Risk Management of Less Lethal Options

R. T. Wyant has been a forensic scientist since 1994 and currently supervises the forensic firearms unit at the Washington State Patrol-Seattle crime laboratory. He is court-qualified in firearm/tool identification, crime scene analysis, less lethal devices, and trajectory reconstruction. He has developed testing protocols for CEW (conducted electrical weapon), OC-pepper spray, and less lethal impact munitions. Wyant’s testing and analysis procedures have been adopted by other crime laboratories and manufacturers. He has established foundational criteria for the admissibility of forensic TASER evidence under the Frye standard. His testing protocols have been presented to agencies, SWAT teams, and attorneys in the US and abroad including the UK, Canada, Australia, Belgium, and the Netherlands.Tom Burns has worked as an officer with the Seattle Police Department since 1989. During that time, he has been assigned to patrol, anticrime team, SWAT, and a proactive bicycle patrol unit. During his tenure in SWAT, he was a member of the chemical agent/less lethal cadre and was cadre leader for two years. He developed the concepts for the chemical agent response teams (CART) and was a lead instructor for the WTO riots in Seattle in 1999. Tom has also helped develop patrol level protocols for addressing Excited Delirium Syndrome (ExDs).

• Police De-Escalation Tactics- A Personal Account. Why We Use Less Lethal. Prevailing Less Lethal Options for Law Enforcement. RCAs: Chemical Irritants (OC, CS) and Flammability Testing with ConductedElectrical Weapons (TASER). Less Lethal Impact Munitions: The Forensic Testing Model. Validating the LLIM Testing Model, Documenting Wounds/Injuries. Training for a Successful Less Lethal Program. Arrest-Related Death, In-Custody Death, and Excited Delirium Syndrome. Forensics: Conducted Electrical Weapons (TASER). Aftermath: Post-Event Report Writing, Evidence Collection, and Court Preparation. Risk Management for Law Enforcement in Modern Society. Index.

"Overall, Risk Management of Less Lethal Options is a quality source of information on less-lethal tools available to public safety professionals. Any security organization that deploys uniformed officers, regardless of whether that deployment includes lethal or less than lethal capabilities, should review this book. These security organizations would find that the discussions, examples, and visual aids presented within the book are relevant and beneficial for their organization’s success."—Yan Byalik, CPP, in Security ManagementThis is an incredible resource that is easy to read and extremely informative. … All who take the time to read this book will benefit from the knowledge contained and will better their decision making skill set related to less lethal options.—Dan Savage, Captain, Grand Rapids Michigan Police DepartmentThe literature relating to the selection, use, and review of tactics and technologies fitting the ‘less lethal’ definition has been sorely lacking ... until now. All critical area are covered within the book. Overall, this is essential reading for all involved in law enforcement who use, authorize, or oversee less lethal policy, training and deployments.—Chief Constable (Retired) Ian Arundale, Association of Chief Police Officers, lead on policy and training relating to UK firearms, ‘Less Lethal’ and Conflict Management (2001-2013)What the authors have done in this comprehensive publication is present the operational and technical issues associated with selecting, deploying, and managing the consequence of less lethal options in a very readable way. The subject matter, by necessity, is underpinned by issues of science, technology, and predictive injury models—in addition to appreciations of human anatomy, psychology, as well emergencies presenting as policing crisis. The book remains thoroughly understandable throughout. It should be on the reading list of all who have an interest in gaining insight into law enforcement and less lethal options.—Colin Burrows, QPM, UK-based International Adviser on Critical InterventionRisk Management of Less Lethal Options is contemporary, well-researched, experientially-based, and highly-understandable. ... professionals like Burns and Wyant make dealing with these issues safer and more understandable ... There is more scrutiny applied to law enforcement officers, their decisions, tactics and techniques now than at any time in our history. Police officers, supervisors, incident commanders, managers, administrators and senior executives had all better have a solid grasp of the issues presented in this book.—Joel Johnston, Sergeant, Vancouver Police Department, Canada (Retired 2013); Principal, Defensive Tactics Institute (www.dtidefensivetactics.com)