Citation

Linsley KR, Johnson N, Martin J. Br. J. Psychiatry 2007; 190: 170-171.

Affiliation

Tees Esk and Wear Val Valleys leys NHS Trust, County Hospital, North Road, Durham DH1 4ST, 4ST, UK. keith.linsley@cddps.nhs.uk.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2007, Royal College of Psychiatry)

DOI

10.1192/bjp.bp.106.021857

PMID

17267935

Abstract

We evaluated police contact with individuals prior to suicide, using a systematic study of suicides within County Durham and Darlington over a 3-year period and analysis of police computer records covering the same area. A total of 205 cases of suicide were identified. A fifth of these (n=41) had a documented contact with police within 3 months prior to the suicide, there was an equal mixture of victims and alleged perpetrators of crime, and a significant number of those with police contact had also seen a health professional recently. As many people see a police officer in the 3 months prior to their suicide as see a mental health professional within 12 months prior to suicide. Our findings have implications for suicide prevention.

Language: en