Risk factors associated with legal interventions

Abstract

BackgroundCurrent research regarding injuries caused during interactions between police officers and civilians is conducted intermittently or on a very narrow sample frame which provides very little clinical information about the injuries suffered or the adverse outcomes. The aim of this study is to identify comorbid risk factors and describe acute outcomes of medically treated traumatic injuries occurring as a result of contact with law enforcement personnel.MethodsFor this retrospective study, patients injured as a result of contact with law enforcement personnel were identified using ICD-9 external cause of injury codes from medical record databases of patients treated in all hospitals and trauma units in Illinois between 2000 and 2009.ResultsA total of 836 cases injured as a result of contact with law enforcement personnel were identified. These patients were more likely to suffer from substance abuse, depression, schizophrenia, and paralytic disorders compared to the reference cases. Persons injured as a result of contact with law enforcement personnel were predominately injured from being man-handled, unarmed blows, firearms or being struck by a blunt object. Although the injury severity did not differ from the comparison group, these patients had longer lengths of hospitalization, a greater proportion of injuries to the back and spine, and a greater proportion required extended care in an intermediate care facility (not a jail) following discharge.ConclusionsAlthough medical record data do not explain the detailed circumstances of the face-to-face encounters between law enforcement personnel and civilians, the data provide valuable information regarding who may be at risk of injury and the clinical features of injuries that are suffered following a legal intervention. Similar data systems should be considered to augment existing data systems.

Temporal Trends and Racial/Ethnic Inequalities for Legal Intervention Injuries Treated in Emergency Departments: US Men and Women Age 15–34, 2001–2014

“…[6][7][8] Still, others have produced analyses of existing injury and mortality data derived from hospital records and death certificates. [9][10][11] Researchers have yet to answer basic epidemiological questions about police violence, however, such as whether the incidence rate of injuries caused by US police has changed over time, or the degree to which these injuries are properly coded as Blegal intervention^(i.e., those caused by law enforcement, as per the International Classification of Diseases (ICD)) and are therefore identifiable in statistical analyses of hospital data. Additionally, little attention has been paid to the role of private security guards in use-of-force incidents, even as the private security industry has grown steadily since 2001, and the number of private guards in the USA has come to be roughly equal to the number of police officers.…”

Children detained in French police cells

“…Police officers may be less prone to use force against arrested children than against older individuals. In the USA, it was reported that patients injured from legal interventions were less likely to be children than adolescents or adults . The causes of injuries among children were three times less often legal interventions than they were general assaults …”

“…In the USA, it was reported that patients injured from legal interventions were less likely to be children than adolescents or adults. 22 The causes of injuries among children were three times less often legal interventions than they were general assaults. 22 The medical histories of the arrested children in this study were unremarkable in most cases.…”

Die Interaktion mit verhaltensauffälligen Menschen aus polizeilicher Perspektive

“…Eine komorbide Störung durch Substanzgebrauch erhöht das Risiko zusätzlich [13,14]. Vermutlich leidet auch ein erheblicher Teil der Personen, die durch polizeiliche Maßnahmen verletzt werden, an einer psychischen Erkrankung, was wiederum das Risiko einer zusätzlichen Traumatisierung erhöht [15]. In Deutschland war ein Drittel der zwischen 2007 und 2014 durch die Polizei erschossenen Personen psychisch erkrankt [16].…”