ABSTRACT
Information is of great use in planning the response to suicide-by-cop incidents. Tactical withdrawal can lessen the speed with which a suicide-by-cop incident escalates. The more physical distance between the perpetrator and the police, the less likely the police will be threatened, and the police officers will be less likely to use deadly force. One suggestion for lessening the incidence of suicide-by-cop is to equip police officers with more kinds of nonlethal weapons, such as pepper spray, net guns, glue guns, Taser guns, and grappling poles and shields. However, the majority of suicide-by-cop perpetrators do have functional firearms, and some law enforcement experts caution against using less-thanlethal weapons to eliminate the danger posed by the perpetrator. However, the phenomenon of suicide-by-cop has been recognized for only 10 years or so, and so it is too soon to be discouraged in our efforts.
