SSGS300 Final Research Proposal

Running head: LESS THAN LETHAL WEAPONS ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY 1

Using the less than lethal weapons by the police have attracted different interests across the social and political divide, with some people championing of its use and other championing for the drop of the weapons. The weapons were initially meant not to cause a fatal impact on the victim, but of late, concerns have been raised that put the less than lethal weapons on scrutiny having caused different fatalities. Some people have advocated for the adoption of the term, less lethal, to denote that though they are not meant to kill, they can still kill nonetheless.

Jetelina et al., (2017) have weighed in on the analysis of the state of the less lethal weaponry as tools that the police can legally deploy to handle crowds and suspected criminals. Their objective in the research was to explore the rate of usage of the less than lethal weapons based on the race and ethnicity of both the victims and the officers as well as the situational cases that the conditions of the less lethal weaponry have been used. They sampled published data from 5630 cases and carried out desktop research and data analysis s to determine the state and trends of the usage of the less lethal weapons in Dallas state, USA.

The outcome indicated that without the controlling factors, there is a close relationship between the ethnic/race dyad use of the less lethal tools in Dallas State. This study, therefore, shows that using the less-lethal weapons are commonly used following particular patterns of racial dispositions. However, when the control measures in the experimental designs were introduced, it was found out that the use of the less lethal weapons is universal across the different ethnic/ racial background of both the security personnel and the civilians.

The debate on the use of the less lethal weapons, however, has persisted for some time. In 2019, Ariel et al., (2019) carried out a randomized control research study to determine the complex relationship between the ethnic/race dyads and the use of the less lethal weapons for the security officers in different countries and states. The analysis aimed to determine how the application of the less lethal weapons could be deployed across the racial dyad an ethnic relationship. It was all-important study to help in defining how well the community can be impacted by the use of the less lethal weapons.

Through the case analysis of the application of Tasers to the police routine operations in England and Wales, the study report indicated that the use of the Tasers was possible for the increased aggression of the officers. The officers who were given Tasers reported 48% aggression compared to 19% who were not given aggression, and in the control category, there was only 23% aggression. The developments, therefore, indicated that using the Tasers was a motivating factor for the officers on routine policing tools were recorded.

Based on the number of complaints; however, Tasers reported lower instances of complaints. This was a therefore useful way in which the development of less public complaints, with only 5 cases of complaints reported against the 9 cases where Tasers were not used. This further note that the development of the less lethal tools could have been generally accepted in the community because they do not complain towards their application as compared to the aggression caused by other elements not related to the use of the Tasers

Back in 2014, another research was undertaken to determine the perceptions of the officers on the use of the less lethal weapons. This means that the multilevel study was a useful tool that helped the officers to carry out their duties. However, the officers had differing opinions about its effectiveness and used in the community. This shows that the need to have a closer look and review of the application of the less lethal weapons is important in the realizations of the organizational, social, and ethical values in the communities.

The study deployed the use of 765 patrol officers and a further 146 patrol sergeants in a survey model research design where they were given questionnaires to respond and give rise to the primary data. Analysis of the data was then undertaken based on the pre-test analysis and post-test analyses to determine how the perceptions of the officers’ change before they used the less-lethal weapons and after they used the less lethal weapons. The study revealed that the respondents who were in different ranks, sergeants and corporals in different categories, had different opinions on how they would approach the use of the less lethal weapons. The sergeants indicated support for the use, thou some suggested moderated use.

The study report, however, noted that there is still the need to expand the study approach to help in expanding the knowledge concepts used in the study model. This will be a useful tool that will help in creating a closer, more accurate and relevant understanding of the core elements that can always influence the development of an understanding into how the society, the police officers and the police bossed would reach based on the provisions and use of the less lethal weapons.

References

Ariel, B., Lawes, D., Weinborn, C., Henry, R., Chen, K., & Brants Sabo, H. (2019). The “Less-Than-Lethal Weapons Effect”—Introducing Tasers to Routine Police Operations in England and Wales: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 46(2), 280-300.

Jetelina, K. K., Jennings, W. G., Bishopp, S. A., Piquero, A. R., & Reingle Gonzalez, J. M. (2017). Dissecting the complexities of the relationship between police officer–civilian race/ethnicity dyads and less-than-lethal use of force. American journal of public health, 107(7), 1164-1170.

Robert Ingram, J., R. Weidner, R., A. Paoline III, E., & Terrill, W. (2014). Supervisory influences on officers’ perceptions of less lethal force policy: a multilevel analysis. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, 37(2), 355-372.