> Nexis has 54 stories on "suicide by cop" in its newspaper database
> over the last 10 years. It's a genuine trend. Even British and
> Canadian papers have even done stories on it (as a phenemenon in the
> US). Of course factoids become trends when journalists read other
> journalists on Nexis.
that, plus cops talk to other cops, and cop media liaisons talk to other cop media liaisons...
became a big thing here as well, especially after our own lovely Victorian police, renowned for their resort to guns in 'difficult situations' (like a woman sitting in an intersection at 3am who refused to move, like a guy on a Sydney beach who waved his arms around surrounded by about six cops all with guns drawn -- oops, there was a camera there) came under the most mild of pressure for killing people.
of course, this is also the time when pepper spray started to be used, as a supposedly non-lethal measure for dealing with said 'difficult situations'. the premise is always that the victims were 'mentally ill', usually suffering from depression which, if one goes by the definition of 'depression' now doing the rounds of a new government initiative to 'deal with depression', includes almost everyone.
according to the Mental Health Foundation of Australia, "A state of depression occurs when people feel their world is consistently unpleasant, punishing or deprives them of the opportunity for a positive and satisfying life."
presumably if one thinks the world is a lovely place, offering a satisfying and positive experience, this is not delusional...
Angela _________