What is suicide by cop, and how should police respond in these situations?
“Suicide by cop” is a phrase used to describe people attempting to kill themselves by pushing law enforcement to use lethal force.
In 2019, experts estimated that about 100 of the 1,000 fatal police shootings in the U.S. every year are suicide by cop, The Washington Post reported.
Officers who kill someone in these situations are not automatically legally justified using lethal force, even if the person says they want to die.
In recent years, the Police Executive Research Forum, or PERF, has studied suicide by cop and developed a protocol to handle cases, hoping to reduce fatalities.
What does the BCI report say?: What we're learning from BCI investigation into Akron police shooting
Does the Jayland Walker case appear to be a possible suicide by cop?
State prosecutors said Monday they could not conclude Jayland Walker committed suicide by cop in Akron, although they did investigate that possibility.
The case has some of the the hallmarks of suicide by cop, based on PERF reports, including:
He was male. About 83% of people who attempt to die this way are men, according to PERF.
Walker was going through a crisis after his fiancée, Jaymeisha Beasley, died the month before in a car crash near Cincinnati. PERF data shows about 67% of people who attempt suicide by cop have confirmed or likely mental illness, with about 14% of those being depressed.
Walker, police say, fired a shot from his car window during a chase, which officers believed posed a threat and prompted police from all over Akron to join in the cross-city chase. One of the defining characteristics of suicide-by-cop incidents, PERF reports, are threats to officers' lives, or attempts to make officers believe the person poses such a threat.
And Walker, leaving a gun behind, abandoned his still moving car in a parking lot and ran from police, before turning for a split second and being shot 46 times by eight officers in uniform. One of the “defining characteristics” of suicide by cop is giving “the officer no choice but to use lethal force to stop the threat,” PERF said.
In the weeks after his fiancée's death, Walker searched Google for the “quickest ways to die” and “drinking bleach,” according to a prosecutor summary of the case released Monday by BCI. The report also states Euclid Capt. Mike Janson said Walker’s best friend interviewed for a job there June 29. During the interview, the man told Janson and others that Walker had asked him how to get police to shoot him.
Senior Assistant Attorney General Anthony Pierson said there was no evidence that Walker committed "suicide by cop" but said Walker was going through a difficult time after the recent death of his fiancée.
"I don't want to speculate as to what Mr. Walker was thinking at the time, but I can say this, that it has been made public that Mr. Walker was going through a very tough time in his his life. I think it's been documented that Mr. Walker's fiancée had died a short time before this incident happened. And he was going through a very tough time. And he was hurting," Pierson said.
PERF, working with mental health and law enforcement officials, came up with protocol to help police deal with suicide-by-cop cases.
Jayland Walker shooting coverage: What do you need to know about the Jayland Walker police shooting? Here are the essentials
The first step is identifying these situations. Some indicators include:
Person says “kill me” or “shoot me” or expresses a wish to die.
Person appears distressed or in a mental health crisis.
Person is not behaving like most criminal offenders, for example not trying to leave a crime scene.
The person behaves strangely, like ramming a police car or vandalizing random objects.
In Walker’s case, police would have no way of immediately knowing about the recent death of Walker’s fiancée.
Fleeing a traffic stop and firing a weapon could fit a suicide-by-cop scenario, particularly since Walker didn’t have a prior criminal record.
But fleeing can also signal to police that someone is worried about much more than a traffic stop and has something to hide, a warrant out for arrest or illegal drugs or weapons.
Jayland Walker case: Why local journalists matter for covering the Jayland Walker case from beginning to end
In the Walker case, after the cross-city car chase, things unfolded in seconds as Walker ran from his car, a ski mask covering his face.
A gaggle of police with guns and stun guns drawn ran after him, shouting orders at the same time before Walker turned and eight officers opened fire.
How should police respond to potential suicide-by-cop situations?
If police identify a potential suicide-by-cop case, FERC protocol urges officers to follow three steps:
Ensure officer and public safety. If subject has a gun, take cover and call for backup, a supervisor and any crisis intervention trained officers.
Avoid pointing guns at a potentially suicidal person because it “will increase his or her anxiety and exacerbate the situation.” FERC instead advises police to consider keeping their guns unholstered, pointed at the ground. Stun guns or pepper spray can escalate the situation.
One officer should communicate with the person and try to connect, to deescalate situation.
Moreover, if police think they have a suicide-by-cop incident, they should slow down, FERC protocol says. “Do not think you need to resolve the incident quickly. If a person’s life is at stake, there is nothing wrong with taking many hours to resolve it."
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Did Jayland Walker die by suicide by cop in Akron?
