Effective Alternatives: Tasers vs. Pepper Spray

Introduction

Law enforcement agencies worldwide are taught to use their judgement, discretion, and analytical skills when on the job. Part of that is knowing and understanding the use of force continuum. Police have several non-lethal forms of force to utilize such as the verbal commands, empty hand techniques, baton, pepper spray, and a taser. Unless the situation dictates otherwise, police are more likely to utilize non-lethal means of force over deadly force. Two of the most popular choices amongst police are the taser and pepper spray. Both options have positives and negatives. Although the taser is used more often, pepper spray is a superior choice between the two due to its effectiveness, range of use, decreased risk of injury to the offender, and smaller risks of failure.

Use of Force Measurements

What is the use of force continuum? Almost every police agency in the United States has a use of force policy that dictates when an officer can use a certain amount of force depending on the situation. The continuum is based on the officer’s assessment of the situation combined with the appropriate use of force option. The Vermont Criminal Justice Training Council utilizes the following assessments: compliant, passive resistance, active resistance, assaultive aggression, and deadly aggression. The complimenting use of force options are: cooperative controls, contact controls, compliance techniques, defensive tactics, and deadly force.

Compliance means the offender is obeying the officer’s commands. This can be gained by the officer’s presence, demeanor, verbal skills, etc. This is the lowest form of force on the force continuum. Passive resistance means the offender is refusing to obey the officer’s commands by not moving, tensing up, or even acting like dead weight. When this happens the officer is justified in using control holds with very little or no pain compliance. Low level physical techniques are allowed. Active resistance is when the offender is pulling away from the officer, trying to escape, trying to struggle, not showing hands. At this level the officer is justified in using control holds, baton for anatomical holds/anatomical compliance, and pepper spray.

Assaultive aggression is when the offender is physically fighting the officer either with strikes, grappling, and/or both. The officer is justified in utilizing empty hand and body strikes, bats strikes, pepper spray, and a taser. Deadly force is when the offender is attempting to cause serious physical injury or death to the officer or another person. In this instance the officer is justified in using their firearm, neck restraints, or any other means of defending themselves or someone else who is in imminent danger.

Oleoresin Capsicum AKA Pepper Spray

Oleoresin Capsicum (OC) is the technical term for pepper spray. OC can be used as a compliant technique and as a defensive tactic. OC is a natural substance whose main ingredient comes from peppers. When manufactured it becomes an oily resin that is propelled from a canister. The maximum range is six to ten feet with a minus distance of two feet. OC was introduced to law enforcement agencies in the 1980s and early 1990s. After the introduction of OC statistics on officer injuries began to drop (NIJ, pg. 4, 2003). When OC is used it creates incapacitation by “causing the eyes to tear and swell shut, mucus to drain profusely from the nasal passages, bronchial passages to constrict, and [make] breathing become more labored” (Mesloh, pg. 29, 2008). If the suspect cannot see or experiences difficulty breathing then it makes it even more difficult to fight with the arresting officer. “A 1999 study that examined 690 incidents of pepper spray use concluded that pepper spray was effective 85 percent of the time” (National Institute of Justice, pg. 10, 2003). A secondary study reported “OC spray was beneficial in that in 82.1% of the cases it temporarily incapacitated a violent or threatening subject and substantially reduced a violent situation without causing any lasting injuries” (Bertilsson, pg. 10, 2017).

As of 2018, it is reported that some agencies in Arkansas have opted to use pepper guns instead of tasers. “Cleburne County Sheriff Chris Brown said a shot from a pepper gun can incapacitate a person for 45 minutes versus five seconds for a Taser” (Bowden, 2018). A longer duration of incapacitation not only protects the officer, but also the suspect from any potential injuries during the arresting procedure. “OC is more versatile. I used it many times on patrol, and was very successful with it. The decontamination process only takes less than an hour to do” (Drew Bloom, retired Captain and Use of Force Expert for the Vermont Police Academy, 2021). Decontamination is a negative with OC. When the OC is sprayed there is a strong chance that the spray will affect other officers, get on their uniform, equipment, or even in their cruiser. Since OC is an oily resin it has to be washed off with water and a grease cutting soap such as Dawn dish soap.

With the versatility of OC it can be used to gain compliance, create a momentary distraction, or create an incapacitation of the suspect. OC application is an acceptable and reasonable use of force in situations such as a person barricaded in a room, attempting to escape, pushing or pulling away from officers, or physically assaulting an officer or someone else. The purpose is to create a momentary incapacitation to allow the officers to safely arrest the suspect. A study in 2008 reported 64.4% effectiveness out of 511 incidents in which OC was used once. Upon a second use out of 295 incidents OC effectiveness was 71.5% (Mesloh, pg. 55 & 58, 2008).

Health Concerns of OC

OC affecting the breathing has created some controversy over its uses as a less-lethal option for police to use. A study was done in North Carolina that examined deaths related to the use of OC. The study “examined 63 incidents nationwide in which people were sprayed with OC in the arrest process and later died in custody…exposure to pepper spray was a contributing cause of death in 2 of the 63 fatalities, and both cases involved people with asthma. In the other 61 cases, death was judged to have resulted from the arrestee’s use of drugs, disease, positional asphyxiation (which may occur when subjects are placed in a prone position, typically handcuffed behind the back, in which breathing becomes more difficult), or a combination of these factors” (National Institute of Justice, pg. 1, 2003).

If the officer is monitoring the offender, positional asphyxiation can be avoided altogether. Simply sitting an offender up can mitigate the risk. With OC being a natural substance, the health risks have been reported to either be associated with a pre-existing medical condition such as asthma or positional asphyxiation which is higher in those who are obese. “The results of all studies in this Research for Practice seem to confirm that pepper spray is a reasonably safe and effective tool for law enforcement officers when confronting uncooperative or combative subjects” (National Institute of Justice, 2019).

Unlike CEWs, OC has a greater chance of affecting the officer and any surrounding individuals. However, it is a relatively fast decontamination process that can be accomplished by “using cold water and a grease cutting soap like Dawn. After wetting your face just dab with paper towels” (Bloom, 2021). It is recommended that clothes be washed and surfaces be wiped down with either soap and water or a disinfecting wipe.

Conductive Electrical Weapon AKA Tasers

Conductive Electrical Weapon (CEW) is the technical term for tasers. CEWs are only available as a defensive tactic. CEWs as law enforcement currently utilize have been around since the early 2000s. The company widely associated with CEWs is AXON formerly known as TASER International. The general public know all CEWs as tasers. A CEW has two modes: pulse and drive-stun. “Pulse mode, causes neuromuscular incapacitation as the neural signals that control muscles become uncoordinated, and muscles contract at random. The second mode, drive-stun, uses pain to get compliance” (Patel, 2018).

A CEW is designed to shoot electrical probes into the suspect and emit an electrical shock for five seconds. “The taser delivers 19 short pulses per second over 5 seconds, with an average current of 2 milliamps, according to TASER manufacturer Axon. It creates an electric field, which stimulates nerve cells called alpha motor neurons to send an electrical impulse. The impulse travels to muscles and causes short, sustained muscle contractions” (Patel, 2018).

When the probes are fired, they spread apart and puncture the skin of the suspect. The goal is to get a probe in the back and the leg of the suspect. When the shock is administered it locks up the northern and southern muscular hemispheres of the body creating incapacitation. Out of 2,113 use of force incidents a CEW had an effectiveness of 69.1% in which the CEW was used once. In a second application out of 806 use of force incidents the CEW had an effectiveness of 66.5% (Mesloh, pg. 55 & 58 2008). A CEW can be used to create incapacitation through muscle manipulation by shooting the offender with the probes, or with pain compliance by using drive-stun mode. “Tasers require specific targets and are only used during assaultive aggression. They don’t require talent and skill. It is just point and shoot” (Bloom, 2021).

Some police departments think of the CEW as the end all be all for apprehending an offender. It is a tool to be used by the officer, but cannot complete the job alone. “The Los Angeles Police Department reported that between 2014 and 2018, Tasers were effective 56.6 percent of the time, ranging from 53 to 64 percent. Seattle police reported that, in 15 of 49 incidents in 2018, 30.6 percent, the Taser had no effect, and in seven more its effect was limited. Seattle defines “effective” as the ability to take the suspect into custody” (Standard, 2020). A CEW does not mean the offender will stop resisting. If the officers do not train on a consistent basis and utilize numerous techniques and skills then they cannot adapt to different situations and combine skills.

Axon has made many claims since the popularity of CEWs climbed. “CEO Rick Smith said Tasers were "80 to 95% effective in the field”” (Gilbert, 2019). However, data from 2019 from twelve of the largest police agencies in the country have an average effectiveness rate of 68.5%. El Paso, Texas has the highest at 79.5%. Axon has updated their current line of tasers and replaced older models. The current models are the TASER X26P, TASER X2, and the newest model TASER 7. However, the X26P and X2 “were designed to be safer for suspects, because they put out less electrical charge than the older X26” (Gilbert, 2019). By doing so it has made them less effective as was reported by Los Angeles, Houston, and New York. Los Angeles reported the effectiveness of the X26 as 60.9% compared to the X26P of 63.9%. Houston reported the X26 as 74.7% compared to the X2 at 69%. New York reported the X26 as 78% and the X26P as 71.9% (Appendix B chart, 2019).

Although tasers are effective there is still a chance of them not working appropriately due to factors such as baggy clothing, excessive clothing layers, probes not landing, or the suspect removing the probes themselves. In colder areas such as New England if people are wearing heavy or thick jackets during the winter the effectiveness of a probe landing successfully is greatly affected. There are other factors such as a probe coming loose, a malfunction, the offender breaks the wire, the officer misses etc. In a study done in 2003 out of 2,113 incidents, officers missed 209 times. The same study reported over fifty cases where the CEW was used when deadly force would have been justified ((Mesloh, pg. 55, 2008).

Health Concerns of CEW

CEWs have been controversial since their adoption by police agencies around the country. CEWs need to work together with control holds in order for police to ensure the arrest. Approximately “14 police departments, counties and cities that saw a Taser-related death or other serious Taser-related incident in 2018, [with] a total of at least 1,081 U.S. deaths following use of Tasers, almost all since the weapons began coming into widespread use in the early 2000s” (Reid, 2019). One of the biggest concerns is the effect the 50,000 volt shock will have on the person, specifically the organs. Axon’s training recommends that officers shoot the probes into the back of the offender rather than the chest.

A study was conducted and reviewed eight cases in which an X26 CEW was used on the chest of a healthy male. The experiment placed one or both barbs on the chest near the heart. All cases except one died. When tested on a pig “In 1 example, intravenous epinephrine in an anesthetized pig, infused at a concentration that increased the spontaneous sinus rate 50% to replicate the clinical “fight or flight” situation, improved the TASER model X26 electrical capture ratio from 3:1 to 2:1 and resulted in VF [ventricular fibrillation] induction” (Zipes, pg. 2419, 2012).

However, this study seems to support the notion of someone having a pre-existing medical condition prior to experiencing the taser. “For people without heart issue, the electrical discharges of the TASER device are too short to affect the heart muscle or cause abnormal heart rhythms. Serious injuries represent less than one percent of injuries from TASERs, as noted in a 2009 study published in the Annals of Emergency Medicine that looked at more than 1,200 uses of conducted electrical weapons by law enforcement officers against criminal suspects” (Patel, 2018). An overlooked injury that can be caused from CEW uses is a brain injury from falling. If the person is running, climbing, standing, etc. and experiences a taser there is a chance the offender will fall to the ground. If there is debris or an object in the area there exists a risk of the offender hitting their head.

Conclusion

Both the CEW and OC are very effective tools that are more than capable in assisting an officer in using a less-lethal approach to apprehending an offender. While CEWs are more intimidating and create more pain towards the offender, OC is not only a more versatile option but also has fewer health risks when used due to its prolonged effects and range. Whichever less-lethal option officers/agencies decide to use the main takeaway is that officers must train with these tools. Police agencies are required to qualify multiple times a year with their duty weapon to ensure proficiency. Perhaps if police were required to qualify with the CEW and OC the effectiveness would increase while officer injuries and competence would increase.

References

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Bloom, D. (n.d.). Use of Force Expert and Retired Director of Training at Vermont Police Academy. Personal.

Bowden, B. (2018, August 14). Some Lawmen in Arkansas Opt to Use Pepper Guns Instead of Tasers. Arkansas Online. Retrieved November 27, 2021, from https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2018/aug/14/some-lawmen-opt-to-use-pepper-guns-2018/.

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Zipes, D. P. (2012, April 30). Sudden Cardiac Arrest and Death Following Application of Shocks From a Taser Electronic Control Device. Circulation. Retrieved November 26, 2021, from https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/full/10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.112.097584.

Appendix A

State of Vermont Reported Use of Tasers

Appendix B