Evaluation of the police operational tactical procedures for reducing officer injuries resulting from physical interventions in problematic arrests. The case of the Municipal Police of Cádiz (Spain)

• Authors: Jose C. Vera Jiménez , Francisco Fernandez , Jesus Ayuso , Jose Antonio Lorente Acosta

Abstracts

EN

ObjectivesThis paper describes some operational tactical procedures (OTP) and discusses the results of a 14-year-long study, spanning the period 2003–2016, conducted by the Municipal Police of Cádiz, Spain, which comprised 3 time periods: 2003–2006, when the officers were trained in traditional policing procedures; 2007–2013, when the officers were taught an innovative set of OTP in the form of a basic set of self-defense and arrest mechanisms, different from the traditional policing procedures that rely on martial arts and combat sports; and finally 2014–2016, when the OTP training was discontinued. The aim of this study was to improve policing and reduce officer injuries resulting from interventions in controversial or violent situations, such as problematic arrests.Material and MethodsThe study involved 162 police officers and commanders of the Municipal Police of Cádiz, who were in street duty for their first time. There were 8 females and 154 males aged 24–55 years. Three OTP stages are shown as examples.ResultsBased on the analysis of “training hours” and “physical interventions in problematic arrests,” the results were: 1) the number of sick leaves in the police was identical according to the number of arrests, and 2) data on sick leaves show remarkable differences among the 3 periods under analysis.ConclusionsThe OTP-based training substantially reduced officer sick leaves. The overall reduction in sick leaves in the period 2007–2013 was observed that cannot be ascribed to a decrease in criminal acts, and hence in police physical interventions.

Keywords

EN

use of police force; operational tactical procedures; arrest and self-defense skills; injury leaves prevention; prevention of labor risks; criminology

• Publisher: Instytut Medycyny Pracy im. prof. dra Jerzego Nofera w Łodzi
• Journal: International Journal of Occupational Medicine and Environmental Health
• Year: 2019
• Volume: 33
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 35-43

Dates

published

2020

Contributors

author

Jose C. Vera Jiménez

• City Hall of Cádiz, Cádiz, Spain

author

Francisco Fernandez

• University of Cádiz, Cádiz, Spain (Department of Industrial Engineering and Civil Engineering)

author

Jesus Ayuso

• University of Cádiz, Cádiz, Spain (Physical Chemistry Department)

author

Jose Antonio Lorente Acosta

• Pfizer-University of Granada-Junta de Andalucía Centre for Genomics and Oncological Research (GENYO), Granada, Spain

Identifiers

DOI

10.13075/ijomeh.1896.01422

Biblioteka Nauki

2116675