Dealing With the Aftermath of Suicide by Cop

Police officers reacting to the aftermath of "suicide by cop" will often display symptoms of post-traumatic stress which can potentially affect their ability to perform their duties. Police officers are also victims in these cases. Among the many symptoms reported are hypervigilance, fear, anger, sleeplessness, recurrent nightmares and depression. Officers involved in suicide by cop incidents often feel a sense of powerlessness and manipulation, and this is typically reported to be an especially stressful and demoralizing form of shooting trauma. In most cases, officers involved in suicide by cop incidents are publicized as murderers, and have to stand up to public criticism and inter-department scrutiny.

In one suicide by cop incident, the suicidal victim approaches the cop with a shotgun. The officer with gun already drawn hesitates to shoot. Eventually his gun is pressed against the victim’s stomach and the victim has his shotgun underneath the officer’s chin. Terrified, the officer thinks to himself that he would never see his kids and wife again. The police officer states that:

“When it was all over with, I looked over at my partner who was leaning up against the car and it hit me what we had just been through, coming so close to death. I felt my feet going out from under me and I knew I had to sit down because I had no energy left. It scared the shit outta me. I was mentally exhausted. I went to work the next day and I couldn't look at anybody - couldn't talk to them. You start having nightmares, waking up sweating and you want to go to the bathroom and puke. It wasn't until a year later that I was able to talk about the incident in any detail”.

In the aftermath of suicide by cop, approximately 85 percent of police officers involved experience at least transitory symptoms of emotional trauma. As many as a third have moderate to severe reactions. Between 3 to 5 percent experience long-term problems such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). PTSD in this officer’s case affected his mental state to a point that he was unable to connect with peers at work, having trouble sleeping and occasional vomiting at night. The officer became the victim. He had to undergo serious psychiatric help to be able to live down his traumatic event.

Because a police officer’s job is to protect and serve, any alleged suicide by cop incident results in pressure from society as well as from higher authorities. This places additional mental strain on the officer, who was forced to play executioner. A court of law has to analyze the facts and circumstances of the event, and the officer has to defend himself before the court comes to a decision of “suicide by cop”. To prove suicide by cop, the facts must show evidence of suicidal intent, suicidal characteristics or behavior indicating suicidal intent. These include: the victims holding a firearm to their head; a written note stating a wish to die or recent verbal communication of a desire to die revealed to friends, family or to officers; the victims refused to drop their weapon when advised by officers to do so and then aiming their weapon at officers or civilians; the victims possessed a lethal weapon or what appeared to be a lethal weapon; the victims intentionally escalated the encounter and provoked officers to shoot them in self-defense or to protect civilians. Given the list of facts that has to be proved, this results in tremendous pressure added to the officer’s own sorrow of justifying or finding solitude in executing a suicidal victim that needed to be protected and served. These factors totally shatter a cop’s mental capacity in the aftermath of suicide by cop. We are curious to know whether the court considers as a mitigating factor whether the police officer was well informed, trained and equipped to assess the situation and apply non-lethal containment.

Officers risk their lives to serve and protect innocent civilians from harm. Society should be well informed of the potential dangers to cops in the aftermath of suicide by cop. Being well-informed ensures that the public has a greater understanding and can show compassion towards officers affected by suicide by cop. As suicide by cop becomes more prevalent, more programs must be created to help officers to overcome PTSD. Officers need to go through various kinds of counseling and psychiatric therapy to help them move on. In the end, there are two victims in a suicide by cop episode. But it is the police officer who has to deal with the aftermath of suicide by cop.