( continued ) per-aggressive , manic , and violent behaviors are associated with the use and a history of abusing illicit drugs . Second , subjects with psychiatric illness comprise about 30 percent of the ARDs and commonly the research shows that an abrupt cessation of psychotherapeutic medication contributed to the death . The remaining 10 percent involve those subjects with a psychiatric illness who abuse illicit drugs and / or combine taking their medications with illicit drugs . The manifested behaviors of the subject during the contact commonly align with the symptoms associated with ExDS and subjects exhibiting six or more symptoms elevate their risk of a sudden death during the control and restraint process . 10-12
Fifth , while the probability of an ARD occurring with these two populations is rare during an LEO contact , research shows that LEO contacts with these subjects is quite frequent as 63 percent of the jail detainee population meet the criteria for drug use , dependence , and abuse . 13
Further , 26 percent of the jail detainees met the diagnosis for serious psychological disorder . 14 Moreover , the probability of a LEO contacting a subject with a psychological disorder is estimated to account for about 11 to 20 percent of the calls for service , 80 percent of contacts were repeat calls with the same person , 87 percent required the use of force , and 32 percent resulted in an injury sustained by the responding LEO . 15-16 Because of the frequency of the contacts with these two populations , and many contacts requiring the use of force , the following protocols are recommended .
Response Policy and Protocols Agency administrators should ensure that their Response to Resistance policy is current and reflects the standard of objective reasonableness and the force assessment criteria as established in the United States Supreme Court ’ s decision in Graham v . Connor , 490 U . S . 386 ( 1989 ) and their progeny . 17-20 The policy should direct the LEO to justify a level of force based on the subject ’ s resistance , within the facts and totality of circumstances of the incident , based on the perception of the LEO , and allow for split-second decision making during tense and rapidly evolving circumstances . The policy should identify and integrate the application of crisis intervention and de-escalation techniques as appropriate with authorized empty-hand control techniques , intermediate weapons , including less lethal
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