EN_CPT_AR.book Page 38 Monday, October 25, 2010 5:14 PM CPT General Report 2009-2010 77. EDW should be equipped with devices (generally a memory chip) that can be used for recording various items of information and conducting checks on the use of the weapon (such as the exact time of use; the number, duration and intensity of electrical discharges, etc). The information stored on these chips should be systematically read by the competent authorities at appropriate intervals (at least every three months). Further, the weapons should be provided with built-in laser aiming and video recording devices, making safe aiming possible and enabling the circumstances surrounding their use to be recorded. 78. Electrical discharge weapons issued to law enforcement officials commonly offer different modes of use, in particular a “firing” and a “contact” (drive-stun) mode. In the former, the weapon fires projectiles which attach to the person targeted at a short distance from each other, and an electrical discharge is generated. In the great majority of cases, this discharge provokes generalised muscular contraction which induces temporary paralysis and causes the person concerned to fall to the ground. In contrast, when the “contact” mode is used, electrodes on the end of the weapon produce an electrical arc and when they are brought into contact with the person targeted the electrodes cause very intense, localised pain, with the possibility of burns to the skin. The CPT has strong reservations concerning this latter mode of use. Indeed, properly trained law enforcement officials will have many other control techniques available to them when they are in touching distance of a person who has to be brought under control. Medical aspects 79. The potential effects of EDW on the physical and mental health of persons against whom they are used is the subject of much argument, a debate that has been fuelled in part by a number of cases of persons dying shortly after having been the target of such a weapon. Although the research on this matter remains for the time being largely inconclusive, it is undisputed that the use of EDW does present specific health risks, such as the possibility of injury on falling after being struck by projectiles or of burns in the event of prolonged use of such a weapon in the “contact” mode. In the absence of detailed research on the potential effects of EDW on particularly vulnerable persons (e.g. the elderly, pregnant women, young children, persons with a pre-existing heart condition), the CPT believes that their use vis-à-vis such persons should in any event be avoided. The use of EDW on people who are delirious or intoxicated is another sensitive issue; persons in this state of mind may well not understand the significance of an advance warning that the weapon will be used and could instead become ever more agitated in such a situation. 38