Three deaths in a week following police use of 'non-leathal' weapons

This is very worrying. Of course, the use of non-lethal weapons precludes the idea that the officers involved intended the deaths. I don't think it's granting too much benefit of the doubt, even at this early stage, to assume that they believed use of the weapons was an effective way to control the situation that would not kill or seriously harm the people on the receiving end. The problem, if there is one, must therefore lie in training, the protocols involved and, possibly, the research behind the weapons themselves.

Take the pepper spray cases, for example. This report suggests pepper spray is relatively innocuous, but this, from the ACLU, paints a more complicated picture. A quick read through the ACLU report suggests what you'd probably suspect from first principles. Deaths after the use of pepper spray were concentrated among people with mental disorders, drug users, and so on - all things themselves risk factors in relation to injury during encounters with police officers (or indeed anyone else).

This suggests to me - and I'd like to see more research on this issue - that the use of non-lethal weapons may be particularly prevalent in cases where the person involved is more likely to be injured for other reasons. This obviously confounds the spray as the cause of death, but if true it would mean that deaths after the use of sprays are likely to continue even if the spray itself is not at fault.

In the current climate of increased attention - and arguably suspicion - directed at the police one wonders whether the use of any technique that is associated with deaths in custody might be curtailed or at least reconsidered. Disclaimer: the usual provisos about statistical blips apply. Three deaths don't necessarily mean anything in terms of trends or underlying factors. My point is simply that the police, particularly at this point in time, should avoid using aggressive and arguably dangerous techniques that risk undermining public trust in their ability to manage situations without rapid escalation to violence.