NCJ Number
236824
Date Published
2011
Length
234 pages
Annotation
Conducted energy weapons (CEWs) have been used widely by law enforcement agencies over the past decade, this work presents findings concerning how CEW designs can become faulty and cause death.
Abstract
Conducted energy weapons, for the past decade, have been used widely by law enforcement agencies in British Columbia, across Canada, and internationally. They are designed to achieve control over a subject through pain compliance and/or through neuromuscular incapacitation. This work, Conductive Electronic Weapons and Their Faults, is a book based on a "Human Factors" research project originally focused on the issues and risks of law enforcement use of conductive electronic weapons (CEW), such as stun guns, tasers, etc., on commercial aircraft. The books focus expanded shortly after Robert Dziekanski died during a CEW incident at the Vancouver International Airport. Subsequently, those findings, and others related to CEW deaths, were included in the research project. The results of the project have been submitted to the Braidwood Commission on Conductive Energy Weapon Use (the Braidwood Inquiry), a British Columbia, Canada, study commission appointed to: 1) report on the utility and recommended/appropriate uses of CEWs and 2) provide the Dziekanski family and the public with a complete record of the circumstances of Robert Dziekanski's death and to make recommendations as necessary and appropriate. This book centers around the authors opinions, findings, and information submitted to the Braidwood Inquiry, and has reached a new, detailed hypothesis on how CEWs can cause death and how their basic designs can become faulty.