RE: Has tasering run-a-muck

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[Poll]

Has tasering run-a-muck

yes!

40% (9)

50% (11)

who is this?

9% (2)

Total Votes : 22

(last vote on : 11/1/2007 7:57:10 PM)
(Poll will run till: -- )

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RE: Has tasering run-a-muck - 9/23/2007 11:48:34 PM

scifi1133

Posts: 8529
Joined: 3/27/2007
From: virginia
Status: offline

STREET FACTS FROM ORANGE COUNTY
The Sheriff's Office study focuses on 400 cases randomly drawn from some 1,200 force confrontations across a 3-year period. Researchers analyzed the nature of resistance by suspects, the responses used by officers and the outcomes of the events in an effort to determine "the effectiveness of less-lethal weapons systems at the officer level," a subject rarely examined by the academic community.
The research team was led by Dr. Charlie Mesloh, director of the Weapons and Equipment Research Institute at Florida Gulf Coast University, and included Capt. Steven Hougland of the Orange County Sheriff's Office in Orlando, FL.
The findings, reported in the September [2005] issue of the journal "Law Enforcement Executive Forum", published by the Executive Institute of the Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board, include the following:
1. Taser was by far "the most frequently used less-lethal weapon" employed in use-of-force incidents. In this study, it was relied upon to stop suspect resistance in 73% of confrontations, compared to chemical agents at 18%, defensive tactics 6% and impact weapons 3%. Bean bag rounds were used only once, in an encounter involving SWAT.
Interestingly, none of the impact weapon applications involved use of a baton, the researchers discovered. Instead, in each case, "a flashlight was utilized in this function as an improvised impact weapon."
In assessing the relative unpopularity of less-lethal options other than Taser, the researchers observe:
--Officers commonly feel that DT techniques taught by their agency are "ineffective against aggressive subjects." Officers who study martial arts on their own--particularly grappling techniques--seem most likely to apply those skills against resistant subjects.
--OC, considered "the cutting edge less-lethal weapon of its time," is plagued by "issues regarding cross-contamination of back-up officers and a growing number of reports that suspects were able to fight through the burning pain."
--Baton configuration has changed in recent years, with "high-visibility nightsticks and side-handled batons" having "gone out of style" and been replaced with collapsible straight batons which, in effect, are "little more than a metal club to be used for striking and blocking….[M]any of the advanced control techniques…possible with the PR-24" are now "difficult if not impossible."
2. "[I]n all cases in which deadly force would have been sanctioned and a less-lethal weapon was used, Taser was the only weapon selected by officers." The researchers conclude that "it is clear that a substantial number of suspects' lives were spared as a result of Taser deployments."
The research data did not reveal, however, "whether officers made a conscious decision to take a more humane approach" (in avoiding deadly force) or the Taser "was already in hand and the time required to transition [to a gun] was too great." Regardless, the outcome was strongly to the suspects' benefit.
3. Officers perceived that Taser is the "only [less-lethal] tool available that has the ability to prevent escape." Overall, "Taser was used to stop fleeing suspects…84% of the time." Other less-lethal options, "such as chemical agents and impact weapons, are generally ineffective at stopping a fleeing suspect" due to distance considerations.
Narcotics offenses are the ones most likely to escalate into use-of-force encounters, the study shows, and 63% of narcotics suspects "originally resisted by taking flight." Across all categories of suspects, "flight was the most common type of resistance" and was encountered nearly one-third of the time.
In terms of active resistance, suspects most often wrestled with or struck officers (27% and 13.5% of resistance respectively). Less than 5% of resistance involved armed suspects threatening or using weapons against officers. Taser was the most frequent less-lethal option used in response to offenders with weapons.
4. A single application of a Taser could not be relied upon to be successful unfailingly. Indeed, Taser was "ineffective" 23% of the time from a single application. However, the researchers point out, "Taser training stresses the use of multiple applications in order to bring a suspect under control."
When deployed a second time, Taser's "ineffectiveness dropped to less than 3%." Then, it was deployed a third time or the officer switched to a different less-lethal option or the suspect escaped, with officers "unprepared to engage in a foot pursuit."
The study notes that successful escape "occurred more frequently" after a Taser failure, "as officers were accustomed to immediate compliance on the part of the suspect and it is extremely difficult to run with a weapon and drag 21 feet of wire and probes."

(in reply to came4U)