14 DAY TRIAL // Psychologists say that the human mind indeed shows no boundaries as far as creativity in the face of death goes. As proof, they point to the growing number of “Suicide by Cop” (SBC) cases, in which people who want to end their lives engage in illegal activities in order to be shot or wounded by officers of the law. The latest issue of the Journal of Forensic Sciences treats this subject widely, as well as its causes and implications.
According to a frightening statistic published in the scientific journal, more than 25 percent of all shooting cases involving policemen have been labeled as SBC, or SBC attempts. In roughly half of those situations, the persons attempting to commit suicide got shot or wounded during a fire exchange.
In order to get the best view possible on the subject, researchers Dr. Mohandie, J. Reid Meloy, PhD, A.B.P.P., and Peter I. Collins, M.C.A., M.D., F.R.C.P., have analyzed some 707 cases of shooting that occurred between 1998 and 2006. This amounts to the largest empirical database of such nature in history, and their investigation has been led by Kris Mohandie, PhD, one of the most renown police and forensic psychologists, who has over nineteen years of experience in analyzing crimes and other types of violent behaviors.
“It is clear from our research that SBC is a common occurrence among officer involved [in] shootings and must be considered as an issue during post-event investigations,” their study reveals. It also shows that individuals who want to end their own lives by using SBC are very likely to engage in actions harmful to others in the process. In other words, they can severely injure or even kill innocents, in order to attract a swift response from authorities. Those who engage in such severe actions have been found to be killed in 97 percent of all cases studied.
Psychologists remark that this type of behavior is related to the fact that almost all people on Earth have thought about hurting or killing other human beings at least once in their lives. When they feel like they've got nothing to lose, they engage in actions that would otherwise be forbidden to them, out of fear of punishment. And, experts maintain, it's these individuals that are the real threat in SBC cases, as policemen cannot exactly stop and ask every criminal if he or she wants to commit suicide or just resist arrest.