Exploring the Impact of Tasers on Officer and Suspect Injuries in a Transit Police Department

• In Event: Use of Force in a Transit Agency

Abstract

Police departments across the country have introduced the use of conductive energy devices (CEDs) in part because it is believed they will reduce injuries to officers and suspects. Despite some highly publicized incidents of death as a result of CED deployment, most research tends to support the idea that the use of CEDs reduces injuries to officers and suspects. Not much research, though, has been conducted on transit police and their use of force and injury rates. Thus, this study investigates whether injury rates vary by the type of force used by transit police and whether the introduction of CEDs, particularly tasers, reduced the rate of injuries overall.

Authors

• Natalie Schell-Busey, Rowan University

• Kimberly Houser, Rowan University

• Evan T. Sorg, Rowan University

• Carla Lewandowski, Rowan University