Campus Law Enforcement Use-of-Force and Conducted Energy Devices: A National-Level Exploratory Study of Perceptions and Practices

• NCJ Number: 226334
• Journal: Criminal Justice Review Volume: 34 Issue: 1 Dated: March 2009 Pages: 29-43
• Author(s): Ross Wolf; Tina Pressler; Mark Winton
• Date Published: March 2009
• Length: 15 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study explored the varying perceptions of United States campus police agencies that have led to the issuance of conducting energy devices (CEDs) to campus police officers.

Abstract

Even though studies tend to agree that CEDs are effective and safe, the purchase of CEDs for university law enforcement agencies can be deterred due to the negative public opinion they attract and fear of agency liability. The absence of CEDs on many college campuses could be attributed to the social stigma they have received. Twenty-three of the 87 campus police agencies (26.4 percent) surveyed in this study reported utilizing CEDs; this is comparable with the reported 23 percent of small police departments nationally. This study is one of the first to look at the use of CEDs on college campuses. Although many police departments throughout the Nation have been quick to incorporate the use of CEDs within their use-of-force policies, the use of these devises on college campuses has been relatively unexamined in the literature. Utilizing a stratified random sample of public 4-year universities and colleges throughout the United States, this article addressed campus police agency decisions regarding CEDs as a less-than-lethal force alternative. Tables, appendix, note, and references