Conducted Energy Devices (CEDs) and Citizen Injuries: The Shocking Empirical Reality

Citation

(2012), "Conducted Energy Devices (CEDs) and Citizen Injuries: The Shocking Empirical Reality", Policing: An International Journal, Vol. 35 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/pijpsm.2012.18135caa.004

Conducted Energy Devices (CEDs) and Citizen Injuries: The Shocking Empirical Reality

Conducted Energy Devices (CEDs) and Citizen Injuries: The Shocking Empirical Reality

Article Type: Perspectives on policing From: Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, Volume 35, Issue 3.

William Terrill and Eugene A. Paoline IIIJustice Quarterly2012Vol. 29pp. 153-182

Police use of force is a contentious issue for the police and members of the communities they serve. The contentious nature of police use of force is further amplified when citizens are injured during use of force situations. Conducted energy devices (CEDs) were designed to reduce injuries to both officers and suspects during use of force situations. The most prominent manufacturer of CEDs and previous researchers have both concluded that CEDs diminish the risk of injury associated with use of force situations. Due to the potentially inherent problems associated with the statements of the manufacturer and methodological limitations of previous research, the authors decided to investigate the relationship between CEDs and suspect injury during use of force situations.

The data were collected as part of the Assessing Police Use of Force Policies and Outcomes project funded by the National Institute of Justice. The authors were given access to use of force reports from eight mid-size agencies that were intentionally selected for similar socio-demographic characteristics, and consistent use of force reporting over the study period. The authors coded each report from the agencies for a two-year period collecting data on a dichotomous measure of citizen injury (additional ordinal measure created), force used (dummy variables created to isolate force usage); additional measures were collected recording the citizen's level of resistance, age, sex, alcohol/drug intoxication status; as well as the officer's sex, race, experience, and department where employed.

Starting at the bivariate level, the authors’ results suggest the usage of CEDs is associated with higher rates of injuries to suspects. Use of force situations where a CED was used, regardless of whether it was the only force used, were the most likely situations to result in suspect injury with the exception of impact weapon only situations. Multivariate results remain largely consistent with the bivariate analyses: net of all other factors, situations where CEDs are used are more likely to result in injuries to the citizen. The only change that is seen across models is the value of the odds ratio. Additionally, the authors run additional analyses examining the effects of CEDs on the severity of the injury to the suspect (no injury, bruises/abrasions, lacerations, broken bones) and hospitalization (no injury, injury but no transport to hospital, and injury with a transport to a hospital). Again the results suggest that situations involving CEDs are not only more likely going to result in injury, but also more severe injuries as well.

The authors conclude by making some recommendations for future research examining police use of force. The authors state that it is necessary and important to examine less-severe injuries, stating that focussing on severe injuries will hamper research in this area because they are rare events. Second, the authors state that researchers need to be consistent with the data provided on use of force forms when coding the data. Previous studies have classified some injuries to suspects that were reported on the use of force form as no injury because the injury was sustained as a result of the intended use of the weapon. The authors conclude by stating that the research community must collectively create an operational definition of suspect injuries sustained in police use of force situations.