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Taser Use of Force Database Review

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Rick Smith, CEO
Hans Marrero, Chief Instructor, USMC (Ret.)
Steve Tuttle, Director of Gov’t & Law Enforcement

DID WE ACCOMPLISH OUR
MISSION TO:
“REDUCE OFFICER AND
SUSPECT INJURIES BY
STOPPING THREATS FROM
A SAFE DISTANCE?”

Success Percent by
Level of Use
Total number of reports

1,645

Percent Successful:

94.59%

______________________Yes__No_______________
Darts Fired at Subject:

957

63

93.8%

Laser Only:

238

3

98.8%

Spark Demo

35

1

97.2%

Stun Gun Application

246

21

92.1%

Distance of Firings
Distance

Number

% of Known

Unknown

377

1-3 Feet:

129

13.0%

3-7 Feet:

358

36.0%

7-11 Feet:

311

31.3%

11-15 Feet:

166

16.7%

15-21 Feet:

29

2.9%

Success Percent by
Distance of Firing
Distance

Success

Failed

Rate

1-3 Feet:

124

5

96.12%

3-7 Feet:

340

18

94.97%

7-11 Feet:

290

21

93.25%

11-15 Feet:

153

13

92.17%

15-21 Feet:

27

2

93.10%

Length of discharge
1 seconds

9 1.1%

2 seconds

20 2.5%

3 seconds

31 3.9%

4 seconds

18 2.3%

5 seconds

443 55.4%

More than 1 cycle

279 34.9%

Total Reported

800 100%

TASER and OC Uses
Cases Where both used:

182

OC Effective
TASER Effective

55

30%

TASER Ineffective

14

7.7%

OC Ineffective
TASER Effective

94 51.6%

TASER Ineffective

19 10.4%

Number of shots fired
# of Shots

# of Incidents

%

902

87.0%

2 (same unit)

59

5.7%

2 (different unit)

58

5.6%

3

14

1.4%

4

3

0.3%

5

1

0.1%

1

TOTAL

1,037

Number of probes that
hit the suspect
# of Probes

# of Incidents

%

1 Probe Hit

57

8.4%

2 Probe Hit

615

90.7%

3 Probe Hit

5

0.7%

4 Probe Hit

1

0.1%

Total Reported

678

Type of Incident Involving
the Use of M26
Officer Assault
Warrant Service
Barricaded
Civil Disturbance
Suicidal
Resisting Arrest
Violent

73
93
99
191
267
483
531

4.44%
5.65%
6.02%
11.61%
16.23%
29.36%
32.28%

There is more than 100% as each event may involve one or more types of
incident

Suspect Force Levels
Deadly Assault
34
Defensive Resist
346
Active Aggression 453
Verbally Non-Comp 467
Total Incidents

1300

2.6%
26.6%
34.8%
35.9%

Types of Weapons Used
by Suspects
Blunt Weapon

40

2.4%

Firearm

53

3.2%

Edged Weapon

203 12.3%

% of Total Uses = 1,645

Suspect’s Influence
PCP
Misc. Drugs
Cocaine
Meth
EDP
Alcohol

16
15
75
63
379
617

1.0%
1.0%
4.6%
3.8%
23.0%
37.5%

Suspect’s Influence

Suspect’s Influence

Failures in Stun Gun Mode
Low Nerve/Muscle
Weapon Problem
Miss
Low Battery
Single Dart
Clothing

10
4
2
2
1
1

Total Reported Causes

20

50%
20%
10%
10%
5%
5%

Failures when Darts Deploy
Clothing
Single Dart
Miss
Unknown
Low Nerve / Muscle
Operator Error
Low Battery
Animal Use
Cartridge Failure
Dropped / Broken
Propped Up
Door Closed
Weapon Problem
Total

23
14
13
10
9
6
3
2
2
2
2
1
1
88

26.1%
15.9%
14.8%
11.3%
10.2%
6.8%
3.4%
2.3%
2.3%
2.3%
2.3%
1.1%
1.1%

Clothing Penetration

Total of All Failure Causes
Clothing
Low Nerve / Muscle
Miss
Single Dart
Unknown
Operator Error
Low Battery
Weapon Problem
Decided not to use
Dropped / Broken
Animal Use
Cartridge Failure
Propped Up
Door Closed
TOTAL

24
19
15
15
10
6
5
5
3
3
2
2
2
1
112

21.4%
17.0%
13.4%
13.4%
8.9%
5.6%
4.5%
4.5%
2.7%
2.7%
1.8%
1.8%
1.8%
0.9%

Location of Use
Indoor
Jail / Hospital
or
Indoor + Jails

405 27.2%
188 12.6%

Outdoor

894 60.1%

TOTAL:

593 39.9%

1,487

Injuries to Suspects
None

1,443 87.7%

Minor
176 10.7%
(Puncture wounds from probes & misc. cuts)
Moderate
19
1.2%
(Abrasion, skinned knee, carpet burn, testicle shot,
penis shot, cut to mouth, cuts from falling onto glass)
Severe
7
0.42%
(Dog bites, self-infliction, officer battle)

Normal Probe Mark

“Sensitive” Probe Hit

Face Probe Hit

Injuries to Officers
None

1,565 95.1%

Minor

74

4.5%

(Officers involved with fighting suspects or arresting them)

Moderate

5

0.3%

(Knife thrown at officer cutting arm, knee injury officer ran into obstacle,
struggle prior to TASER use, officer fell during chase & fractured arm,
groin kick prior to TASER)

Severe

1

0.06%

(Officer attacked by 6-8 juveniles, M26 used in stun gun mode - suspect
poor batteries)

Reno Police Use Quote
• 8/21/00 M26 shot fired at suicidal man with shard
of broken glass. Subject slashed wrists, ignored
verbal commands and rushed Sgt. Pittman.
Subject dropped by M26 safely.
• “The attending ER physician removed the probes
and commented on how little damage was done in
comparison to the damage he usually saw after a
subject was involved in a physical confrontation
with officers. Probes and self-inflicted slash to left
wrist and no injuries to officers.”

Comparison of Injuries
TASER Technology Reduces Injuries
80%

78%

78%

80%
70%

60%

Suspect
Injured

60%
50%

45%
36%

40%

29%

30%
20%

16%

18%
11%

10%

Chemical
Spray

Swarm

Kick

Baton

Punch

Flashlight

0%

Misc. body
force

5%

0% 0%

Officer
Injured /
Affected

TASER

20%

21%

29%

Force Type

Source: Study of Use of Force at Los Angeles Police Department, Greg Meyer. Statistics are for
7-Watt TASER technology deployed at LAPD.
Original Study Available at http://home.earthlink.net/~gregmeyer/injury.html on the internet.

DID WE ACCOMPLISH OUR
MISSION TO:
“REDUCE OFFICER AND
SUSPECT INJURIES BY
STOPPING THREATS FROM
A SAFE DISTANCE?”
YES

Company Background
Future News:
Enhanced clothing penetration
improvement

Penetrator Probe Stats
Probe

Mass Distance

Velocity Momentum

Energy

Reg.

1.58g

0’

164 fps 259

21.2

12’

100 fps 158 (-38%)

7.9 (-62.5%)

0’

104 fps 342

17.8

12’

83 fps

11.3 (36.4%)

Penetrator

3.29g

273 (-20.2%)

Physical Penetration of Layers of Standard Industrial Towels
Regular:

4 Layers

Penetrator:

12 Layers

Are there any
Questions?