“In many incidents involving a person experiencing a mental health crisis or actively harming themselves, deputies prioritize de-escalation by creating time, distance, and opportunities for communication,” the spokesperson said in a statement, per People. “Unless there is an immediate threat to others, slowing the situation and utilizing crisis intervention techniques can reduce the likelihood of a suicide-by-cop encounter and minimize the risk of injury to the individual, deputies, and the public.”
If you didn’t know, “suicide by cop” is a term for when people behave in a way that will provoke police into killing them in an attempt to end their lives; unverified social media reports claim that Perez had alluded to this in his livestream.
