Suicide by Cop: Committing Suicide by Provoking Police to Shoot You (Death, Value and Meaning) [Hardcover]

Mark Lindsay (Author), David Lester (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 2004 | ISBN-10: 0895032902 | ISBN-13: 978-0895032904 | Edition: 1

The phenomenon of suicide by cop has increased in frequency in recent years, creating great concern in the law enforcement community. In suicide by cop, an individual behaves so as to provoke police officers into attempting to disarm him, sometimes killing him in the process. For example, an individual may hold a gun and advance toward police officers, refusing to stop or drop the weapon. It has proven difficult but important to distinguish these acts from those in which there is no justification for police officers’ killing an individual, and from those in which a person is killed during a confrontation with police, but had no suicidal motivation. Criminal penalties for the police officers involved and civil lawsuits by the relatives of the deceased person depend critically on these distinctions.

This book examines what we know about the phenomenon of suicide by cop and places this behavior in a broader context. For example, some murder victims (perhaps as many as a quarter) provoke the murderer, to some extent, into killing them—so-called victim-precipitated homicide. In some cases, it has been suspected that murderers kill and act thereafter in such a way as to provoke the state into executing them. The authors then examine some of the issues specific to suicide by cop, such as whether there is a racial bias in these acts and what the legal implications are. Finally, they discuss the process of hostage negotiation (since those involved in suicide by cop often take hostages during the confrontation with police), the need to provide counseling for police officers involved in suicide-by-cop incidents, and how we might reduce the incidence of this behavior.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

INTENDED AUDIENCE Suicidologists and thanatologists in general, law enforcement personnel, and students in any courses that deal with suicides of this type.

About the Author

David Lester has doctoral degrees in social and political science (Cambridge University, UK) and psychology (Brandeis University, USA). He is Professor of Psychology at The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, and has been President of the International Association for Suicide Prevention. He has written more than 70 books and 2,000 scholarly articles and notes on suicide, murder, the fear of death, and other aspects of thanatology.

Mark Lindsay was a police officer and detective in Baltimore, Maryland, for more than 20 years. He has a B.S. in criminal justice and an M.S. in clinical psychology. He is a licensed Psychological Associate in the State of Maryland and has worked extensively in suicide investigations and hostage negotiations, and he has led training courses for law enforcement personnel. He was Adjunct Professor in Applied Psychology at the University of Baltimore.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 128 pages
• Publisher: Baywood Pub Co; 1 edition (April 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0895032902
• ISBN-13: 978-0895032904
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,608,501 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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5.0 out of 5 stars Understanding Why It Happened, February 14, 2010

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This review is from: Suicide by Cop: Committing Suicide by Provoking Police to Shoot You (Death, Value and Meaning) (Hardcover)

An excellent read for any law enforcement officer that has been involved in a shooting incident. Also, this book prepares law enforcement members to understand the possible motives of suicidal persons who want the law enforcement officer to carry out a suicidal plan.