Suicide Investigation

Description

Reason for training:

There are few who escape being touched by the tragedy of suicide in their lifetimes.

Suicide is the eleventh leading cause of death in the United States, killing approximately 30,000 people each year compared to the 18,000 who are murdered.

Proving a suicide is often a difficult task due to family denials, insurance concerns and lack of an adequate investigation due to inadequate prioritization of cases.

This course will assist law enforcement agencies by providing sound investigative procedures and recommendations to ensure a thorough investigation is conducted.

Who should attend?

This course is intended for the first responding officer, newly assigned death investigator, crime scene technicians and law enforcement supervisors.

The goal of this course is for the student to identify and document the investigative techniques required to determine if a decedent took his/her own life.

Course Objectives to provide the death investigator with a solid foundation in the following areas:

• Identify the reasons for family denial of a suicide
• Determine if it was physically possible for the decedent to commit suicide
• Develop and detail all indications of intent on the part of the decedent
• Develop motive
• Identify the most common methods of suicide
• Explain the importance of determining the body position when a firearm is utilized
• Differentiate between an intentional hanging and an autoerotic death
• Staged Hanging
• Identify the reasons why a person may commit suicide