NCJ Number
139025
Date Published
1992
Length
7 pages
Annotation
Police professional training in the area of suicide can help officers talk to someone who has apparently attempted to commit suicide, relate to someone in an immediate suicide-threatening position, identify persons at risk of committing suicide, and conduct an inquiry into possible suicides.
Abstract
However, police experience many difficulties when intervening in incidents involving suicidal persons including difficult working conditions, lack of knowledge, problems in adopting patient and flexible attitudes, lack of counseling skills, and lack of life experience. The South Australia Police Psychology Unit has been modifying its recruit training package on suicide since 1980. Cadets are instructed by police psychologists on topics including the nature of suicidal behavior, myths about suicide, suicidal individuals, indications of suicidal risk, suicide prevention, suicidal behavior in custody, and relevant welfare services. Classroom discussions, visits to youth centers and psychiatric hospitals, and debriefings with police psychologists are used to give recruits some practical experience in the area of suicide. Appropriate intervention skills are built through role plays about typical situations police encounter operationally. Other innovations introduced by the South Australia Police Department to help officers recognize and cope with suicidal persons include deaths in custody seminars, prison screening forms, and psychological debriefings.