Police contact within 3 months of suicide and associated health service contact.

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.