I read a statement by a police officer last night requesting an involuntary psychiatric evaluation on a young man who the officer stated was armed and telling the officer and others to "F***ing shoot me or I'll kill you!" Several such incidents occur yearly in SE Pennsylvania (USA) and seem to be increasing with issuance of Tasers to more police officers. There have been a few cases where an officer used a Taser to prevent bridge or RR attempts. There is some literature on Taser usage but little, if any, on this application that I have found. It appears that police are learning this use of technology "on the job" like so many other things. Given that so much suicide research is basically redundant this would seem to be an area worthy of at least some qualitative attention.
Dear Tony,
here are some papers on the use of Tasers:
Article Use of Tasers on people with mental illness A New Zealand da...
Article What we do not know about police use of Tasers™
Article Police and nurses should agree ground rules for use of Tasers
Article Police use of TASER devices in mental health emergencies: A review
Article As Police Use of Tasers Rises, Questions Over Safety Increas...
Beatrice--Thank you for the excellent answer and resources. Anne
- Badges
- Science topic
- Similar topics
- Psychology