PEPPER SPRAY - BERKELEY POLICE
aar...@jps.net
THE EFFECTIVENESS OF O.C. PEPPER SPRAY
AN ANALYSIS OF BERKELEY POLICE REPORTS
This study of the effectiveness of OC pepper spray, prepared by the
Police Review Commission of the City of Berkeley, is believed to be the
first and only independent study of the effectiveness of police use of
pepper spray in the United States. This study is based entirely on
information contained within police incident reports. All of the data
analyzed in this study is derived from the statements of police officers
themselves, who have either used or directly observed the use of OC
pepper spray in the field. (It should be noted that, so as to provide
information to the City Council in a timely fashion, this study was
produced within 20 days of receipt of the data and no funds were expended
in producing this study.)
Some 3,000 Police Departments throughout the United States are
now using OC Pepper Spray as a law enforcement tool to subdue violent or
combative subjects. Tens of thousands of persons, among them police
officers, have been exposed to this chemical weapon. Despite this sudden
and widespread deployment of OC, there has been very little study of the
effectiveness of the product.
Pepper Spray manufactures have touted their product as 100%
effective. The FBI study conducted by Agent Thomas Ward made similar
grandiose claims. Several police departments have reported effectiveness
in the 80% to 90% range. The Baltimore County Police Department was
awarded a research grant by the NIJ and the IACP to conduct a research
project in the use of OC spray. This study concluded that the overall
effectiveness of OC in confrontational encounters was 90%. Other
researchers have questioned some of the assumptions and criteria for
"effectiveness" of the Baltimore study and suggest that the data in the
report shows O.C. to be 80 -82% effective. (The Medical Implications of
OC Sprays, Mike Doubet) In contrast, testing conducted by the
American Women’s Self Defense Institute and by Modern Warrior shows OC
spray to be almost completely ineffective against a "goal oriented"
attacker. In all of the above mentioned studies, there appears to be
no consistent standard definition for what constitutes effectiveness, no
consistent methodology of analysis, and vastly differing conclusions,
ranging from 0% to 100% effective.
Berkeley Police Report Database
On October 3, 1997, the Berkeley Police Department provided the
Police Review Commission with all "adult" police incident reports in
which police used OC pepper spray since the chemical agent was first
deployed in mid-1993. The reports are presumed to refer to 36 separate
incidents in which officers used OC spray. Three of these reports
provided to the Commission contain no information about the use of OC and
could not be included in the analysis. In many of these reports, OC spray
is used more than once and sometimes by more than one officer, but is
considered as one incident for purposes of this analysis. In addition,
three other incident reports describing OC use were obtained, bringing
the total number of pepper spray incidents included in the database back
up to thirty-six. These include two reports filed with the California
Department of Justice and one incident report obtained through the
Commission’s complaint process.
Criteria for Determining Effectiveness
This study makes no attempt to establish an arbitrary definition
of effectiveness, but rather examines the "totality of circumstances" and
makes an assessment of the effectiveness of OC spray in the context of
each unique situation. We find that the greater significance of this
study is contained in the data itself, rather than the Commission’s
interpretation of that data. One may examine the statements made in these
police reports and come to their own conclusions about the effectiveness
of OC.
Berkeley’s City Manager issued a report to the City Council on September
9, 1997 and found that "the pepper spray was reported to be ineffective
thirteen times (35%) of the time." This 35% ineffective assessment is
substantially higher than results reported by any other law enforcement
agency in the United States. The City Manager’s report also found that
"Thirty-four of the incidents involved violent or bizarre behavior ending
up in a physical struggle with the police officer."
In most of the incidents examined by the Police Review Commission, we
find that a police officer’s observations and the actions of the subject
who was sprayed with the OC demonstrate quite clearly whether the use of
the OC spray was effective, ineffective, or partially effective. In other
incidents, there is ambiguous or insufficient information contained in
the report to make a reasonable assessment of the effectiveness of OC.
Findings of the Police Review Commission
The analysis conducted by the Police Review Commission of the 36
police incident reports shows the following:
Officers Using OC pepper spray
· Out of a total of approximately 200 sworn officers in the Berkeley
Police Department, only 27 officers (13%) have ever used OC pepper spray.
· One officer is responsible for 8 out of the 36 uses of OC spray (22%).
· Only one female officer has ever used OC pepper spray.
Effectiveness of OC pepper spray
· OC pepper spray was found to be "ineffective" in 19 out of 36 incidents
(53%). [If the 6 incidents of "unknown effectiveness" are removed from
the total number of incidents, OC spray was found to be "ineffective"
in 63% of the all the incidents in which it was used.]
· OC spray was found to be "partially effective" in 4 out of 36 incidents
(11%).
· OC spray was found to be "effective" in 7 out of 36 incidents (19.4 %).
· OC spray was found to be of "unknown effectiveness" in 6 out of 36
incidents (17%).
· Police officers experienced "Secondary Exposure" in 7 out of 36
incidents (19.4%).
· The subject sprayed with OC became "more aggressive" in 10 out of 36
incidents (28%).
Officer Safety Considerations
Perhaps the most disturbing results of study are the problems
associated with secondary exposure to OC spray and the propensity of use
of OC spray to result in a more aggressive subject. In nearly 20% of all
situations in which OC spray has been used, an officer was adversely
affected by the chemical agent. In one incident, the officer required
hospitalization. In other situations, officer exposure to the OC allowed
the subject an opportunity to escape. The danger of secondary exposure to
police officers poses serious officer safety implications. We find that
the 20% rate of secondary exposure is unacceptably high and makes police
use of OC a risky proposition. Similarly, because the use of OC spray
results in a more aggressive subject in 28% of incidents in which it is
used, we find that the use of OC poses an unacceptable level of risk to
officer safety. [The 28% "more aggressive" statistic is closely
corroborated by the study conducted by the Peel Regional Police of Canada
(Ashton, 1994). This study of 96 usages of OC spray found that "24% of
the subjects became more aggressive" after exposure to OC spray.]
Recommendation to Council
The Police Review Commission recommends that the Berkeley Police
Department discontinue the use of OC pepper spray.
Issues pertinent to effectiveness of OC spray and to officer safety are
addressed in this report. However, the serious medical health
complications associated with the use of OC spray as well as the adverse
impact on police-community relations are also important factors that
contribute to the recommendation of the Police Review Commission.
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ED GRENDEL
Thats it! I'm switching to binaca!
ED GRENDEL