Learn About Suicide By Cop: Victims From BOTH Sides of the Badge
OUR GOAL
We aim to raise awareness about the complex issues surrounding suicide-by-cop incidents. Our goal is to provide valuable insights and foster understanding through comprehensive research and expert analysis. We are committed to supporting victims, next of kin, and advocating for systemic change in law enforcement practices.
Forward
This book is not about the tactical aspects of police work but the intensity of emotions accompanying a critical shooting. Rebecca's experience and research in suicide-by-cop bring a no-holds-barred approach and speaks to all sides of this issue. She offers the dual perspectives of both surviving loved ones of suicide-by-cop and the officer-involved so that we can begin to understand the consequences and effects on survivors, officers, and the community.
Rebecca carefully pulls back the curtain to expose the raw emotions of police officers after having been forced to kill another human being. Likewise, Rebecca presents the stark reality faced by survivors who encounter the devastating "knock at the door." From the onset of the death notification through the cold reality of an autopsy report, we learn what it's like for survivors who are left with the overwhelming sorrow of realizing how someone they loved purposely chose to die at the hands of another.
As a police officer involved in three critical shooting incidents, I found this book to be of great value. I wish it had been available sooner. Hopefully, Rebecca's work will motivate the leadership within Police Departments to evaluate and develop appropriate protocols to help officers, survivors, and the community learn how to effectively work through such potentially devastating events.
Lt. Skip Rogers, Retired
Folsom Police Department
Folsom, California
In their own words...
Unless otherwise requested, all names in this book are used with permission from the next of kin, officers involved, and the officers' respective police departments.
Officers:
I have dreams about the shooting. Usually, the same one over and over. I just don't think I can continue doing my job if I can't find a way to deal with all the bitterness, cynicism, anger, resentment, and fatigue. - Sgt. Tom Faatz, Longmont Police Department
I went to work the next day, and I couldn't look at anybody - couldn't talk to them. You start having nightmares, waking up sweating, and you want to go to the bathroom and puke. It wasn't until a year later that I was able to talk about the incident in any detail. - Deputy Paul Bradshaw, Sacramento County Sheriff's Department
Today, whenever I try to recount the incident in Sonoma County to a civilian, they usually have one of two emotional responses. They are either severely critical that I needed to kill a mental patient, or they think I failed in not killing the madman. - Deputy Brian Kennedy, Sonoma County Sheriff's Department
In their own words...
Survivors and Next of Kin:
Within two minutes of putting the pistol down, I was so glad to be alive. I was just overjoyed. - Gordon K., suicide-by-cop survivor
I'm so sorry. I knew if I passed away, I wanted him [police officer] to know that I'm sorry. 17-year-old suicide-by-cop survivor. (Regarding why he left a note. Name withheld because of his age.)
- Randal Fullerton, Lynchburg, Virginia