Some researchers have speculated that shocks from conducted energy weapons may induce excited delirium in resistant arrestees. But a new study serves to debunk that rumored risk. The speculation has centered on serotonin, an important chemical and neurotransmitter in the human body. Abnormally high levels of serotonin can be life-threatening, while producing some of the...Read More
In reporting another new study of excited delirium, researcher Dr. Darrell Ross offers additional insights for improving the safety of officers and subjects alike in these fraught confrontations. The goal is not to train or expect officers to make clinical diagnoses in the field as psychiatric experts, Ross says. “But providing them with research findings...Read More
In the first study of its kind, a research team has comprehensively documented the risk of barbed darts from conducted electrical weapons penetrating the eyes of suspects. While certainly cringe-inducing, the risk, in fact, is small: only 1 in every 123,000 CEW discharges in the field results in eye injury, the study reports. But the...Read More
A recent US Appeals Court decision hinged on whether an officer’s use of a CEW was objectively reasonable, but an important subtext in the case concerns de-escalation—more precisely, whether a fateful escalation of force could have been prevented in the first place by a different attitude and different language. The Michigan case, Marshall v. City...Read More
Most of Dr. Kroll’s presentation at the use-of-force conference (see: previous FSN) dealt with persistent myths about the alleged electrical dangers of CEWs, particularly claims that these control weapons can cause electrocution and fatal heart disruptions. The world’s most prolific inventor of cardiac-related medical devices, Kroll is renowned as one of the top international authorities...Read More
Officers in Texas responding to a 911 call discovered a middle-aged Hispanic sitting in his car outside his house, holding a cigarette lighter as he poured gasoline on himself and threatened to set himself on fire. For months he’d talked of suicide by burning. This day he’d doused his home with fuel and, he said,...Read More
More than 3.3 million darts from conducted energy weapons, including thousands that likely were contaminated with Staphlococcus aureus bacteria, have penetrated human skin. How many would you guess have caused infections? The best guess would be “zero,” according to what is believed to be the first scholarly paper to review this issue. The research group,...Read More
A new study of fatalities associated with controlled electrical weapons (CEWs) finds that falls producing traumatic brain injury are by far the greatest mortality risk to suspects from these control devices. But even that risk is miniscule. Out of some 3,000,000 field uses, a research team could document only 16 cases in which fatal brain...Read More
In a recent decision, federal appellate justices gave special weight to dash-cam recordings in determining whether officers accused of excessive force are entitled to immunity from a civil rights lawsuit. The case involved two Michigan sheriff’s deputies who were denied a summary judgment exonerating them of wrongdoing by a district court judge who ruled that...Read More
Research studies and courtroom decisions continue to explore what’s practiced, what’s effective, and what’s legal so far as police use of CEWs is concerned. Here’s a roundup of some of the most recent developments. TASER vs. OC: And the winner is… In real-life confrontations, TASERs are effective in incapacitating actively resistant suspects over 90% of...Read More