Two days ago 25-year-old Kajieme Powell stole two cans of soda and, when St. Louis police arrived, demanded they shoot him. As ZhenRen's diary describes, they did, multiple times, until he was quite dead.
Ezra Klein believes Powell may have been mentally ill. And Powell's actions certainly seem inspired by the killing of Michael Brown in nearby Ferguson. But whatever else the Powell case is, it's also an act of Suicide By Cop. This is actually a common phenomenon. Common enough that many police departments have policies on how to deal with people who want you to kill them. Did the two St. Louis cops who encountered Powell follow these recommendations? As I detail below, they didn't do a single thing right. If they had, Powell would still be alive.
Years ago the LAPD (yes, that PD) wrote a report on what officers should do when they encounter a suspect who may be more interested in getting them to participate in their suicide than in hurting other people. In some cases it's difficult to discern whether a threatening person is actually a potential Suicide By Cop. But that's not so in Powell's case. Why? Because he specifically says "Shoot me!" From the LAPD guidelines:
If time and space permit and there is information indicating that this is a possible suicide by cop, the officers may adjust their tactics by using the 5 C’s.
There was time and space if the officers had just maintained their distance and instructed others to back away. Powell, by his own words, was an obvious case of SBC. The 5 Cs referred to now come into play. The most obvious three in this case are CONTAINMENT:
The individual needs to be isolated, yet with enough space to feel comfortable. This space should be large enough to provide officers with cover and sufficient reaction time
to respond to an attack and yet be able to communicate with the individual.
and then COMMUNICATION:
Officers must be able to communicate with the individual and establish a
rapport by treating the individual with respect and using a low, soothing voice. Listening
skills are essential in order to identify the individual’s problem and provide a possible
solution. The contact officer should introduce himself by name and ask what is the
problem. Open-ended questions should be used to get the person talking, such as,
“what happened today”, “you sound troubled” and “how can I help you?” Talking with a
person may diffuse the crisis, buy time and reduce the desire of the individual to commit
suicide, thus providing a peaceful resolution.
Next is CONTROL:
Don’t press the individual into taking some type of action which he is not ready for because the longer the incident goes, the better the chances for a successful outcome.
In this case there was no attempt at Containment, Communication or Control. Instead of extending the incident and attempting to calm Powell down, they escalated immediately, started firing, and the whole thing was over in 23 seconds. Back to the LAPD report:
If a firearm is not involved, the TASER or the less lethal shotgun will be a useful tool in that it does not require the officers to get in close to the suspect in order to gain control.
In this case there was no firearm; police say he had a knife. And while Tasers are often used in cases where they aren't warranted, in this case it would have been obviously a lot better than just gunning him down. The other two Cs in the LAPD guidelines are Command and Coordination which have to do with calling in backup and establishing a command structure. Those never came into play here because the two cops on the scene never let the situation last that long.
Other cops have done a lot better in situations more tense than the one in St. Louis. Read this story about Connecticut officer Mark Poisson who was confronted with a man who wanted to die. While he tried to retreat he was ultimately backed into a dangerous location and fired at the suspect. Once. The man went down but was clearly still alive. Did Poisson go for the kill as so many departments train their officers ("don't shoot unless you are shooting to kill!")? No, the man was down, no longer a threat, and had only a bottle for a weapon. He then asked the officer to shoot him in the head but Poisson declined.
The St. Louis cops may have followed their training but if they did, that training is pitiful.
Below is the video the Powell shooting. WARNING: it is graphic as Powell is shot dead by the police.