In recent times police brutality has been a matter of discussion in the public sphere the use of Conducted Energy Weapons (CEWs) has been considered by many experts as suitable replacements to automatic firearms. CEWs are arguably considered a safer option to guns for use by law enforcement. However there has been a lot of controversy with regard to health implications of the use of CEWs. Supporters of the adoption of CEWS argue that whatever negative implications they may have, the positive outcomes are much more since they are less likely to cause serious injury or death to the targets. This paper examines the pros and cons of the use of conducted energy weapons by Virtual City Police Department. I will also examine the practicality of the use of CEWs in the United States of America where guns are easily accessible to the public. Evidence and scholarly material on the subject matter will be examined to support the use of CEWs or oppose it. The evidence in this paper should provide guidance on whether the Virtual City Police Department should adopt CEWs exclusively as their weapons of operation.
Conducted energy weapons come in different types with various mechanism of use. The most common CEW is known as the Taser, which was developed in 1970s and was initially classified as a firearm. The main mode of operation for CEWs is to physically incapacitate a person temporarily for purposes of immobilizing them. The main principle is that electrical pulses to the skin tissues through metal electrodes. Different CEWs devices pass different amounts of electricity to the target. They have been used largely by law enforcement around the world to make arrests of violent suspects of crime. Individuals should experience long-term effects of the CEWs when it has been applied to them. Though these CEWs devices are meant to be a none lethal use of force, they are not completely without risk. There have been reports of serious injuries and even death on application of CEWs but compared to other alternatives these numbers have been relatively low. In this paper I describe some of the health effects of CEWs.
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Implication of CEWs on Human Stress
The use of CEWs has been though to activate stress hormones through the release of adrenaline from the brain. These fight-or-flight response from targets on whom CEWs has been applied for prolonged periods may narrate experience of stress. However, it has also been pointed out that the situation of arrests that these CEWs are used are where the suspect is resisting arrest or using extreme violence which is likely to cause stress on its own. Prolonged presence of these stress hormones in the body has been proven to cause limit the flow of blood in the body, respiratory problems or even death to the individual. Even without the release of adrenaline related stress hormones, the increase in emotional feelings of panic, anger and anxiety can themselves be a significant cause of stress. Additionally, the pain on the body that is caused by the application of CEWs is extreme and in its own a source of a lot of stress. Individuals with history of drug use and medical conditions are more likely to experience more stress when subjected to CEWs.
Implication on Respiration
Breathing is a respiratory function that allows works with the muscles of the breathing system expanding and contracting to allow air in the circulatory system. Use of CEWs can make these organs to function poorly and cause failure in breathing. Limited expiration of carbon dioxide from the lungs and exhalation of oxygen from the lungs. This on the other hand limits metabolism in the body. Other functions that are affected by poor respiratory system include irregular heartbeats and acidity. There has been various evidence that point to correlation between impaired respiration and application of CEWs. Empirical evidence from human studies also point out to CEWs punching the lungs ending up causing poor ventilation. It has been demonstrated in a human study involving 23 subjects that individuals breathing greatly improved once the use of CEWs was withdraw from the subjects (VanMeenen et al., 2013). Other studies have also proven improved levels of blood acidity once exposure to CEWs was withdrawn from the subject.
Implication on Cardiac System
Stimulation of electricity on the heart has long been studied with evidence serious cardiac effects on exposure to electrical signals. Fatal cardiac arrest is arguably the leading cause of deaths by CEWs. Other factors largely contribute to cardiac arrest on exposure to the electrical charges from CEWs, these include; overweight and a history of cardiac arrest. Though increased weight may actually reduce the distance from the point of contact of electrodes from CEW and the heart, factors such as compressed blood vessels that come with obesity. These factors could lead to potential triggers of the heart leading to cardiac arrest.
Following this assessment on the health implications of CEWs on a targets body, the research, its is fair to determine its suitability by comparison with other weapons of use by law enforcement (Adler, 2017). Virtual City Police Department currently uses hand guns to handle arrests of suspects that resist arrest which statistically has much more fatalities and serious injuries related to it than CEWs. CEWs are also just as effective as handguns in subduing suspects resisting arrest. The only considerable advantage that handguns and other firearms have over CEWs is that they are effective over long distances. Some other pros and cons of CEWs as observed by members of the public are:
Pros
They are less lethal as compared to guns making it more ethically acceptable to use by law enforcement than firearms. As the most known benefit of CEW, they are getting global interest due to this fact, especially with the rise in activism against use of excessive force by law enforcement.
CEWs are less expensive to use and maintain than firearms. Manufacturing of firearms and ammunition is much costlier than CEWs. The purchase price of most CEWs is quite low compared to purchase price for guns plus their ammunition.
They are effective in immobilizing a suspect without serious consequences on them. CEWs like Tasers are useful in mobilizing violent suspect or those that resist arrest. Recent models have even been able to incapacitate suspects that have are able to resist too much.
Cons
Their level of effectiveness drastically reduces in scenarios of large distances between the police officer and the suspect. Most CEWs rarely go beyond 10 feet.
People who abuse drugs or have previous heart conditions may experience adverse health conditions or even death when CEW is applied to them. Such cases give CEW a bad publicity for wide spread adoption and use. It has also resulted to several court cases brought against police officer.
Most CEWs are bulky to carry around and complex to operate requiring a lot of training. For law enforcement to comfortably use CEWs, there needs to be vigorous training to ensure accurate and effective use. Since fire arms have a long history of use, there are effective methods of training for their use. CEWs rapidly change technology and require new understanding of their new mechanisms.
Lack of standardized mechanism, policy and technology for CEWs. Different CEWs operate with different mechanisms that keep changing with continued research for purposes of improvement. This has made it difficult for formulation of policy on use and standardized training programs.
To deal with these persistent gaps the local administration, needs to make some recommendations concerning the public and law enforcement. A thorough medical evaluation should be conducted on individuals that have been exposed to CEWs. This will reduce risk of health problems related to CEWs but also provide data to guide future research on the health effects oof CEWs. This will in turn build the knowledge on effects of CEWs and medical complication that may arise from exposure to them.
Also, more research studies need to be conducted on the subject of CEWs to inform local authorities and government agencies on how to implement the use CEWs. Such studies should be widely shared globally to raise more awareness on the health implications of using CEWs and how they can be managed effectively. The scope of study should also be extended to manufacturers of CEWs to determine standards they use in the making of their products. Efforts should be made to establish standards in CEW manufacturing and protocols in their mode of operation. Ethical consideration concerning vulnerable people should be addressed in such studies.
Information giving comparative data of CEWs risk and other alternatives should also be shared widely to create awareness on the relevancy of CEWs. Case studies on the use of CEWs should be analyzed and outcomes determined for guidance. Aspects of performance of the devices also need to be addressed to determine durability, source of electric voltage and type of environments that they operate in. All these interventions will inform on the use of CEW making it a prospective weapon of choice for law enforcement around the world reducing gun related deaths and injuries.
References
Adler, A. (2017). Test Procedure for Conducted Energy Weapons. https://doi.org/10.22215/cewtp2017
VanMeenen, K. M., Lavietes, M. H., Cherniack, N. S., Bergen, M. T., Teichman, R., & Servatius, R. J. (2013). Respiratory and cardiovascular response during electronic control device exposure in law enforcement trainees. Frontiers in Physiology, 4, 78.
