'Suicide by cop' a troubling trend

[flashl]

Actions can be tough to discern in heat of the moment

Marguerite Bricker says her husband of 20 years didn't really want to commit suicide on the night of June 11. But events happened quickly after Gary L. Bliss tried to cut his wrist.

Police were called. Bliss fired a pellet gun at officers.

...

Police fired back.

...

Experts say it's hard to quantify how often suicide by cop happens.

Dr. Laurence Miller, a clinical and forensic psychologist and law enforcement professor in Florida, said it's an ambiguous category.

...

Dr. Carol A. Tavani, a neuropsychiatrist and executive director of Christiana Psychiatric Services, said this type of suicide is "essentially the same mechanism that would cause people to commit suicide for any reason: that they are desperate and depressed and they don't see any way out."

In the vast majority of cases, it is done by men, Tavani said, adding that women tend to overdose, while men use firearms.

Delaware Online

[TomInTib]

1. Does Life Insurance pay up in these sort of situations?

I know that it doesn't pay if one takes one's own life. But if you get the cops to do it for you, I wonder if there is a payout.

[yellowdogintexas]

2. oh it would, he was shot by a cop and it would be accidental death so

might pay double , depending on the policy

[TomInTib]

3. Goodness, that could be an incentive for some folks.

"Call 911, Baby, I'm gonna get y'all out of this mess".

[yellowdogintexas]

4. well, it would be really really hard for the insurance company to prove

it was suicide. Besides that even the suicide clauses are only for a fixed amt of time. That is only to protect an insurer from someone taking out a brazillion $$ of insurance and then committing suicide right away. The usual suicide clause is 2 years, so if the insurance was older than that, they probably wouldn't investigate it