Legal Officers Section
2005 IACP Conference
Miami, Florida
September, 2005
Legal Developments in Use of Force,
With Special Emphasis on Tasers
Fabrice Czarnecki, M.D., M.A., M.P.H. *
Director of Medical-Legal Research
The Gables Group, Inc.
Baltimore, MD
If properly used:
• May reduce use of
deadly force
• May reduce injuries to suspects
• May reduce injuries to officers by suspects
• May reduce litigation by injured suspects
Recommendations
• Only use TASER for physically assaultive subjects
• Limit number of TASER exposures when possible (3 is probably a
reasonable number)
• Identify high-risk subjects: age extremes, pregnancy, excited delirium
• If possible avoid using TASER on pregnant women, elderly and very
young
• Weigh the alternatives to the TASER (deadly force, baton…) and use
TASER when preferable to alternatives
• Allow appropriate exceptions to limits on TASER use: It is better to
be “tasered” than shot!
• Train all officers in excited delirium recognition and management
• Call EMS if high-risk subject
• Call EMS if more than 3 TASER exposures
• TASER's should not replace training and other weapons (defensive
tactics, baton, firearm…)
• When properly used, TASER is generally non-deadly force, but should be
considered higher on the physical force scale than OC
• Safest to avoid exposure during training, whether students volunteer
to be exposed or not
* Fabrice Czarnecki, M.D. is the Director of Medical-Legal Research
of The Gables Group, Inc.. He is a
graduate of the Necker-Enfants Malades School of Medicine of René Descartes
University in Paris, France. He has also been awarded a Master of Public Health
degree from the Université Denis Diderot, Paris, and a Master of Arts (in
Biochemistry and Genetics) degree from the Université René Descartes, Paris,
France. He is a graduate of the École Normale Superieure, Paris, France. He was
an Attending Physician in the Emergency Department of the Ambroise Paré
Hospital, Boulogne, France.