Less%20Lethal%20Weapons(1).pdf

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The Role of Less- Lethal Weapons in Law Enforcement
The Role of Less- Lethal Weapons in Law Enforcement
E.M.U. School of Police Staff and Command
Lieutenant Greg Kramer
Midland , MI
An applied research project submitted to the Department of Interdisciplinary Technology
as part of the School of Police Staff and Command Program
August 19, 2004
ABSTRACT
There are many tools available to law enforcement agencies to assist in apprehending and
controlling uncooperative subjects. These tools range from the officers hands and
physical force to a variety of firearms. In the middle is a wide range of tools that most
law enforcement agencies have just begun to scratch the surface of. These tools are called
less-lethal weapons and non-lethal weapons. The intent of these tools design is to stop or
control a person without killing or causing permanent injury to them. They are designed
to be humane yet carry enough stopping power to prevent a suspect from continuing an
assault on others or himself. This paper will look at a few of these Less-lethal weapons
and their applications in Law Enforcement.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
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INTRODUCTION
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BACKGROUND AND SIGNIFICANCE
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LITERATURE REVIEW
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PROCEDURE
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RESULTS
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DISCUSSION
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RECOMMENDATIONS
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TABLES
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REFERENCES
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INTRODUCTION
America is an ever increasingly violent society and the public demands the law
enforcement community react firmly to the problem. At the same time, law enforcement
is under ever increasing scrutiny of the media, trial lawyers associations, the ACLU, and
an onslaught of citizens armed with video cameras. Incidents such as the 1991 Rodney
King arrest in Los Angeles have hampered law enforcement agencies and caused them to
rethink the use of traditional police tools such as batons.
The pressure to add new less lethal weapons to police arsenals became tremendous in the
mid-eighties. In 1985 the Supreme Court ruled in Tennessee vs. Garner that the use of
deadly force to apprehend unarmed nonviolent fleeing felons was an unreasonable
seizure under the fourth amendment. Attorney General Edwin Meese called a conference
to investigate the need for alternatives to deadly force. The National Institute of Justice
was tapped to investigate several ideas to meet this need and eventually a study on
chemical incapacitants was funded. After the Rodney King incident in 1991, finding
practical, non-lethal weapons for police use became a priority for the Department of
Justice. The stand off, between federal law enforcement agents and the branch Davidians
outside Waco Texas in 1993 caused Attorney General Janet Reno to call for increased
efforts and more funding to find a less lethal solution. Today, a wide array of less lethal
weapons has found their place in law enforcement and many have military applications as
well.
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BACKGROUND AND SIGNIFICANCE
Why less lethal weapons, what is their purpose and where do they fit in? In the year
2002, 58,066 law enforcement officers were assaulted in the line of duty (Table 1). Over
28% of the officers assaulted suffered personal injury. The majority of these officers
were assaulted while responding to disturbance calls, which include domestic disputes
and bar fights. The majority of the officers assaulted were assigned to one officer
uniformed patrols. Nearly 81% of the assaults were committed with personal weapons,
hands feet, fists etc. When officers were assaulted with personal weapons 29.8 %
suffered injuries. Firearms only accounted for 3.3 % of assaults on officers.
Most of the complaints in which officers were assaulted started as misdemeanor calls,
which generally do not call for the use of deadly force.
Based on the above statistics an officer is most likely to suffer an injury when
confronting an unarmed individual while working alone on uniformed patrol and
answering a disturbance call. It would therefore be reasonable to provide the officer with
the means to protect himself, which is less then the lethal force of a firearm and a greater
force then personal weapons.
LITERATURE REVIEW
The United States Department of Justice Uniform Crime Report for 2002, Section II
breaks down information on assaults committed on sworn city, county and state law
enforcement officers. The information is collected monthly from URC program
participants who submit data through their state UCR programs or directly to the FBI.
Information was collected from 9,987 law enforcement agencies in the year 2002.
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