Unexpected Arrest-Related Deaths in America: 12 Months of Open Source Surveillance
Introduction: Sudden, unexpected arrest-related death (ARD) has been associated with drug abuse, extreme delirium or certain police practices. There is insufficient surveillance and causation data available. We report 12 months of surveillance data using a novel data collection methodology.Methods:...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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eScholarship Publishing, University of California
2009-05-01
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| Series: | Western Journal of Emergency Medicine |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://escholarship.org/uc/item/11b4x28d |
| _version_ | 1818129480455028736 |
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| author | Ho, Jeffrey D Heegaard, William G Dawes, Donald M Natarajan, Sridhar Reardon, Robert F Miner, James R |
| author_facet | Ho, Jeffrey D Heegaard, William G Dawes, Donald M Natarajan, Sridhar Reardon, Robert F Miner, James R |
| author_sort | Ho, Jeffrey D |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Introduction: Sudden, unexpected arrest-related death (ARD) has been associated with drug abuse, extreme delirium or certain police practices. There is insufficient surveillance and causation data available. We report 12 months of surveillance data using a novel data collection methodology.Methods: We used an open-source, prospective method to collect 12 consecutive months of data, including demographics, behavior, illicit substance use, control methods used, and time of collapse after law enforcement contact. Descriptive analysis and chi-square testing were applied.Results: There were 162 ARD events reported that met inclusion criteria. The majority were male with mean age 36 years, and involved bizarre, agitated behavior and reports of drug abuse just prior to death. Law enforcement control techniques included none (14%); empty-hand techniques (69%); intermediate weapons such as TASER device, impact weapon or chemical irritant spray (52%); and deadly force (12%). Time from contact to subject collapse included instantaneous (13%), within the first hour (53%) and 1-48 hours (35%). Significant collapse time associations occurred with the use of certain intermediate weapons.Conclusion: This surveillance report can be a foundation for discussing ARD. These data support the premise that ARDs primarily occur in persons with a certain demographic and behavior profile that includes middle-aged males exhibiting agitated, bizarre behavior generally following illicit drug abuse. Collapse time associations were demonstrated with the use of TASER devices and impact weapons. We recommend further study in this area to validate our data collection method and findings. [WestJEM. 2009;10:68-73.] |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-11T07:49:49Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-9a7a4013f0e144d99f3fe4ac8e23380d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1936-900X 1936-9018 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-11T07:49:49Z |
| publishDate | 2009-05-01 |
| publisher | eScholarship Publishing, University of California |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Western Journal of Emergency Medicine |
| spelling | doaj.art-9a7a4013f0e144d99f3fe4ac8e23380d2022-12-22T01:15:22ZengeScholarship Publishing, University of CaliforniaWestern Journal of Emergency Medicine1936-900X1936-90182009-05-011026873Unexpected Arrest-Related Deaths in America: 12 Months of Open Source SurveillanceHo, Jeffrey DHeegaard, William GDawes, Donald MNatarajan, SridharReardon, Robert FMiner, James RIntroduction: Sudden, unexpected arrest-related death (ARD) has been associated with drug abuse, extreme delirium or certain police practices. There is insufficient surveillance and causation data available. We report 12 months of surveillance data using a novel data collection methodology.Methods: We used an open-source, prospective method to collect 12 consecutive months of data, including demographics, behavior, illicit substance use, control methods used, and time of collapse after law enforcement contact. Descriptive analysis and chi-square testing were applied.Results: There were 162 ARD events reported that met inclusion criteria. The majority were male with mean age 36 years, and involved bizarre, agitated behavior and reports of drug abuse just prior to death. Law enforcement control techniques included none (14%); empty-hand techniques (69%); intermediate weapons such as TASER device, impact weapon or chemical irritant spray (52%); and deadly force (12%). Time from contact to subject collapse included instantaneous (13%), within the first hour (53%) and 1-48 hours (35%). Significant collapse time associations occurred with the use of certain intermediate weapons.Conclusion: This surveillance report can be a foundation for discussing ARD. These data support the premise that ARDs primarily occur in persons with a certain demographic and behavior profile that includes middle-aged males exhibiting agitated, bizarre behavior generally following illicit drug abuse. Collapse time associations were demonstrated with the use of TASER devices and impact weapons. We recommend further study in this area to validate our data collection method and findings. [WestJEM. 2009;10:68-73.]http://escholarship.org/uc/item/11b4x28dSudden deathCustodial deathIn-Custody deathArrest Related DeathOpen Source Research |
| spellingShingle | Ho, Jeffrey D Heegaard, William G Dawes, Donald M Natarajan, Sridhar Reardon, Robert F Miner, James R Unexpected Arrest-Related Deaths in America: 12 Months of Open Source Surveillance Western Journal of Emergency Medicine Sudden death Custodial death In-Custody death Arrest Related Death Open Source Research |
| title | Unexpected Arrest-Related Deaths in America: 12 Months of Open Source Surveillance |
| title_full | Unexpected Arrest-Related Deaths in America: 12 Months of Open Source Surveillance |
| title_fullStr | Unexpected Arrest-Related Deaths in America: 12 Months of Open Source Surveillance |
| title_full_unstemmed | Unexpected Arrest-Related Deaths in America: 12 Months of Open Source Surveillance |
| title_short | Unexpected Arrest-Related Deaths in America: 12 Months of Open Source Surveillance |
| title_sort | unexpected arrest related deaths in america 12 months of open source surveillance |
| topic | Sudden death Custodial death In-Custody death Arrest Related Death Open Source Research |
| url | http://escholarship.org/uc/item/11b4x28d |
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