My former chief could be pretty open-minded and progressive, but could also get jittery over the possibility of being blamed for anything. *Good grief, it was annoying to have to prepare back-to-back responses to both the IACP and PERF position papers on ECD's. I never thought I'd ever think IACP was reasonable.) As a result, the Fourth Circuit decision did not really affect our policies or procedures.
TC215's references do provide a list of incidents in which Taser deployments have likely caused injuries. Props to TC for his research, but some--certainly not all--the articles seem somewhat one-sided. A couple reference incidents where officers allegedly violated Axon training guidelines. In any event, our protocols changed to require a suspect pose a threat to the officers or people other than self. By the time I left, I bluntly told people that a stationary subject cutting his wrists with a knife in a suicide attempt could not be tasered. I suspect most officers realized that I would figure a way to justify Taser deployment in that circumstance, but I could not see a way to put that in the lesson plan. My recommendation was to await unconsciousness, disarm and control the subject, and begin medical treatment.
I also realized that our Sabre Red pepper spray tended to be more effective than the Taser. As a bonus, while pepper sprayed suspects are often incapacitated, they generally don't fall like a dropped beer mug.
As I look back on my largely pointless career with my former department, one of my many regrets is that I did not push for more extensive initial and sustainment training for Taser operators. We would have been better served with fewer Tasers on the street, but with more extensively trained operators. While our allied county agency makes Taser operators jump through the hoops of attending CIT training, pretty much anyone who wants a Taser can get one so I doubt lengthier training times would have been an easy sell. That said, I should have tried, especially as I probably could have sold it.
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Originally Posted by UNM1136
