Injuries Produced by Law Enforcement Use of

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Injuries Produced by Law Enforcement Use of
Less Lethal Weapons A Prospective Multicenter
Trial
Bean bag penetration of chest
Risks to participating agencies None.
Participation in this project will not present a
liability risk to any agency. Nothing submitted
to the central site will identify the agency or
suspect. All data is fully protected by federal
statutes and is non-discoverable for legal
proceedings. Incorporation of physician
medical review as part of the use of force
investigation process can improve the liability
stance of participating agencies.
Video Substudy Selected study sites will be
provided with compact video cameras to record
real world deployments of their LLWs. Video tapes
will be sent to the central study site, linked
only to the de-identified case report. A staff
member at the central study site will convert the
video to digital format and complete the
de-identification process by masking any suspect
facial features or other audio or video
information that could compromise suspect or
agency identity. The de-identified video will be
analyzed by study investigators and the NIJ
Less-Than-Lethal Technologies Program. Study
sites that meet the minimum number of submissions
will be allowed to keep the video equipment at
the conclusion of the study.
Study announcement Site Recruitment
Dont we already know this? No. Case
reports reflect the rare serious injuries that
can occur with LLW use, and a few small
retrospective series have been published. But
they all lack a critical element the
denominator. Despite thousands of uses over many
years, there are no prospective reports that
track and assess all patients struck by LLWs to
reveal the overall proportion who suffer
injuries. Thus the overall safety and injury rate
associated with these weapons remains unknown.
Several groups including LLW and munition
manufacturers and the National Tactical Officers
Association (NTOA) host web-based sites that
request information on LLW use and injuries.
These convenience sample databases are excellent
tools for some uses but cannot scientifically
demonstrate the prevalence or severity spectrum
of injuries. A prospective multi-center study
that captures all LLW uses and includes physician
review of injuries in all subjects is sorely
needed. By involving multiple law enforcement
jurisdictions utilizing LLWs in real world
conditions the external applicability of such
data will be high. The study will allow
physicians and law enforcement agencies to
finally assess the overall safety of these
weapons.
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Bean bag penetration of hand

• Site Inclusion Criteria
• Mandatory
• At least 25 LLW uses per year including kinetic
  impact projectiles and Tasers.
• Active tactical physician, established role with
  law enforcement agency.
• Stable personnel, 1-2 year commitment to data
  collection.
• Desirable
• Single (or few) hospital facility(ies) involved
• Physician investigator on medical staff

Benefits to participating agencies Participating
teams will make a major contribution to medical
and law enforcement knowledge. Publications
arising from the study will bring positive public
recognition. Site investigators and their teams
will be offered a modest case report fee for
reviewing use of force reports and filling out
and submitting case report forms. (15,000 is
available.) In keeping with the philosophy of
team participation, these funds will be sent to
the sites tactical team to be used as
discretionary funds. Some teams may decide to
compensate their team physician directly, while
others may use the funds to purchase medical
equipment or needed tactical gear.
Interested? Download study information and forms
at www1.wfubmc.edu/em/Research/LessLethalWeapon
sStudy.htm OR email the principal investigator
at LLWstudy_at_wfubmc.edu