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SPONTANEOUS: The subject was not thinking Responding to a possible SbC call:
about committing Suicide by Cop, but decides to do Your goal is to resolve it so that
so spontaneously, in some cases in response to how everyone goes home safely.
police handle the situation.
In most SbC incidents, the subject does NOT have a
• For example, in response to an officer pointing a firearm. In the Los Angeles study of 419 SbC incidents,
firearm at the subject, the subject walks or runs 4% of the subjects had a firearm. Another 4% had a
toward the officer, brandishing a knife. replica or fake weapon; and 5% had their hands in
their pockets or otherwise appeared to possibly have a
Why This Matters: To de-escalate an SbC weapon. 16% of the subjects were armed with a knife.7
situation, police need to understand what the
• In non-firearm incidents, officers often have many
suicidal person is thinking. “Understanding these
options for resolving the incident without using
concepts can help you decide what words you
lethal force, while protecting public safety and their
should say when you encounter a suicidal person,”
own safety.
said Dr. John Nicoletti, a police psychologist for
Step 2. Officers should be aware that pointing a gun at Step 3. Officers must realize that their
a potentially suicidal person will increase his or her communications skills are their most effective tool in
anxiety and exacerbate the situation. SbC incidents.
Pointing a firearm elevates the subject’s level of anxiety Research indicates that communicating effectively
and can make it impossible to communicate with the with a suicidal person enables officers to resolve most
person. “If an officer says, ‘I’m here to help you,” but is incidents peacefully, without the need to deploy less-
pointing a firearm at the suicidal person, it’s conflicting lethal weapons or other use of force.
messages. And people will always believe the nonverbal
message,” said police psychologist Dr. John Nicoletti.
If subject has a knife: Maintain a safe distance, and use Call in additional resources.
available cover, such as a vehicle or other large object,
The response to Suicide by Cop incidents is greatly
fence, etc., to keep the distance.
improved when additional resources can be called to
If subject does not appear to have a weapon: Do not the scene, including:
bark orders. Make small requests, one at a time. • Supervisor. A sergeant or other supervisor is
• For example, if the subject has his hands behind his extremely valuable at an SbC scene. Always request
back, do not yell “Show me your hands!” that a supervisor respond to the scene if there are
indications of possible Suicide by Cop.
That can raise the subject’s anxiety level, which is
counter-productive. • Crisis Intervention Team, if available.
• Instead, make a request rather than issuing an order. • Other resources with special training on mental
illness calls.
Say, “Can you do me a favor and show me your
hands? I want to make sure you don’t have a weapon,
The critical role of supervisors
so we can take some time and talk. I want to talk to
you about what’s going on with you today, but first I Sergeants (or other supervisors) have a key role in
need to know you’re unarmed.” handling SbC incidents and many other types of calls
• In a Suicide by Cop situation, the difference that involve persons with a mental illness, drug or
between making a request and yelling an order can alcohol dependence, developmental disability, or other
determine whether the subject complies. condition that can cause them to behave erratically or
dangerously.
• If the subject’s hands are empty, then make another
small request. • The presence and direction of a supervisor on scene
can have a stabilizing effect on officers who may
be uncertain about how to respond to difficult
situations they have not faced before.
• The cover officers’ role is to protect the safety of Pointing a gun at a suicidal person will increase his or
the contact officer and the public. her anxiety and exacerbate the situation.
• Only the contact officer should communicate with In some spontaneous SbC incidents, pointing a
the subject, in order to ensure that messages are firearm at a person may actually be what causes
consistent. him to think of Suicide by Cop as “a way out” of his
• Persons with mental illness may have trouble unhappy life. Pointing a firearm can set in motion
comprehending what people are saying, a situation disastrous consequences.
that is made worse if multiple officers are speaking.
Ideally, if there are two or more officers at the scene,
If the contact (communications) officer is unable one officer can be the contact (communications) officer
to establish a connection with the subject and build while the other officers provide cover.
trust, the two officers can switch roles.
In some situations, after distance and cover have
• In some cases, it just happens that a suicidal person
been established, officers should consider keeping
can relate to one officer but not another, regardless
their firearms unholstered and in a “low ready”
of the officers’ communication skills.
position.
• Establish rapport. Introduce yourself, and ask the Instead, say: What you told me must make you feel
person for his or her name. Then use the name as bad. Let’s talk about how to fix it.
you converse.
Don’t say: Why do you feel bad?
• Encourage conversation with the suicidal person,
but don’t dominate the conversation. Don’t
lecture.
• Ask a lot of questions, and listen carefully to
the answers.
• Speak in language the person can understand.
Do not use police jargon.
• Never give ultimatums or deadlines. Be patient.
• Offer reassurance and allow the suicidal person
to save face.
• Always be truthful. If you are caught in a lie,
you may not be able to recover credibility.
A suicidal person has a sense of helplessness and Again, it helps to try to put yourself in their shoes.
hopelessness. • If someone is having visions and seeing snakes, it
does no good to say, “There are no snakes here.”
Your goal is to try to disconnect those thoughts in
Their feelings will always be real to them.
the person’s brain and get him to focus on something
positive or hopeful. • So imagine how you would feel if you were hiking
and accidentally stepped into a nest of snakes. You’d
To show empathy, try to put yourself in the other be frightened and want to escape.
person’s shoes.
• So tell the schizophrenic person, “That must feel
• For example, if a suicidal person says he’s several scary. I don’t see any snakes here, but I believe that
thousands of dollars in debt, that may not seem like you do, and it must be frightening for you. I’m here
a large problem to you. to help you.” And then try to change the subject to
But do not say “That doesn’t sound so bad.” something positive.
• Instead, ask yourself how you would feel if you were • In other words, don’t ignore the person’s
in a similar but more serious situation, such as losing hallucinations, but don’t buy into them as if
they’re real.
B. Ask yourself how you would feel in a similar Police psychology experts and trainers note that
situation. Suicide by Cop incidents can be very stressful for
officers.
C. And then you’ll know what to say. • In the words of one officer who successfully resolved
a high-risk incident: “When you’re in a high-stress,
Be aware of the strengths and limitations of high-risk situation with an unstable person who is
less-lethal weapons. making threats, it’s hard to see through the blur of
everything that’s happening, and focus on everything
Less-lethal weapons, such as Electronic Control that you’re trying to think about.”
Weapons, beanbag shotguns, pepper spray, K-9, and
hands-on use of force are sometimes used to resolve • That is why scenario-based training for officers on
Suicide by Cop incidents. SbC is designed to simulate a high level of tension.
• In the 2019 LAPD study, approximately 17 percent • “Critical awareness” is the skill of focusing on what
of more than 400 incidents in which police you need to notice in the moment, and tuning out
successfully de-escalated SbC incidents involved use distractions.
of less-lethal weapons. It is important for officers in SbC incidents to
Officers should be aware that less-lethal tools often project calmness, because that tends to make the
do not work as desired. subject feel more calm.
And they often escalate a situation drastically. Police psychology experts recommend that officers
think of “brake pedal words” they can recite to
• By a number of estimates in different police agencies, themselves as they work through a tense incident.
Electronic Control Weapons fail to incapacitate
the subject in approximately 40 percent of the • For example, one sergeant told PERF that her “brake
incidents in which they are used. pedal words” are “You’ve got this.”
• And worse, an unsuccessful use of an ECW usually • She said: “After you’ve done something many times,
angers the subject, ruining any trust you may and practiced it and trained on it and done it for
have built, and in some cases causes the subject to years, a moment comes when you realize that, even
physically attack the officers, raising the risks for in all the heightened excitement of the moment,
everyone involved. ‘You’ve got this.’ So that’s what I tell myself as I’m
working through a difficult situation.”
So if you are considering using a less-lethal weapon,
before you use it, have a “Plan B” in mind for what
you will do if the weapon does not achieve its
purpose.
Endnotes
1. “Fatal Force.” The Washington Post. 6. “Suicide by Cop: A New Perspective on an Old
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/national/ Phenomenon.” Alejandra Jordan, Nancy R. Panza, and
police-shootings-2019/ Charles Dempsey. Police Quarterly. (2019). (forthcoming)
4. Ibid.