Concerns About the Use of TASERs® On People with Mental Illness in New Zealand

O’Brien, Anthony; McKenna, Brian

doi:10.1111/j.1939-3938.2007.tb00110.x

Cited by 5 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…2). 8 They attach to the subject's skin or clothing and deliver up to 50 000 V of electricity with 1.76 J of energy in rapid pulses of 15–19 electrical shocks/s over 5 s 1,2 . The TASER produces a current peak of 18 A that lasts for around 10 ms 7 .…”

Section: Mechanism Of Actionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The TASER produces a current peak of 18 A that lasts for around 10 ms 7 . This results in involuntary muscle contraction and overwhelming pain to the subject and causes them to fall to the ground 5,8 . In field use it is common for more than one shock to be administered to facilitate control of the situation 3,5,8 …”

Section: Mechanism Of Actionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The TASER has been used extensively across the USA for many years, both by police departments and for private use. It has also recently been introduced into police forces in countries such as the UK and Canada as an alternative to firearms in violent situations 1,3,8 …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It has also recently been introduced into police forces in countries such as the UK and Canada as an alternative to firearms in violent situations. 1,3,8 Use of the TASER, however, remains controversial, and its safety continues to be debated in both the lay press and medical literature. Emergency physicians need to be aware of the mechanism of action, the potential injury patterns associated with TASER use and the implications for patient assessment and management.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Review article: Emergency department implications of the TASER

Robb

Furyk

et al. 2009

Emerg Medicine Australasia

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The TASER is a conducted electricity device currently being introduced to the Australian and New Zealand police forces as an alternative to firearms in dealing with violent and dangerous individuals. It incapacitates the subject by delivering rapid pulses of electricity causing involuntary muscle contraction and pain. The use of this device might lead to cardiovascular, respiratory, biochemical, obstetric, ocular and traumatic sequelae. This article will summarize the current literature and propose assessment and management recommendations to guide emergency physicians who will be required to review these patients.

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Section: Mechanism Of Actionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Mechanism Of Actionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Review article: Emergency department implications of the TASER

Robb

Furyk

et al. 2009

Emerg Medicine Australasia

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“…A New Zealand‐based descriptive analysis of Taser use between 2006 and 2007 found incidents involved people in mental health distress in approximately one in five occasions (O'Brien et al . ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Police and mental health responses to mental health crisis in the Waikato region of New Zealand

Holman

O’Brien

Thom

2018

Int J Mental Health Nurs

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New Zealand police report a high level of involvement with people in mental health crisis, something that has been reported in the international literature in recent decades. Involvement of police represents a coercive pathway to care and is likely to be associated with use of force. The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical, legal, and social characteristics of individuals subject to police response in the Waikato region of New Zealand. Data were also collected on characteristics of police response, including use of force, time of day, and disposition. Use of force, most commonly use of handcuffs, occurred in 78% of cases involving police. The study showed that Māori were overrepresented in police responses, but no more likely than Europeans to experience use of force. Almost half those subject to police response were not subsequently admitted to hospital, raising questions about the need for and nature of police response in these cases. Because mental health nurses are often part of police response, nurses need to take cognisance of their relationship with police and contribute to any initiatives that can reduce coercion in the pathway to care, and improve service users' experience in mental health crises.

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Civil juror compensation and judgments of police use of force at the intersection of race and mental illness

Sturges

Flick

Provenza

et al. 2022

Behavioral Sci & The Law

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More than 53 million people come in contact with police each year, with people of color and those with mental illness (MI) being subjected to increased rates of contact. Sometimes police and civilian interactions have fatal outcomes, and these populations are disproportionately affected. As a result, families of these victims sometimes seek monetary compensation through civil litigation. The current study sought to understand how victim race and mental illness might impact civil juror decision‐making in deadly police use of force cases. Participants (N = 177) were exposed to trial evidence and were assessed on a number of dimensions. Results display a strong influence of mock jurors' attitudes toward police legitimacy on compensatory damages, as well as interaction effects between attitudes toward police legitimacy and victim race on punitive damage awards and opinions on what professional consequences the involved police officer should face. Implications and future directions are discussed.

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Concerns About the Use of TASERs® On People with Mental Illness in New Zealand

Cited by 5 publications

References 7 publications

Review article: Emergency department implications of the TASER

Review article: Emergency department implications of the TASER

Police and mental health responses to mental health crisis in the Waikato region of New Zealand

Civil juror compensation and judgments of police use of force at the intersection of race and mental illness

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