My research is showing an interesting trend with regard to police weapons that use an electrical charge to temporarily disable a suspect. Would it surprise you to hear that Conducted Electrical Weapons (CEWs) are often used as an alternative when a police firearm is the appropriate response? I am seeing an uptrend in officer deaths in 2011 immediately following the display or deployment of a CEW.
I have no specific bias for or against the use of these weapons. I did not have the privilege of being trained to use one when I was an officer, so I do not speak from experience as a certified user. I do find their mechanism of action intriguing. I also find the concept of being able to disable a combatant humanely and temporarily as a great alternative to the use of OC spray, with its associated risks and unpleasant after-effects to both suspects and officers. However, despite its utility, if a CEW contributes to a police officer's death in even one incident, officers need to rethink its use.
A recent study by Jared Strote, MD and his colleagues examined the use of the CEW and the injuries it caused to suspects in the article Conducted Electrical Weapon Use by Law Enforcement: An Evaluation of Safety and Injury (2010). The subjects who were given the CEW were very often substance-impaired (70%) and/or had psychiatric issues (46%). Not surprisingly, these are also characteristics of many cop-killers and others who fight police.
I have no specific bias for or against the use of these weapons. I did not have the privilege of being trained to use one when I was an officer, so I do not speak from experience as a certified user. I do find their mechanism of action intriguing. I also find the concept of being able to disable a combatant humanely and temporarily as a great alternative to the use of OC spray, with its associated risks and unpleasant after-effects to both suspects and officers. However, despite its utility, if a CEW contributes to a police officer's death in even one incident, officers need to rethink its use.
A recent study by Jared Strote, MD and his colleagues examined the use of the CEW and the injuries it caused to suspects in the article Conducted Electrical Weapon Use by Law Enforcement: An Evaluation of Safety and Injury (2010). The subjects who were given the CEW were very often substance-impaired (70%) and/or had psychiatric issues (46%). Not surprisingly, these are also characteristics of many cop-killers and others who fight police.
In Dr. Strote's study, 1 in 5 suspects subjected to the CEW were armed! When did we start teaching police officers that the CEW is a good response to a knife- or gun-wielding suspect? I was taught: never bring a knife to a gunfight and 21 feet is not far enough to prevent getting cut, even if you shoot the suspect. I was also taught: the appropriate response to a suspect firearm is a police firearm.
Of course, my study examines firearms-related deaths only-- all of the suspects in my study who received the CEW were carrying or hiding a firearm on their person, which they then used successfully to kill a police officer. Some of the suspects had even fired on police before the CEW and guess what? Some officers facing a suspect armed with a gun de-escalated to the CEW instead of using the police firearm.
My greatest concern is: did these officers revert to the CEW to prevent use of deadly force with the misplaced priority of protecting the life of the offender? And, if the officers did not have access to the CEW, perhaps they would have used their firearms and survived. I think this is a disturbing trend and I hope we can rethink the use of the CEW as a weapon to be used on the unarmed but non-compliant and dangerous suspects.
What are your experiences with the CEWs? Are they life-saving or do they increase the potential for violence against police?
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