In policing, the use of force by law enforcement officers becomes necessary, but it falls on the officer’s discretion in what type of force is going to be used. For instance, non-lethal force are weapons and tactics that law enforcement uses on dangerous suspects that are less likely to kill. On the other hand, lethal force refers to the use of force that is likely going to cause a severe bodily injury or death to a suspect. Guns are known to be the most commonly deadly force that law enforcement use. However, some of the non-lethal force that a law enforcement officer use can consist of a chokehold, baton, rubber bullets, pepper spray, or even a taser gun. Yet, many of these non-lethal weapons are ineffective in a dangerous situation, which is why many law enforcement officers tend to use deadly force in these situations. Many of these weapons, like batons and pepper spray, become useless in close combat interactions with people who are impaired, which can put the officer in danger. Police batons were one of the first non-lethal equipment that law enforcement officers use to help detain criminals.
Now, these weapons are considered to be law enforcement officers go-to weapon against an unarmed suspect within a couple of feet away. Even though batons come in a variety of sizes, length, and weight, they tend to be a very effective tool in close-quarter combat when used in the right hands. Which is why they’re effective in controlling dangerous suspects, but they’re also some critical factors to considerd that affect how useful a baton can be, such as the type of stick, striking the correct area, and the power you generate. Batons come in a variety of lengths and weights, and it’s up to each police officer to determine which one they’re comfortable using. Some batons are heavy in weight, which impacts their effectiveness when it comes to performance, while others are light, which makes it convenient to carry around. Along with its weight, the length of the batons is essential because longer batons are effective when keeping suspects at a distance but are usually uncomfortable to carrying around. Another aspect of improving the effectiveness of a baton is striking the victim in the correct area. Therefore, some of the target areas that are recommended to hit a victim consist of their arms, legs, chest. But it’s vital that you avoid their joints like their knees, elbows, shoulder area, and around their organs because these areas can cause severe and permanent injuries. It’s also essential to avoid their back because this area could lead to the suspect being paralyzed. Another area to avoid striking is the suspect head because it’s very dangerous area. Therefore, it could be considered a deadly strike (Klugiewicz, 2010).
A police baton is a very effective weapon in the right hands. Like Bob Willis, a police trainer and martial artist, who arrived at a scene one day where a couple of other officers were dealing with a big, strong suspect threating to hurt any officer who approached him. The suspect wasn’t complying with any police order. Therefore, Willis approached him while drawing this police baton and swung one powerful strike at the suspect’s leg, which resulted in him dropping to the floor and shouting out, ‘I don’t want to resist anymore’ (Klugiewicz, 2010). This event demonstrates one of the many ways how effective a police baton is if law enforcement officers are properly trained to use one. Yet, if an officer isn’t trained properly, the police baton becomes relatively useless, which can put their lives in danger. For instance, if an officer isn’t properly trained, he could take a carless swing at the suspect and completely miss, which leaves the police officer in a vulnerable position. Or in certain situations, even if the police officers are properly trained, they could run into an altercation where the use of a baton swing has little to no impact on the target. These situations occur when the officers run into someone who mentally unstable, psychotic, or even under the influence of a powerful drug which effects their ability to feel pain (Klugiewicz, 2010).
Therefore, it’s usually recommended to use a taser gun in these dangerous altercations. In the past couple of decades, the taser gun has become an essential tool to detain suspects without putting an officer’s life in danger. Taser guns could be used at a safe distance, unlike a police baton, which is only useful in close combat situations. These taser guns are a great alternative to firearms, which is why this non-lethal tool is popular among every police department around the world. For example, every year, thousands of people who could have been shot by a deadly weapon are taken into police custody without any injuries because of a taser gun. A taser gun is known to be a great tool because it deploys electricity at the target, which locks up their muscles for a few seconds, just long enough for another officer to detain the suspect without inflecting any severe injuries. This is why many patrol officers carry and use taser guns as an alternative throughout the country. Yet, recent studies have shown that some of the largest departments have shown that taser guns are only effective around 55 percent of the time, “just a little better than a coin flip” (Gilbert et al., 2019). These chances are too risky to take, which puts the officers or any bystander’s life in danger. The American Public Media Reports founded that during a two year span, more than 250 lethal police shootings occurred after a taser gun failed to disable a suspect. And in half of those incidents, the taser gun escalated the incident because the violent electrical shock had little to no impact on them, which made the suspect more angry and violent.
The main reason that a taser gun is an ineffective tool in most situations is that the gun shoots out two barbed darts that are connected to thin electrified wires, and both darts have to hit the suspect in order to send a jolt of electricity. So, not only does the dart have to come into contact with the target, but the dart has to strike within at least an inch of the skin or penetrate it to get full jolt electricity (Gilbert et al., 2019). In fact, in a certain situation, when a law enforcement officer shoots a taser gun, and the darts come in contact with the target, the suspect will manage to remove the darts — or even break the electrical wires which will cut of the jolt of electricity. Also, if the target is wearing any loose clothing or even a bulky jacket, the darts won’t come in contact with the skin, which will have no impact on the suspect. For instance, in 2016 in Burlington, Vermont, a seventy-six-year-old man who was suffering from mental illness, whose condition was only getting worse, was shot and killed when a taser gun failed to work. Phil Grenon was an elderly man who had a clean background with no history of showing any violent outbreaks. Yet, on March 21, 2016, Grenon had a paranoid delusion, which causes him to start yelling dangerous threats at his neighbors for no apparent reason. When local law enforcement arrived at his doorstep in his apartment complex, Grenon confronted the police officers with a knife in each hand. While having a brief conversation with the police, Grenon shut the door, which led to a four-hour standoff. When several law enforcements entered Grenon apartment fully equipped, they shot a taser at him, which made him tense up momentarily, then Grenon approached the police officers while waving a knife, which led to several shots being fired. Showing that although taser guns are a great alternative to hands guns, they have about a fifty percent chance that they won’t work.
