certain ways, it is important to find out why some people become murderers & others become suicides. 12 Refs. (LH)