Safety and Injury Profile of Conducted Electrical Weapons Used by Law Enforcement Officers Against Criminal Suspects
Presented at the 2007 American College of Emergency Physicians Scientific Assembly Research Forum, October 2007, Seattle, WA.
Received 15 September 2008; received in revised form 24 October 2008 and 10 November 2008; accepted 25 November 2008. published online 22 January 2009.
Study objective
Conducted electrical weapons such as the Taser are commonly used by law enforcement agencies. The safety of these weapons has been the subject of scrutiny and controversy; previous controlled studies in animals and healthy humans may not accurately reflect the risks of conducted electrical weapons used in actual conditions. We seek to determine the safety and injury profile of conducted electrical weapons used against criminal suspects in a field setting.
Methods
This prospective, multicenter, observational trial tracked a consecutive case series of all conducted electrical weapon uses against criminal suspects at 6 US law enforcement agencies. Mandatory review of each conducted electrical weapon use incorporated physician review of police and medical records. Injuries were classified as mild, moderate, or severe according to a priori definitions. The primary outcome was a composite of moderate and severe injuries, termed significant injuries.
Results
Conducted electrical weapons were used against 1,201 subjects during 36 months. One thousand one hundred twenty-five subjects (94%) were men; the median age was 30 years (range 13 to 80 years). Mild or no injuries were observed after conducted electrical weapon use in 1,198 subjects (99.75%; 95% confidence interval 99.3% to 99.9%). Of mild injuries, 83% were superficial puncture wounds from conducted electrical weapon probes. Significant injuries occurred in 3 subjects (0.25%; 95% confidence interval 0.07% to 0.7%), including 2 intracranial injuries from falls and 1 case of rhabdomyolysis. Two subjects died in police custody; medical examiners did not find conducted electrical weapon use to be causal or contributory in either case.
Conclusion
To our knowledge, these findings represent the first large, independent, multicenter study of conducted electrical weapon injury epidemiology and suggest that more than 99% of subjects do not experience significant injuries after conducted electrical weapon use.
aDepartment of Emergency Medicine, Wake Forest University, Winston Salem, NC
bDepartment of Emergency Medicine, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, and the Department of Emergency Medicine, George Washington University, Washington, DC
cDepartment of Emergency Medicine, University Medical Center Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV
dDepartment of Emergency Medicine, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center Shreveport, Shreveport, LA
Address for correspondence: William P. Bozeman, MD, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Department of Emergency Medicine, Medical Center Blvd, Winston Salem, NC 27157; 336-716-1740, fax 336-716-1705
The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of Justice.
Supervising editors: David P. Sklar, MD; Debra E. Houry, MD, MPH
Author contributions: WPB conceived the study, designed the trial, and obtained research funding. WPB supervised recruitment of participating centers and collection of data. All authors participated in data analysis and article development. WPB takes responsibility for the paper as a whole.
Funding and support: By Annals policy, all authors are required to disclose any and all commercial, financial, and other relationships in any way related to the subject of this article that might create any potential conflict of interest. See the Manuscript Submission Agreement in this issue for examples of specific conflicts covered by this statement. This project was supported by grant No. 2004-IJ-CX-K047, awarded by the United States Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, National Institute of Justice, Office of Science and Technology's Directed Energy Research Program, managed by Joseph Cecconi. Funding included direct and administrative costs and case reporting fees, which were provided as donations to the participating law enforcement agencies. Site investigators were unpaid for the initial 2 years of the study and then were provided a stipend of $500 per year for the final year. The funding agency did not participate in or direct study design, site selection, data analysis, or manuscript preparation. There was no funding or other support provided by any conducted electrical weapon manufacturer.
Publication dates: Available online January 21, 2009.
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