NIJ In-Custody Death Study: The Impact of Use of Conducted Energy Devices
An increasing number of law enforcement agencies are using conducted energy devices as a part of their use of force continuum. (The technology is often called electro-muscular disruption.) At the same time, the number of deaths reported to be associated with the technology also has increased.
NIJ has commissioned a study to help understand whether the technology can contribute to or cause death and, if so, in what ways. The study is one of several NIJ-funded research projects on conducted energy devices.
The study, titled "In-Custody Deaths Due to Use of Conducted Energy Devices," began in May 2006 and will last approximately 24 months; findings are expected in 2008.
Steering Group
The study's steering group is co-chaired by the NIJ Director and the President of the National Association of Medical Examiners. The group also includes a representative from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the College of American Pathologists.
The steering group is guiding the course of the study. It will select members of the mortality review panel described below and will oversee the development and delivery of the findings.
Mortality Reviews
A distinguished panel of physicians comprise a panel that conducts mortality reviews on each death reported to be associated with conducted energy devices. Findings from an autopsy and toxicological analysis will be combined with findings from the scene investigation, post-exposure symptomatology, and post-event medical care. The panel will assess any diseases the subject may have had at the time of death to determine whether the disease may have contributed to or caused the death.
The panel members include a cardiologist, an emergency medicine physician, five physician medical examiners, and a toxicologist. Consulting specialists will be available to the panel as needed and will include an anesthesiologist, clinical pathologist, electrophysiologist, epidemiologist, electrical engineer, neurologist, and psychiatrist.
Field Research
NIJ is partnering with the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) to conduct field research to support the mortality reviews of the deaths reported to be related to conducted energy devices. The IACP will bring together experienced investigators to collect data that will assist the reviewers in reconstructing the chain of events that occurred before the death.
The field researchers will not only gather data about deaths following use of conducted energy devices, they will also obtain data on in-custody deaths where no conducted energy device was involved, and they will obtain data on cases where a conducted energy device was used but where no death occurred. By comparing similar cases where different outcomes occurred, NIJ expects to determine whether the use of a conducted energy device did, in fact, contribute to those deaths previously reported by medical examiners and coroners.
For more information on these projects, contact Joe Cecconi, Senior Program Manager, Less-Lethal Technologies, by phone (202-305-7959) or at joseph.cecconi@usdoj.gov.