Risk factors associated with legal interventions.

Alfreda Holloway-Beth,Lee Friedman,Julia Lippert,Sherry Brandt-Rauf,Linda Forst,Sally Freels

doi:10.1186/s40621-016-0067-6

Abstract

BackgroundCurrent research regarding injuries caused during interactions between police officers and civilians is conducted intermittently or on a very narrow sample frame which provides very little clinical information about the injuries suffered or the adverse outcomes. The aim of this study is to identify comorbid risk factors and describe acute outcomes of medically treated traumatic injuries occurring as a result of contact with law enforcement personnel.MethodsFor this retrospective study, patients injured as a result of contact with law enforcement personnel were identified using ICD-9 external cause of injury codes from medical record databases of patients treated in all hospitals and trauma units in Illinois between 2000 and 2009.ResultsA total of 836 cases injured as a result of contact with law enforcement personnel were identified. These patients were more likely to suffer from substance abuse, depression, schizophrenia, and paralytic disorders compared to the reference cases. Persons injured as a result of contact with law enforcement personnel were predominately injured from being man-handled, unarmed blows, firearms or being struck by a blunt object. Although the injury severity did not differ from the comparison group, these patients had longer lengths of hospitalization, a greater proportion of injuries to the back and spine, and a greater proportion required extended care in an intermediate care facility (not a jail) following discharge.ConclusionsAlthough medical record data do not explain the detailed circumstances of the face-to-face encounters between law enforcement personnel and civilians, the data provide valuable information regarding who may be at risk of injury and the clinical features of injuries that are suffered following a legal intervention. Similar data systems should be considered to augment existing data systems.

Highlights

Current research regarding injuries caused during interactions between police officers and civilians is conducted intermittently or on a very narrow sample frame which provides very little clinical information about the injuries suffered or the adverse outcomes
Comorbidities Legal intervention patients were 2.3 times more likely to be diagnosed with a mental condition than the comparison group, in particular, they were substantially more likely to have a diagnosis of alcoholism, drug abuse/dependency, depression, and schizophrenia than those injured through general assaults not involving law enforcement (Table 1)
While other countries have registries for injuries caused as a result of contact with law enforcement personnel (Kesic et al 2013) in the U.S the public is largely left to search through media reports and court documents for information on the subject

Summary

Introduction

Current research regarding injuries caused during interactions between police officers and civilians is conducted intermittently or on a very narrow sample frame which provides very little clinical information about the injuries suffered or the adverse outcomes. According to data from the CDC, 4780 civilians died as a result of contact with law enforcement personnel between 1999 to 2010 – an average of 398 civilian deaths per year – with mortality hovering around 0.14 per 100,000 US population (Federal Bureau of Investigation 2001). There were an estimated 837,326 civilians who sought treatment in general emergency rooms between 2001 and 2011 for non-fatal injuries caused as a result of contact with law enforcement personnel (Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control 2014), with the age-adjusted incidence rates increasing from 21.9 in 2001 to 32.9 in 2013 per 100,000 US population (Federal Bureau of Investigation 2013), despite approximately 12 % drop in violent crime rates during the same period of time (Federal Bureau of Investigation 2001a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h). 97 officers were killed (49 feloniously killed) during 2012

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