Suicide by Police Officer

For one who has lost the value of life, suicide often becomes the exit strategy. Some shoot themselves, some use hanging, or overdose, or high speed car wrecks. Others choose to use the police to get the job accomplished.

Yesterday in the city in which I live – something happened. We’ll have to wait for the final report – and trust that it is true – but right now I am more than a little uncomfortable.

Life is valuable – whether the holder of that life understands that or not, society must believe that it is. From the information in hand (newspaper and eye witness report) it would appear that yesterday the Ft. Worth police believed otherwise. (When the police reports prove otherwise, I will write that as well.)

What did they (the police) know? A man called to say he wanted to die. . .and that he had a pistol. The police found him (they are good at that when they want to be), and they killed him. Did he have a gun? We’re not being told that. Did the man “disobey” the officers demand that he exit the automobile? Apparently so. Did he threaten the officers? Apparently not – yes, the news-paper said he “made a move” which could be interpreted as “going for a gun.” It could also be interpreted as “going for a driver’s license or and insurance card.” Even if he had a gun, perhaps one would think he only wanted to kill himself. Could the officers have waited a second or two longer – knowing what they knew?  The police are highly trained to protect life, are they not? And for police officers, their life is constantly measured in seconds.

I may be accused of “jumping to a conclusion” here. But that is not my intent. If the man used the Police officers to commit suicide, that is tragic, and probably avoidable. It all comes down to the value of life. It would seem as if – according to the reports we have so far – everyone (he, himself, and the officers involved in the shooting) was quick to find his life less valuable than expediency. I am confident that is not the best course of action.

Anyway, we have all this action on video cam – right? We’ll soon know if death was the only possible outcome. No police officer should die here. Neither should an individual who “asked” for it.