This book is not about the tactical aspects of police work but the intensity of emotions accompanying a critical shooting. Rebecca's experience and research in suicide-by-cop brings a no-holds-barred approach and speaks to all sides of this issue. She offers the dual perspectives of both surviving loved ones of suicide-by-cop and the officer-involved so that we can begin to understand the consequences and effects on survivors, officers, and the community. Rebecca carefully pulls back the curtain to expose the raw emotions of police officers after having been forced to kill another human being. Likewise, Rebecca presents the stark reality faced by survivors who encounter the devastating "knock at the door." From the onset of the death notification through the cold reality of an autopsy report, we learn what it's like for survivors who are left with the overwhelming sorrow of realizing how someone they loved purposely chose to die at the hands of another. As a police officer involved in three critical shooting incidents, I found this book to be of great value. I wish it had been available sooner. Hopefully, Rebecca's work will motivate the leadership within Police Departments to evaluate and develop appropriate protocols to help officers, survivors, and the community learn how to effectively work through such potentially devastating events.

Suicide-by-cop (SbC) is not a new phenomenon. This term refers to the actions of those who choose to end their lives by confronting a police officer to the degree that the officer must react with deadly force. In the early 80s, Dr. Karl Harris, former Chief Medical Examiner for Los Angeles County, reviewed hundreds of officer-involved shooting cases and discovered that many of the decedents at the time of their deaths exhibited a suicidal state of mind. Since it appeared to him that the decedent purposely confronted the officer to elicit a deadly response, he concluded that it was a type of suicide - “suicide-by-cop.”

Around ten years later, New York Newsday staff writer, Alfred Lubrano addressed the upcoming trend of suicide-by-cop in a 24 November 1992 article. He wrote, “A distraught person aches for life to end, but can’t summon the nerve to pull the trigger. So that person goes out on the street, maybe takes a hostage, or directly threatens police with a gun and deliberately becomes a target. The bullets may bring peace to the person bent on dying, but the shooting victimizes the cop, who has been manipulated into the role of executioner.”

This book examines the perspectives of the officer involved in a suicide-by-cop shooting and those who endure what suicide leaves behind.  A shared acknowledgement of perceptions can also help toward mutual understanding. Although agreement is not a necessary component to understanding, the ability to at least recognize mutual perspectives can help to move forward in the healing process.

Critical to examining suicide-by-cop is the need for those in the medicolegal arena to reach a universal agreement on what constitutes this type of suicide. Of equal importance is for a mandatory reporting system by law enforcement agencies nationwide in their reporting of officer-involved shootings. Through a collective agreement, this data could be utilized to direct the allocation of data-supported funding toward research for mental health services – namely suicide prevention.

Rebecca Valencia is a national award recipient and recognized subject matter expert on suicide-by-cop. As an expert witness, she has collaborated with legal counsel regarding expert testimony and rebuttal on these types of officer-involved shootings. She is a former Crime Victim's Advocate with the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department with over 20 years of frontline experience developing and implementing the First Response Victim Advocacy Program, the first of its kind in the United States.

As a law enforcement instructor, Rebecca has presented victim-contact training to thousands of police officers across the western United States receiving training certifications from both Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) and Standard and Training for Corrections (STC).

She is a recipient of the Jefferson Award from the American Institute of Public Service and has also received award recognition from the National Organization for Victim Assistance. Rebecca holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice from California State University, Sacramento and Associate degree in the Behavioral Sciences.