Assessing the Safety of Conducted Energy Devices

Law enforcement officers often use Conducted Energy Devices (CEDs) to arrest hostile suspects. CEDs induce involuntary muscle contractions, causing the suspect to be temporarily incapacitated. This technology includes traditional stun guns and projectile weapons sold under the trade names Taser and Stinger Handheld Projectile Stun Guns.

CED use is controversial because of safety concerns. An Amnesty International report discussed many incidents where application of a CED could not be ruled out as a cause of death.

NIJ has commissioned several studies to evaluate CED safety:

• Deaths following electro-muscular disruption. NIJ's leading study on CEDs includes a panel of doctors who conduct mortality reviews of deaths that followed CED application. The medical panel is examining incident data from police reports. Police data are being combined with findings from an autopsy, toxicological analysis, medical records of symptoms the subjects experienced after being shocked and care received afterward.
  Find out more information about this study and information about care received afterward.
• Reconstructing the chain of events surrounding an incident. NIJ is augmenting medical data through a detailed reconstruction of fatal incidents. NIJ is collaborating with the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) to conduct field research to support the reviews. The IACP is examining the incidents, reconstructing the chain of events that occurred before the deaths.
• CEDs effects on internal organ systems. A study at the University of Wisconsin is assessing the effect of electrical current as it moves through the body. The study models the effects of a CED on internal organs, including the heart. In a related effort, the University of California in San Diego and New Jersey Medical School are studying CEDs effects on metabolic pathways in the body, as well as the cardiac and respiratory systems.
• Less-lethal monitoring system. Wake Forest University piloted a monitoring system where NIJ-funded researchers and medical personnel accompanied suspects who were shocked by a CED when they went to a hospital. Researchers gathered information for each case.
  Read an overview of findings.
• Examining "excited delirium." Researchers at Wake Forest University are examining a state of extreme excitement or stress sometimes called "excited delirium" that people can experience following CED application. Some theorists suggest that this excited state and the associated confrontation with an officer — and not the CED use — can endanger lives. Doctors will examine people who experience this state. A select panel of doctors, medical examiners and practitioners at Wayne State University will review the medical and incident data provided in the Wake Forest study. The panel will also evaluate the use of CEDs and their effectiveness.

Police departments sometimes conduct independent studies on less-lethal device use and safety. See the results of a study on the use of Tasers by the Seattle Police Department Exit Notice.