Police Use of the Taser With People With Mental Illness in Crisis

Munetz, Mark R.; Fitzgerald, Antonia; Woody, M. M.

doi:10.1176/appi.ps.57.6.883

Cited by 12 publications

(9 citation statements)

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“…Finally, the current study does not contain long-term detailed health information on the subjects. For some (Munetz, Fitzgerald, & Woody, 2006;Strote & Hutson, 2007), the health impact of TASER use is still uncertain, and unfortunately the current study is unable to help clarify the issue. It should be pointed out, however, that, LPD policy now requires that whenever a TASER is used, the suspect is transported to the nearest hospital for observation.…”

Section: Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 79%

The Application and Use of TASERs by a Midwestern Police Agency

DeLone¹,

Thompson²

2009

International Journal of Police Science & Management

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Of the some 18,000 law enforcement agencies in the United States, TASERs have been adopted by approximately 7,000 departments. Following on the call of White and Ready (2007) for more research on TASER use by police, this paper investigates the use of TASERs by a medium sized, Midwestern police agency. All TASER deployments by police officers in this Midwestern city are examined for a three-and-a-half-year time period (January 2004-August 2007. Findings indicate that the TASER was used primarily against physically resistant white male suspects with a history of police contact. The majority of the incidents took place at a private residence or apartment as opposed to a public place of business. The TASER was overwhelmingly effective and, as for officer safety, on the few occasions that an officer was injured, the injury was not related to the TASER.

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Section: Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 79%

The Application and Use of TASERs by a Midwestern Police Agency

DeLone¹,

Thompson²

2009

International Journal of Police Science & Management

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“…Patients experiencing mental illness might need to be restrained for their own safety and that of those around them. In the community, police assistance is often required to subdue these patients 62 . If the TASER is deployed on them, they will require medical assessment in an ED.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It was found that escalation to deadly force was avoided in many situations by the use of the TASER. Another review was conducted of TASER use in people with mental illness in Summit County, Ohio and did not find any cases of inappropriate or abusive use of the TASER 62 . The TASER has only been recently introduced in to Australia and New Zealand.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Review article: Emergency department implications of the TASER

Robb

Furyk

et al. 2009

Emerg Medicine Australasia

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The TASER is a conducted electricity device currently being introduced to the Australian and New Zealand police forces as an alternative to firearms in dealing with violent and dangerous individuals. It incapacitates the subject by delivering rapid pulses of electricity causing involuntary muscle contraction and pain. The use of this device might lead to cardiovascular, respiratory, biochemical, obstetric, ocular and traumatic sequelae. This article will summarize the current literature and propose assessment and management recommendations to guide emergency physicians who will be required to review these patients.

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“…109 Some investigators have recommended enactment of policies prohibiting the ''knowing use" of ECDs on mentally ill individuals (e.g., Stanford Criminal Justice Center). 110 Ho et al, 111 however, found that, in nearly half of the cases in one study population, an ECD ''was used in place of a firearm even though the law-enforcement use of deadly force would have been authorized and justified in these situations."…”

Section: Suggestions By Other Investigators For Use Of Ecds When Excimentioning

confidence: 99%

Deaths in custody: Are some due to electronic control devices (including TASER® devices) or excited delirium?

Jauchem

2010

Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine

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a b s t r a c tDeaths have occurred after law-enforcement incidents involving applications of electronic control devices (ECDs) (including TASER Ò devices). An ''excited delirium" syndrome (reported in the literature prior to the development of ECDs currently in use), however, includes several factors that may be related to such deaths in custody. In this review, potential detrimental effects of ECDs are compared with possible changes due to excited delirium. Although extreme (i.e., long-duration or repeated) exposures to ECDs can result in significant hyperkalaemia, acidaemia, and myoglobinemia in animal models, limited applications (such as those normally used in law-enforcement situations) would appear to have only transient effects. In addition, the hyperthermia observed in patients with excited delirium does not seem to be directly exacerbated by ECD applications. ECD use is unlikely to be a common cause of ventricular fibrillation, but other events that are generally associated with excited delirium (e.g., drug use) may be related to subsequent ventricular fibrillation or asystole. Metabolic or respiratory acidosis may only be serious consequences of long-duration or repeated ECD applications. On the basis of current available information, factors other than ECDs themselves may be more important when death occurs after the use of ECDs.

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Police Use of the Taser With People With Mental Illness in Crisis

Cited by 12 publications

References 0 publications

The Application and Use of TASERs by a Midwestern Police Agency

The Application and Use of TASERs by a Midwestern Police Agency

Review article: Emergency department implications of the TASER

Deaths in custody: Are some due to electronic control devices (including TASER® devices) or excited delirium?

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