Law Enforcement

Teaming up with the COPS Office, IACP held a symposium on emerging use of force issues in 2011 that resulted in this 2012 summary report. Recommendations stemming from the symposium addressed: public perception, factual documentation of incidents, managing force (chief’s duty), officer training post-academy, and officer mindset.

This article examines legal issues pertinent to the lawful police use of deadly force.

In collaboration with the National Institute of Justice and the Montgomery County Police Department, IACP developed a nine-step strategy for effective deployment of this force technology. The report focuses on policies, training, and the role of police leaders in overseeing the acquisition and successful deployment of EMDT.

Thousands of law enforcement agencies throughout the United States have adopted conducted energy devices (CEDs) as a safe method to subdue individuals, but are these devices really safe? What policies should agencies adopt to ensure the proper use of this technology? This NIJ Conference Panel discusses the physiological effects of electrical current in the human body caused by CEDs, as well as how this technology can reduce injuries to officers and suspects when appropriate policies and training are followed.

The goal of this report is to share the CED glossary of terms and national CED guidelines for consideration, and to provide a context for how these items were developed.

After discussing the features, symptoms, and treatment of excited delirium syndrome (ExDS), this article discusses law enforcement settings and activities likely to precipitate this disease, as well as how law enforcement officers can be better prepared to respond appropriately to ExDS.

This study sought to determine whether stress-related biomarkers can differentiate persons suffering from Excited Delirium Syndrome (ExDS), who need emergency medical evaluation and treatment, from persons with agitation and stress under other circumstances, including agitation and extreme physical exhaustion and restraint coupled with emotional stressors.

This study examined excited (or agitated) delirium.While there is still much to be discovered about the pathophysiology and treatment, it is hoped that this extensive review will provide both police and medical personnel with the information necessary to recognize and respond appropriately to excited delirium.

This report presents the results of a meeting convened to examine the problem of Excited Delirium Syndrome, including the identification of a long range goals for developing a set of interventions dealing with ExDS.

Although the effects of conductive energy weapons (CEWs) on healthy, anesthetized swine and normal human beings are apparently transient, concerns have been raised about their use on vulnerable populations, which include individuals who have a compromised physiology that involves the abnormal state of excited delirium (ED), which may be due to drug abuse or psychosis; the current study used a modified fixed volume hemorrhage model, along with external warming, to create the reported patho-physiology in testing the effects of CEW.

The purpose of this article is to identify and rank factors associated with sudden death of individuals requiring restraint for excited delirium.

This study analyzes 11 cases of sudden death of men restrained in a prone position by police officers, with 9 being "hogtied," 1 tied to a hospital gurney, and 1 manually held prone.

Provides a medical analysis and perspective on the diagnosis and treatment of Excited Delirium.

De-escalation is when we use our assertive communication skills to calm down someone who is agitated, angry or temporarily out of control, and take charge of a situation to reduce potential violence.

The recommendations identified by the subject matter experts and memorialized in this report are intended to assist law enforcement personnel in attaining safety and security while mitigating the potential for violent confrontations.

Introduces students to the Fourth Amendment’s objective reasonableness standard, as laid out by the 1985 Supreme Court decision in Graham v. Connor. Tennessee v. Gardner examples when force highly likely to have deadly effects is reasonable. (Part III)

Following the precedent of Tennessee v. Gardner, other court cases followed, such as Scott v. Harris, Plumhoff v. Rickard, and San Francisco v. Sheehan, each of which is examined here. (Part IV)

MP3 recording (and Transcript) of a presentation by Tim Miller and Brad Lawrence regarding the Supreme Court's April 30, 2007 decision on use of force in Scott v. Harris.

These resources explain when the Fourth Amendment applies, and what constitutes a reasonable search or seizure. Officers learn what is needed to obtain a search or arrest warrant, how to properly execute a warrant, and when an exception to the warrant requirement applies.

This manual, referred to as the MPD Policy and Procedure Manual, is general in scope and is meant to inform and guide all employees on matters of department-wide concern.

The purpose of this policy is to provide departmental guidelines to trained officers of the Salisbury Police Department in the use and carry of less lethal weapons, specifically oleoresin capsicum spray or OC, as well as when medical attention is needed after the use of such weapons.

This policy provides for the safe and appropriate response to individuals suffering from Excited Delirium (ED). The purpose is not to confine deputies into a particular response, but rather to recognize the dangers to all parties involved, and to give deputies an opportunity to have necessary resources on hand.

The purpose of this policy is to provide guidance and direction in the handling of individuals who appear to be in a state of excited delirium (ExDS), a serious and potentially deadly medical condition involving psychotic behavior, elevated temperature, and an extreme fight-or-flight response by the nervous system. Failure to recognize the symptoms and involve emergency medical services (EMS) to provide appropriate medical treatment may lead to death.

De-escalation may take the form of scene management, team tactics, and/or individual engagement. Even when individual engagement is not feasible, de-escalation techniques including scene management and team tactics that utilize time, distance, and shielding, will still be used unless doing so would create undue risk of harm to any person due to the exigency/threat of a situation.