Authorities Shift Blame for Certain Fatal Police Shootings Onto the Dead
Authorities Shift Blame for Certain Fatal Police Shootings Onto the Dead
Posted on Oct 6, 2015
Coined by a former California police officer, the concept of “suicide by cop”—the idea that some people force officers to shoot them because they want to die—has been around for more than 30 years.
In 2015 alone, seven fatal shootings by police officers across the U.S. officially have been designated as “suicide by cop” by local authorities, alarming some experts and the families of those killed, The Guardian reports. Critics have pointed to the possible misuse of the ruling by officials.
In one such ruling in Illinois, prosecutors explained in an email to The Guardian that one victim, Tommy Smith, “expressed suicidal ideation” before being shot by police. Smith aimed a rifle at officers following a standoff, prosecutors said.
"But such suicide rulings – two more of which were made this year in South Carolina, along with one each in Indiana, New York, Oregon and Pennsylvania – run contrary to guidelines from the National Association of Medical Examiners on how to classify a manner of death. They may also pre-empt criminal inquiries by effectively exonerating officers of wrongdoing and removing their actions from consideration, according to some criminologists.
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http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/authorities_shift_blame_for_certain_fatal_police_shootings_onto_the_dead_20
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