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Victim-Precipitated Homicide: Police Use of Deadly Force in British Columbia

NCJ Number
172477
Journal
Gazette Volume: 60 Issue: 4 Dated: (April 1998) Pages: 2-14
Author(s)
R B Parent
Date Published
1998
Length
13 pages
Annotation
This study examined the underlying reasons for the police use of deadly force and potential deadly force in the Canadian Province of British Columbia during the period from 1980 through 1994; within this context, interactional violence and the phenomenon of victim-precipitated homicide were analyzed in relation to the police use of deadly force.
Abstract
The study analyzed 58 separate documented incidents in which municipal and Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers, within British Columbia, have been confronted by a potentially lethal threat. In 27 of these incidents, the police responded by discharging their firearms and killing 28 people. The remaining 31 cases that were examined reflected incidents in which the police responded with less-than-lethal force. Through the examination of police investigations, Verdict-At-Coroner's- Inquest reports, British Columbia Police Commission data, and interviews with police officers, this study shows that in approximately half of the cases examined (n=28), the police reacted to a potentially lethal threat of victim-precipitated homicide. These were incidents in which despondent individuals who suffered from suicidal tendencies, mental illness, or extreme substance abuse, acted in a calculated and deliberate manner so as to force the police to use potential or deadly force. The study recommends that police personnel within British Columbia should be given further alternatives to the standard-issue firearm when responding to potentially lethal threats. Nonlethal tools of compliance should be made readily available to the operational police officer, with a view to providing alternatives to the traditional use of deadly force. In addition, police training should emphasize nonviolent strategies for dealing with individuals who are suicidal, mentally deranged, and/or intoxicated. 26 references