Research: ‘Taser gives a small chance of serious injury in the suspect’

The use of a power surge weapon by the police gives “a little chance of serious injury” in the person who is ‘tasped’. Incidentally, serious injury is found, such as fractures or head injuries.

This is the conclusion of research by the NIVEL research institute and the Forensic Medicine research group of GGD Amsterdam, which will be offered this Thursday to outgoing minister David van Weel (Justice and Security, VVD). “It remains a weapon and there are risks,” says Nivel researcher Michel Dückers. “People who are taspered lose control of their muscle mass and fall. Then you can end up ugly, for example on a sidewalk band.” It is the first practical investigation worldwide into the medical effects of using the power surge, which has been used nationwide by the police since 2022.

The Taser is used almost a thousand times a year, and it is also threatened about two to three thousand times. This has become “no exceptional means of violence, but a regular part of the law enforcement,” the researchers state in the report. Marjolein Smit, National Coordinator Violence at the Police, says that the power surge weapon “adds a lot, also because of the de-escalating effect.” There is already being intimidating. “

In the period 2022-2024, the Taser was mainly used in urban areas in the west of the country. That happened to people who behaved dangerous or aggressively, or who used weapons. In almost half of the cases, the power surge weapon was combined with, for example, pepper spray.

Arrows with power wire

The power surge weapon of the police, the Taser X2, has two positions: the shooting mode and shock mode. In shooting mode, the weapon fires two arrows, which remain connected to the weapon with a power wire. The arrows are stuck in the skin or clothing and release a number of short electric shocks per second. In the shock mode, the power surge weapon is placed directly on someone’s skin, who thus gets a short pain stimulus.

Former minister Ferd Grapperhaus (Justice and Security, CDA) decided at the end of 2019 that the police could use tasers. He said at the time that the weapon could be used in situations where pepper spray is not sufficient, but a firearm goes too far. The decision was not undisputed. For example, human rights organizations such as Amnesty International warned of serious medical risks; National Ombudsman Reinier van Zutphen said that the police should be ‘very conscious’ of the impact of the Taser.

At the request of Grapperhaus, the police chief of the police therefore ordered Nivel and GGD Amsterdam to monitor the effects independently for three years. In almost all regions of the country, people who were ‘tasped’ were examined by forensic doctors. Hospitals, the National Criminal Investigation Department, the Netherlands Forensic Institute and The Maastricht Forensic Institute also provided information.

Schaaf wounds and bruises

That research now shows that the use of the taser rarely leads to injury for which treatment is required in the hospital. Forensic doctors found that 94 percent of the ‘tasered’ had no or small injury, such as scrapes or light bruises. Six percent had serious injury and still had to go to the hospital.

Sometimes arrows that remained stuck or that had ended up in delicate spots if the sexual organs or face had ended up

From the group of tasered who went directly to the hospital – and therefore not first past the forensic doctor – had two -thirds last bone fractures, jaw breaks or light head injury. Sometimes arrows that remained stuck or that had ended up in delicate spots if the sexual organs or face had ended up in the face. According to the investigation, six people died in an arrest in which a taser was also used. For five of them, the taser played no role in the death, with one it “possibly played a role to a small extent, because the administration of electric shocks may have contributed to an acceleration of the heartbeat and/or increasing blood pressure.”

The researchers also saw that people between the ages of 18 and 25 have an increased risk of injury, for example because they often physically resist or try to flee in their arrest. People who exhibit confused behavior or are under the influence of drugs or alcohol also have a better chance of injury.

Psychological effects

The researchers also note that there is a limited picture of the psychological impact and the long -term consequences of the use of the power surge weapon. That certainly applies to vulnerable people who immediately brought to a mental healthcare institution or stayed there. The study does state that the use of tasers “can be experienced as radical. The lack of aftercare and information after the event also seems to reinforce feelings of fear, distrust and misunderstanding.” According to Nivel researcher Dückers, profit can still be achieved in the field of information and aftercare: “Not everyone gets, according to conversations with” tasered. “

Comparisons with the risks of other weapons used by the police are difficult; No research has been done into the medical consequences of, for example, baton or pepper spray. Marjolein Smit of the police points out that armdets are ‘hard things’ and give more chance of injury. PepperSpray has the disadvantage for the police that it cannot be used inside, not if it blows hard, and that a quarter of the people are less sensitive to it.

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