Factors associated with law enforcement–related use-of-force injury

Castillo, Edward M.; Prabhakar, Nitin; Luu, B.

doi:10.1016/j.ajem.2011.01.017

Cited by 18 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Additionally, it has been reported that firefighters have an injury rate 7 times that of the U.S. national average [3], and police officers have a 10% greater occurrence of injuries compared to firefighters [1]. Much research has been done in regard to police officer occupational health and safety in terms of the impact of shift work [4,5], fatigue [6], catastrophic or fatal injury [7], violence [8] and the use of force technologies (e.g., baton, oleoresin capsaicin spray, conductive energy device) [9][10][11][12]. Even though the risk of musculoskeletal injury (MSI) for police officers is high (RR: 11.65, 95% CI: 11.07-12.25) [2], research regarding MSI is lacking [8,13].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A description of musculoskeletal injuries in a Canadian police service

Lentz¹,

Voaklander²,

Gross³

et al. 2020

Int J Occup Med Environ Health

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Police officers run a risk of injury that is higher than in most other occupations. This study aims to quantify injury prevalence and identify common musculoskeletal injuries (MSIs) among police officers, using injury data from a municipal police service in Alberta, Canada. Material and Methods: This is a descriptive study based on a secondary data analysis of the MSIs reported to the police service over a 41-month period; January 1, 2013-June 2, 2016. Data from 1325 active police officers were examined, and injury prevalence was reported according to sex, injury diagnosis, the body part injured, and the work area. Results: The prevalence of strains and sprains was very high, at 89.2%. The back and shoulder were most frequently affected. Overall, injury proportions did not differ significantly across work areas. The injury risk was age-related but no significant differences in injuries between sexes were identified. Conclusions: Minor injuries such as strains and sprains occur frequently in the police occupation. Future research should focus on specific risk factors for MSIs in police officers in order to aid prevention.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A description of musculoskeletal injuries in a Canadian police service

Lentz¹,

Voaklander²,

Gross³

et al. 2020

Int J Occup Med Environ Health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…The number of subjects and officers present at the scene will affect the officer to subject ratio and thus, influence the officer's perceived risk. However, while this may affect an officer's risk assessment, a study by Castillo, Prabhakar and Luu (2012) did not find that the number of officers on scene was significantly associated to subject or officer injury. Situational factors also include the subject's perceived ability, which is influenced by the size and strength of the subject; emotional state; the influence of drugs and/or alcohol; and the presence or availability of weapons.…”

mentioning

confidence: 94%

“…Kaminski, DiGiovanni and Downs (2004) established that these judgementally impaired subjects have significantly increased odds of being involved in a use of force encounter. While it is intuitive that these factors might increase the risk of subject and officer injury, studies have not indicated such an association (Castillo, Prabhakar, and Luu 2012;Kesic, Thomas, and Ogloff 2013). Furthermore, the presence of weapons has one of the largest associations with officer injury (Castillo, Prabhakar, and Luu 2012).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While it is intuitive that these factors might increase the risk of subject and officer injury, studies have not indicated such an association (Castillo, Prabhakar, and Luu 2012;Kesic, Thomas, and Ogloff 2013). Furthermore, the presence of weapons has one of the largest associations with officer injury (Castillo, Prabhakar, and Luu 2012). Other situational factors include previous knowledge of the subject including prior dealings or information provided by a complainant, time and distance which involves the serious and imminence of the threat, and threat cues which can involve aggressive gestures or indicators of noncompliance.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Subject behaviour is typically broken down into five ordered categories on the IMIM: cooperative, passive resistance, active resistant, assaultive and threat of grievous bodily harm or death (Royal Canadian Mounted Police 2009a). Subject behaviour has been shown as a significant factor associated to subject and officer injury (Castillo, Prabhakar, and Luu 2012;MacDonald, Kaminski, and Smith 2009). Passive resistance is refusal or non-compliance to lawful orders with little to no action, while active resistance includes a component of non-violent action such as physical evasion.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Excited Delirium Syndrome (ExDS): Understanding the Issues and Reducing the Risks Associated with Police Use of Force

Baldwin¹

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The review of sudden and unexpected in-custody deaths (I-CDs) clearly demonstrates that there is a cluster of features which indicate that a subject is suffering from a medical emergency. For those who most frequently deal with these subjects (e.g., law enforcement, paramedics, emergency physicians, medical examiners) this is a real issue with serious implications. The labelling of this cluster of features as Excited Delirium Syndrome (ExDS) continues to be contentious. However a standardized and concise label with which meaning (e.g., medical emergency) can be assigned is necessary for the recognition, identification, intervention and treatment of these subjects. Additionally, despite there being many risk factors and a multitude of etiologies and pathophysiologies for ExDS, there are prevention and intervention strategies that can be employed within these dynamic and rapidly unfolding events to diminish adverse outcomes. Through the theoretical lens of symbolic interactionism and the sociology of diagnosis, this research examines the meaning attributed to ExDS, how this meaning influences actions as well as the risks and benefits of medicalization. This research presents promising intervention strategies for gaining control of these subjects, as well as risk factors and officer safety concerns. Furthermore, through the use of grounded theory and excerpts from use of force reports, this research provides an interpretive account of the extreme and violent nature of encounters with probable cases of ExDS, providing a better understanding of these situations. This research represents a new area of inquiry into non-fatal cases of ExDS and the prevention of sudden and unexpected I-CDs. The use of a mixed methods research iii design utilizes the strengths of qualitative and quantitative methods to analyze police use of force reports. This provides the opportunity to triangulate the results from each of these differing methodological approaches in order to elucidate, validate and generalize the findings. This gives both the depth and breadth required to inform law enforcement training and policy in the area of use of force and medically-high risk situations. As such, this research provides grounded recommendations for policy and training as a delivery mechanism of meaning as well as for equipment and use of force reporting. Thus, the overall focus and intent of this research is reducing the risk of I-CDs and improving police and public safety. x A.

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