Human Effectiveness and Risk Characterization of the Electromuscular Incapacitation Device - A Limited Analysis of the TASER. Part 1. Technical Report

Abstract

Abstract : Non-Lethal Weapons (NLWs) becoming increasingly important assets in nontraditional military operations, such as peacekeeping missions or humanitarian aid operations, where the use of lethal force may not be a desired first response for force protection. NLWs weapons that are explicitly designed and primarily employed so as to incapacitate personnel or materiel, while minimizing fatalities, permanent injury to personnel, and undesired damage to property and the environment (DoD, 1996). Various types of weapons part of the Department of Defense (DoD) non-lethal weapons program, employing riot control agents, electromagnetic, mechanical, or acoustic technologies. DoD Directive 3000.3 calls for these weapons to an appropriate balance between the competing goals of having a low probability of causing death, permanent injury, and collateral materiel damage, and a high probability of having the desired anti-personnel or anti-materiel effects: (DoD, 1996). In an effort to achieve this balance the Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Human Effects Center of Excellence (JNLW HECOE) requested that Toxicology Excellence for Risk Assessment (TERA) organize a workshop of leading risk assessment experts, who were joined by Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) from the DoD and its contractors, to develop a framework for characterizing the risks from military use of NLWs. The results of risk characterization to provide decision-makers with the probability of intended target response effects and unintended effects so that the risk could be weighed against the effectiveness and benefits of using NLWs. The TASER International Database (TI data) was provided by TASER International in July 2003. The TI data consists of 3,459 records submitted by individuals in the U.S. and Canada. The TI data includes information on a specific use of a TASER. The report includes information on the target individual, how and why the device was used, the number of shots fired, and the outcome. 7