NCJ Number
174702
Journal
Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 43 Issue: 1 Dated: January 1998 Pages: 46-52
Date Published
1998
Length
7 pages
Annotation
A descriptive analysis focused on 15 deaths of suicidal persons in Oregon and Florida who, by their behavior, sufficiently provoked police officers into killing them; 4 deaths were classified as suicide, 10 were classified as homicide, and 1 was undetermined.
Abstract
The analysis used 21 variables considered to be relevant to the classification of death. The variables were grouped into six categories: (1) personal information, (2) criminal behavior during the fatal incident, (3) dangerous behavior during the fatal incident, (4) toxicological data, (5) mental illness information, and (6) certification data. The analysis was used to determine reasons for the opinions on the classification of the manner of death. All of the incidents were perceived as life-threatening to the police officers, family members, or hostages. Fourteen of the victims were male; 13 were white. All victims resisted arrest and verbally threatened homicide during the fatal incident. All victims posed a handgun or other weapon and threatened others. Forty-percent of the victims were intoxicated with alcohol. Seven had previous suicide attempts; 40 percent had medically documented psychiatric diagnoses; and 60 percent had reasonable historical evidence of psychiatric diagnoses, most often depression or drug abuse. Findings indicated a lack of unified opinion on death certification procedures for persons who have provoked law enforcement officers to kill them. It is recommended that professional organizations of coroners develop guidelines to promote consistency in these procedures. Case summaries, table, and 17 references (Author abstract modified)