Less Lethal
The Less Lethal topic section covers the complex topic of nonlethal force using TASERs and other weapons by police officers, with the latest news, training and expert columns.
“The goal is to prevent whatever the situation is from escalating up to the point that force would have had to be used.”
Training, tactics and tools give officers options for resolving potential conflict without contact
BolaWrap can mitigate liability, enhance officer safety, minimize trauma and gain compliance without pain
Any officer employing a TASER against an armed subject should be working in tandem with an officer armed with a firearm
By analyzing case law, we can glean constitutional guidance concerning when the use of a TASER is lawfully appropriate and when it is constitutionally excessive
Early police forces used the billy club as a tool and a symbol of authority
Officers demonstrate effective use of less lethal options
Being hit with one of the sponge-tipped bullets is much like being pinged with a baseball or hockey puck
When cops assess a potential threat, they determine whether lethal force is necessary or if one of several “less lethal” tools such as a baton, OC or TASER will be successful
Attorney Laura Scarry says that law enforcement trainers to develop effective tactics that do not involve pain compliance for controlling subjects who are resistant, mentally ill, but not violent toward others
The electronic control device that is used today was invented by NASA aerospace scientist Jack Cover
Linwood Lambert Jr. died in 2013 after officers who brought him to a hospital for a mental health evaluation used ECDs to subdue him
The state passed a law that allows police to use drones equipped with non-lethal devices such as TASERs
There are currently 700 TASERs in use by the department and another 1K in inventory
Family’s attorney believes gas inside the vehicle was ignited by the ECD, causing the deadly explosion
Police chief shot a suspect armed with a knife in a confrontation Tuesday
Four NYPD officers were injured after a man hurled a child’s bicycle from a fifth-floor balcony during the arrest of a suspect Sunday
The man stripped off his clothes during a crowded bar crawl, then hopped in a vehicle and hit several other cars
Surveillance video captured a tense standoff between a knife-wielding man and officers in a jail
Police in Camden used a TASER for the first time to take down a mentally ill woman threatening officers with a foot-long knife
Officer Adam Pearson pulled over unruly Robert Zygarowski, 52, when the fracas began
Suspect was arrested after attacking an off-duty officer and staff at a medical center, where he was taken after exhibiting bizarre behavior
Incident began when State Patrol received multiple 911 calls about a tan pickup stopped in the center lanes of the bridge
New videos show negotiations with officers attempting to get James Boyd to leave his campground slowly deteriorated over the course of three hours
Jon Meis and other students stopped the gunman Thursday at Seattle Pacific University
Four people, including a young man who died, were taken to Harborview Medical Center
Efforts to change the way officers approach animals have emerged as lawsuits have chipped away at law enforcement agencies
Michael Fujikawa sued the city, claiming his arrest was payback for refusing to put his hands on the dashboard and mouthing off to an officer
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