Item – Theses Canada

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OCLC number
76480884
Author
Parent, Richard B.(Richard Brian),1958-
Title
Aspects of police use of deadly force in North America : the phenomenon of victim-precipitated homicide.
Degree
Ph. D. -- Simon Fraser University, 2004
Publisher
Ottawa : Library and Archives Canada = Bibliothèque et Archives Canada, [2006]
Description
4 microfiches
Notes
Includes bibliographical references.
Abstract
The purpose of this dissertation is to study and examine the underlying reasons for police use of deadly force and potential deadly force, in Canada and the United States of America, during the period from 1980 through 2002. Within this context, the phenomenon of victim-precipitated homicide, also known as "suicide-by-cop," is examined. The reader is first introduced to the various legal and policy provisions that exist within Canada and, the United States of America that control and regulate police use of deadly force. The reader is then provided with a review of the literature surrounding the explanations and predictors of police use of deadly force. Within this context, the dissertation also explores those theories that serve to explain the changing patterns of extreme violence and suicide within society. The methods utilized to obtain and discern the data for this dissertation are provided. This is followed by a "findings and interpretations" section of the dissertation. This dissertation analyzes 843 separate documented incidents where police personnel, within Canada (n = 409) and the United States of America (n = 434), have discharged their firearms typically while facing a lethal threat. In 417 of these incidents, the police have responded by discharging their firearm and killing a total of 419 people. The remaining cases that were examined reflect incidents in which police personnel responded with less-lethal force. Through the examination of police investigations, Coroner and Medical Examiner records, government data and, interviews with police officers and prison inmates, this dissertation reveals that, in roughly a third of the cases examined (n = 273), police officers reacted to a lethal threat of victim-precipitated homicide. These are incidents in which an individual, who is typically predisposed to suicide or mental illness, has in a calculated and deliberate manner forced a police officer to use potentially deadly force. In addition, this dissertation reveals the link between the phenomenon of police assisted suicide and the phenomenon of suicide as a 'result of police intervention'. The latter one refers to instances in which an individual predisposed to suicide has suddenly taken his or her own life upon the intervention by police.
ISBN
0494031743
9780494031742