I get into a bit of strife in a couple of police forums. For me, bit of a dinosaur now, the ECD should be of limited use. I need to explain that.
When cops only had personal firearms and batons and handcuffs if someone pulled a knife-edged weapon then you had several choices, all of which were, in their own way, unwelcome.
1. Shoot the person with the weapon.
2. Use a baton to try and disarm them.
3. Run away.
Then along came OC spray. But we know OC spray (and its other forms of streamer and foam) is of limited use. I think it's (I have never used it) okay in a fight when it's bare hands and you spray the subject to try and get compliance (ie stop bloody well fighting and get on the ground to be cuffed). It does have its limitations though, apparently some people are not affected by it and some people who are on various substances are, because of that fact, not affected either. But it's worth a try.
I would not advocate using OC spray against a person with a knife-edged weapon, it's just too hit and miss. Now for me this is where the ECD comes in. Someone is waving a knife-edged weapon and voice commands and persuasion have failed, would I want to use an ECD or a firearm? Give me the ECD.
And that's it. What perturbs this dinosaur is the "mission creep" of ECD use which we can see is happening. I have had face to face discussions over this and I'm a bit concerned that younger operational members can see no problem in using an ECD (perhaps with lower voltage or whatever it is) to cause pain but not drop them like the full strength version. Now have to be a bit careful with this next point.
If someone is not complying and they are not apparently armed with a knife-edged weapon then they should be taken down by grappling, baton or spray but not with an ECD. When you use bare hands in a grapple it's relatively difficult to seriously hurt someone. Yes there will be the rare occasion when there is an accident but serious injury but trust me you don't look for that outcome. Also unless you're Chuck Norris you're going to be very tired in about a minute or two of grappling fiercely. That in itself reduces the potential for serious harm. What works is sufficient cops to grapple the subject and constrain him or her. If the cops keep their tempers in check and use only reasonable force three or four cops can eventually control an average sized male but it takes that many.
When an ECD is discharged that's it, zap, out it goes and there's no taking it back or reducing the strength of the discharge. With a physical fight there are inherent factors which tend to reduce the potential for serious injury. That's not the case with the ECD. I know there are a whole heap of papers from the manufacturers on how it's "less than lethal" if it's used properly and I don't doubt the veracity of that research. But I'm being a little more pragmatic.
The ECD is a less than lethal option, whereas discharging a firearm at a subject armed with knife-edged weapon is a more than likely lethal option. It would be better to use an ECD than a firearm in that circumstance. And that's about the only use of an ECD that I would support.
Now if you'll excuse me it's feeding time back at Jurassic Park and this dinosaur needs to go and have some of it.
