Police Response to Approaching Subjects at Height: Examining the Balcony Jumper Phenomenon

Abstract

The phenomenon of balcony jumpers is examined with reference to 68 cases in which a subject jumped or fell at least two storeys from a balcony, window or roof because of, or in the presence of, responding police officers. The cases constitute all such incidents in a Canadian jurisdiction between 2000 and 2010 in which the subject was seriously injured or killed in connection with the jump or fall. Profiles of the typical balcony jumper are identified across gender and age groups. Female jumpers are prominently associated with suicidal ideation and mental illness. Criminal histories and a desire to avoid incarceration are more commonly associated with male jumpers. The data results are approached cautiously given the small sample size in comparison to the total number of balcony jumpers in the jurisdiction and the lack of any treatment of this issue in the social science literature. It is suggested that changes in police tactics to approaching subjects at height, informed by a refocus on an officer's foremost duty to protect life and, longer term, the development of institutional best practices in the area, could mitigate the risk of serious injury and death in these cases.