ABSTRACT
Depression and suicide are an integral component of many of the crisis incidents negotiators respond to. Whether the primary issue, such as a high-risk suicide threatening to jump from a building, or a subcomponent of the crisis event, such as a domestic where the subject’s spouse has left and taken the children, the issues of depression and suicide must be assessed and dealt with by the negotiator. According to national data, if negotiators get an opportunity to talk, even with the high-risk suicides, their success rate is still well over 90 percent. This chapter presents an examination of depression and suicide for the negotiator. Like mental illness, depression ranges along a continuum. It is critical negotiators understand that continuum and how to respond differently to subjects depending upon where they are at along the continuum. The complex issue of suicide is explored, with emphasis on an explanation that suicide is not about dying, it is about ending pain. That knowledge alone gives the negotiator an advantage in negotiating with suicidal subjects. The issues confronted by the suicidal individual are presented, with strategies for negotiators in addressing those issues. A section of this chapter is also devoted to the phenomenon of suicide by cop, the case where a suicidal person wants the police to kill them. Finally, a special case of suicide, suicide bombers, is explored, with suggestions for negotiating. Throughout, case studies are presented to illustrate discussion topics.
