Police Use of TASER: Multi-Level Predictors of Firing and Drawing in One-to-One Use of Force Incidents

• Published date: 01 June 2024
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/10986111231188149
• Author: Abi Dymond,Katharine A. Boyd,Paul Quinton
• Date: 01 June 2024

Article

Police Quarterly

2024, Vol. 27(2) 213–241

© The Author(s) 2023

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DOI: 10.1177/10986111231188149

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Police Use of TASER:

Multi-Level Predictors of

Firing and Drawing in

One-to-One Use of Force

Incidents

Abi Dymond

1

, Katharine A. Boyd

1

, and Paul Quinton

2

Abstract

Using multi-level modelling, this article analyses data from 16 police agencies in England

and Wales where one officer, carrying TASER, used force on one member of the public

(N = 11,176). When compared to incidents involving handcuffing only, resistance,

gender and mental health status of the member of the public and the need to protect

officers or others were associated with increased odds of TASER drawing and firing.

Incidents involving lone officers increased odds of firing compared to incidents where

they were accompanied by an officer not using force. Compared to the White ref-

erence category, incidents involving Black/Black British members of the public, ora

male officer, were associated with increased odds of drawing compared to handcuffing.

Incidents involving Asian/Asian British members of the public, or children, were as-

sociated with decreased odds. As the proportion of incidents where TASER was

carried increased, odds of use decreased.

Keywords

conducted energy devices, TASER, police, use of force, multi-level modelling, England

and Wales

1

Department of Social and Political Sciences, Philosopy, and Anthropology, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK

2

Evidence and Evaluation Advisor, College of Policing, London, UK

Corresponding Author:

Abi Dymond, Department of Department of Social and Political Sciences, Philosopy, and Anthropology,

University of Exeter, Amory Building, Rennes Drive, Exeter EX4 4RJ, UK.

Email: a.dymond@exeter.ac.uk

Introduction

The ability to use force, when required, is a defining feature of the police role –as well

as a highly controversial one. One of the most controversial force options are Con-

ducted Energy Devices (CEDs), the most well-known of which is the TASER brand.

1

While previous work in this area has deepened our understanding of factors associated

with TASER use, it tends to focus on the United States of America and to use data from

a single agency (Bishopp et al., 2014;Brandl and Stroshine 2017;Crow and Adrion

2011;Gau et al., 2010;Lin and Jones 2010).

Hence, despite findings from institutional and organisational theory that speak to

the importance of agency characteristics in understanding use of force (e.g. Willits

and Nowacki 2014), without data from multiple agencies, few studies have been able

to examine such variables. Nor is this an issue confinedtoTASER;Cojean et al.

(2020) found that, of over fifty studies examining predictors of police use of force,

only four studied organisational factors. Moreover, much of this previous work also

focuses on TASER firing, with less attention paid to the predictors of TASER

drawing.

This study aims to help fill these gaps by conducting a multi-agency analysis of

factors associated with TASER drawing and firing. Thanks to a national approach to

use of force recording introduced in 2017 in England and Wales, we utilise data

from 16 police agencies. This is understood to be the first academic analysis

conducted using this data, building on a previous study by the authors (Quinton

et al., 2020). It allows us not only to explore factors operating at the level of

individual incidents, but also to employ multi-level modelling—a statistical

technique capable of examining data with a hierarchical or nested structure—to

explore organisational level factors, differences between agencies and how these

may impact police use of TASER.We proceed as follows. After reviewing the prior

literature around TASER drawing and firing, we set out the theoretical grounding

for variable selection and our focus on organisational factors, before detailing

methods, findings and discussion.

Prior Literature on the Use of TASER

Although several studies have recognised the importance of organisational factors (see,

e.g., Boivin and Lagac´

e 2016;Klahm et al., 2011;Lawton, 2007;Smith et al., 2010;

Terrill and Reisig 2003) only a handful of studies in the use of force literature have been

able to do so, and they tend to focus either on injury rates (Hickman 2020;MacDonald

et al., 2009;Smith et al., 2010) or use of force more broadly (Klahm et al., 2011;

McCluskey and Terrill 2005;Sun et al., 2008;Terrill and Reisig 2003). With some

limited exceptions (e.g. the National Institute of Justice, 2009;Terrill et al., 2017)

almost all the work on TASER focuses on a single police force. Nevertheless, this

literature has aided our understanding of factors associated with TASER firing and

drawing, and we look at these each in turn.

214 Police Quarterly 27(2)