Mark W Kroll1, Darrell L Ross2, Michael A Brave3, Howard E Williams4. 1. California Polytechnical Institute, San Luis Obispo, CA, USA. mark@kroll.name. 2. Valdosta State University, Valdosta, GA, USA. 3. LAAW International, LLC, Scottsdale, AZ, USA. 4. School of Criminal Justice & Criminology, Texas State University, San Marcos, TX, USA.
Abstract
PURPOSE: Risks of handheld electrical weapons include head impact trauma associated with uncontrolled falls, ocular probe penetration injuries, thermal injuries from the ignition of volatile fumes, and weapon confusion police-involved shooting. There is also an uncommon but critical risk of a shooting after a subject gained control of an officer's electrical weapons. METHODS: The authors searched for police shooting incidents involving loss of control of TASER® weapons via open-source media reports, crowd-sourced internet sites, litigation filings, and a survey of Axon law-enforcement master instructors. RESULTS: The authors report 131 incidents of subjects attempting to or gaining control of an officer's electrical weapon from 2004 to 2020, 53 of which resulting in a shooting. These incidents demonstrated a risk of 11.8 shootings per million electrical weapon discharges (95% confidence limits of 9.0 to 15.1 per million by Wilson score interval). CONCLUSIONS: The use of electrical weapons presents a rare but real risk of injury and death from a shooting following a subject's attempts to gain control of the weapon.
PURPOSE: Risks of handheld electrical weapons include head impact trauma associated with uncontrolled falls, ocular probe penetration injuries, thermal injuries from the ignition of volatile fumes, and weapon confusion police-involved shooting. There is also an uncommon but critical risk of a shooting after a subject gained control of an officer's electrical weapons. METHODS: The authors searched for police shooting incidents involving loss of control of TASER® weapons via open-source media reports, crowd-sourced internet sites, litigation filings, and a survey of Axon law-enforcement master instructors. RESULTS: The authors report 131 incidents of subjects attempting to or gaining control of an officer's electrical weapon from 2004 to 2020, 53 of which resulting in a shooting. These incidents demonstrated a risk of 11.8 shootings per million electrical weapon discharges (95% confidence limits of 9.0 to 15.1 per million by Wilson score interval). CONCLUSIONS: The use of electrical weapons presents a rare but real risk of injury and death from a shooting following a subject's attempts to gain control of the weapon.
Authors: Jeffrey Ho; Donald Dawes; James Miner; Sebastian Kunz; Rebecca Nelson; James Sweeney Journal: Forensic Sci Med Pathol Date: 2012-05-18 Impact factor: 2.007
Authors: Mark W Kroll; Mollie B Ritter; Eric A Kennedy; Nora K Siegal; Roman Shinder; Michael A Brave; Howard E Williams Journal: Am J Emerg Med Date: 2018-06-02 Impact factor: 2.469
Authors: Mark W Kroll; Mollie B Ritter; Eric A Kennedy; Nora K Silverman; Roman Shinder; Michael A Brave; Howard E Williams Journal: J Forensic Leg Med Date: 2018-02-14 Impact factor: 1.614