Homicide-Suicide in Police Families: Aggression Full Circle

Details

• Personal Author:
  Violanti JM
• Description:
  Police officers are considered to be at increased risk for suicide, and such self-aggression may be extended to others. This paper describes antecedents of police family homicide-suicides in a sample of 29 cases. Police experiences with violence and aggression, domestic violence, and availability of lethal weaponry are possible correlates. Results from this sample suggested that police family homicide-suicides are increasing, as approximately twice as many cases were reported in 2006 as in the two previous years. The majority of homicide victims were women (N=24; 83%), however five of the victims were men killed by women police officers. The majority of incidents occurred in younger age groups (< 40 years of age). The primary weapon employed was the police service firearm (90%). Most incidents occurred on the local police departmental level (76%) as opposed to state and federal level departments. Similar to the majority of nationwide homicide-suicides, the homicide victim was primarily a spouse or female acquaintance. In three cases a child was also killed by the perpetrator. While exposure to violence in police work cannot be changed, the establishment of a strict domestic violence policy by police agencies is discussed as one strategy to reduce the incidence of violence in the police family. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Aging Family Law Enforcement Occupational Health Safety Suicide Violence
• Keywords:
  Age Groups Author Keywords: Homicide-suicide Domestic Violence Families Homicides Law Enforcement Police Police Officers Police Suicide
• ISSN:
  1522-4821
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  New York ; OSHA Region 2
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  97-104
• Volume:
  9
• Issue:
  2
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20056950
• Citation:
  Int J Emerg Mental Health 2007 Apr; 9(2):97-104
• Contact Point Address:
  John M. Violanti, PhD., Department of Social & Preventive Medicine, School of Public Health & Health Professions, 270 Farber Hall, State University of NY at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY 14214
• Email:
  violanti@buffalo.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2007
• Performing Organization:
  University of New York at Buffalo
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  19980930
• Source Full Name:
  International Journal of Emergency Mental Health
• End Date:
  20000929
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:34d9ed19b4d388071277eda613a6414f98b76857e6c6690741fa45eec049d7f0b64756ae40ea4bbc0529b27733c30ec5e7e37666733b596872883a67c6d1ba3d
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/214438/cdc_214438_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 245.40 KB ]