Less Lethal Weapons Research Paper

In our research study we hope to show that the goal to Tasers it to provide law enforcement with alternatives to deadly force in order to minimize harm to both community members and police. We also want to show that no use of devices or techniques may be safe to everyone, but that we can't look just

Technology used in policing enhances law enforcement organizations’ ability to function because it has improved police databases, reports, tracking, and forensics (DOJ, 2004). In addition, a less-lethal weapon is designed to disable, capture, or immobilize a suspect without killing them. However, occasionally deaths do happen as a result of less-lethal weapons which include kinetic energy, electrical, acoustic, and chemical weapons. Furthermore, violence, disease, and infected evidence are dangers that law enforcement officers face today.

The use of conducted energy weapons in the police force has become increasingly popular since they were introduced only a short while ago. The TASER is claimed to be the safest and most productive type of less lethal force in use today, with a very quick recovery rate and no-long term side effects. The TASER has quickly taken over the harsh use of pepper spray, the brutal force of the baton and in some cases the firearm. However, the TASER has faced massive amounts of bad press and negative views among members of the public. Electro-muscular disruption has become a very controversial issue among society, some describing it as extremely

It also illustrates that the use of Taser and other CEDs can reduce the statistical rate of injury to suspects and officers who might be involved in physical conflict based on an analysis of 12 agencies and more than 24,000 use-of-force cases demonstrates that the odds of suspect injury decreased by almost 60% when a CED are utilized due to a 2011 report provided by the National Institute of Justice. Nonetheless, a 2011 study shows that CED use has risen about 70% as the use of baton has decreased by 25% in 2008.

In a matter of 630ms an officer is confronted with the decision to open fire on a suspect or proceed with caution. Police officers are trained to deal with a broad range of circumstances, including minor traffic violations to hostile shoot outs. Additionally, they are trained to deal with a wide range of people from compliant to aggressive and to act accordingly in each condition. The decision to use lethal force is supposed to be restricted to situations in which an officer feels threatened. However, in light of recent officer involved shootings, civilians have begun to think

A growing problem in our communities today is the excessive use of police force against unarmed civilians. There are many different types of excessive force used by the police and the news has become saturated with stories of officers killing, or severely maiming unarmed civilians. Just recently a 57 year old man was on his morning walk in Alabama when he was left partially paralyzed by an officer who threw him to the ground even though he was not resisting or fighting the officer. All around the country more and more instances of police brutality are occurring. Body cameras, an increase in training, external investigations, and stricter regulations for hiring officers are all options that will help to reduce police brutality in our

Most of us are familiar with the distinctive ticking of a TASER. TASERs, used by police departments throughout the United States of America, have become a go to tool for apprehending suspects without fatally wounding them. The first use of primitive TASERs dates back to 1960 and they have come a long way since. Such as advancements such as upgrading from gunpowder to compressed air, to more computerised TASERs that automatically cut off and collect crucial user data. With the advancement of technology, TASERs quickly became a more viable tool for an officer 's duty belt.

The standard that the courts established that allows police to use deadly force to effect an arrest is appropriate. An officer cannot utilize deadly force to arrest an individual unless there is probable cause to believe that the person poses a threat to commit serious bodily harm to the officer or someone else. The use of deadly force to prevent a fleeing felon from escaping is disproportionate and unconstitutional. An officer may use deadly force if he has given appropriate notice to arrest, and there is a reason to believe that the violent fleeing felon will put the police or the community in imminent danger. Deadly force may be reasonable under certain circumstances where there is a fear of harm to you or someone else. This standard is

There has recently been a demand for the use of less than lethal weapons in the community, and country at large. To meet this demand, the Asheville Police Department will be adopting the use of Tasers. Though Tasers are potentially lethal, they can be used more safely that a handgun, yet are more incapacitating than chemical spray. The use of Tasers will be explained with training as technology and laws progress. The most important thing is that the use of Tasers always falls within the law. Any actions taken should be proportionate to the situation, and the use of force should be no more than what is absolutely necessary. Officers must be prepared to show that they acted reasonably and justly. They must stay

There have been many serious incidences involving the police’s use of force bridging over a decade. Due to the advancement in technology, many of these incidents have been videoed and used as evidence in court cases involving the police’s use of force unnecessarily. For example, in July 2014 Eric Garner’s death arising from an officer using a chokehold on the victim. One month after, another officer fatally shot a teen (Wihbey & Kille, 2015). In Virginia, a college professor was walking to avoid some construction that had obstructed the walkway. She was approached by an officer and ordered that she produce some identification. The professor questioned the officer as to why she was stopped. The officer replied she was jaywalking and demanded she produces some identification or he was going to arrest her. Needless to say, the professor did not comply, and she was slammed to the ground causing her dress to expose parts of her body, she retaliated and was arrested. The community was outraged (Moi, 2014). According to the Washington Post, police officers tend to use force, especially when dealing with suspects that have mental instabilities. “Nationwide, police have shot and killed 124 people this year, who were in the midst of mental or emotional crisis” (Lowery et al., 2015). The authors further note, that in these incidences, police are likely to react using tactics, which worsen a volatile situation, by using force.

“Nonlethal weapons can be seen as shooting-avoidance tools because these weapons can control unarmed but resisting suspects early in a confrontation, before they have the opportunity to become armed and attack an officer.” (Dempsey & Forst, 2016, p.478). These tools are a necessity for that reason alone. When an ever officer arrives on a scene no matter the call, that officer has to establish themselves as the one in control of the situation. A lot of the times an officer is alone, and needs to be proficient with his or her ability to defend themselves and the general public. Not every situation calls for a use of force incident, and not every use of force incident should be a deadly force incident. That is why the baton, OC spray, taser, and hands on techniques in order to gain compliance are very important to know and have.

Use of fire arms as the choice weapon by police officers have been around since the late 1800s. Police departments started issuing firearms to police officers in a response to better-armed criminal populations, (Bulman, 2010). Recent studies have shown that less lethal weapons decrease the rate of police officers and suspect injuries. Because evidence supports less lethal weapons for police officer, many law enforcement agencies have agencies are stressing the use of less-lethal weapons. In the early 19th century, the less than lethal weapon of choice was the wooden club, (Bulman, 2010). Less than lethal weapons have evolved to technology such as conductive energy devices (CEDs), commonly known as the Taser.

Changes in technology have created new opportunities for clandestine and covert operations and what most people think of when the topic of lethal targeting comes up. Before the War on Terror when one would talk about lethal targeting through clandestine operations actions that the CIA took to attempt to assassinate key world leaders like Cuba’s Fidel Castro or other covert actions taken before the Pike and Church Committees. Since the onset of the War on Terror, the thought would go to the military videos posted to social media showing unmanned Intelligence, Reconnaissance, and Surveillance assets conducting lethal kinetic strikes on those conducting terrorist activities. Covert action in this manner has been one of the most effective methods to engage an enemy that makes every effort to blend in with the rest of society. (Bobich 2007, 1112-1121)

I agree that less-lethal weapons have the potential to prevent serious injuries caused by firearms. However, it increases the risk of a suspect to be noncompliant and less threatened by an authority figure. In many instances, non-lethal weapons such as, pepper spray or Taser do not work correctly and end up risking the officers’ lives. If a suspect has the intent to harm general public with a gun, pepper spray or Taser will not be able to stop them from the distance. School shootings for example, the suspects in those situations are seen with multiple guns. The only way to stop them was to use an equal defense.

This proves that taser is an effective non-lethal weapon that can be used to subdue the criminals. Here are some possible advantages of taser guns, first, taser is a non-lethal weapon. As we may have already know, tasers are meant to take down the suspects without injuring or killing them. Also, it is safer to use in a situations where there are many bystanders in the scene, since tasers do not harm people around the intended suspects. This also leads to the second point of avoiding the usage of lethal weapons. So far, 1689 people have been killed by the police in a crime related actions (May, T. 2014). By promoting the usage of tasers, police officers around the world can lower the number of suspects being killed in the scene. Using the lethal weapon also dangers the suspects, police, and the bystanders, because firearms are a lethal weapon that can take away lives easily. Tasers also requires minimal training to use the functions, which also makes the officers and other security related people to easily use tasers in action. On the other hand, typical fire arms requires more training time to properly use them in order to avoid any accidents with it. Fourthly, by using taser, the injury rates dropped significantly. Taser have been used within law enforcement agencies from 1998, and from that time, according to the Taser International, taser helped lower injuries among officers and