i'm pretty sure you can detonate a suicide vest via remote control. in fact, it would be a virtual necessity to ensure it can be as a backup to ensure that the device gets detonated, to avoid the "martyr" from being captured.

just something to think about when you hear stories about young girls with no apparent history of even religious adherence supposedly blowing themselves up while yelling for help.

if you wanted to create a diversion, for example, a reasonable tactic would be to strap a vest on somebody you consider expendable (i.e. a female), push them towards the cops and then explode them remotely, while you sneak out the back.