Internal CEW Controls and Monitoring

 

Definitions

CEW Event Log Download: The process that occurs when technical event log data is downloaded from a device. Event log data includes date, time, duration of discharge, as well as other parameters, events, and information.

Bodily Harm: Any hurt or injury to a person that interferes with the health or comfort of the person and is more than merely transient or trifling in nature.

CEW Display: The act of pointing, aiming, or showing the CEW at or to a person, without discharging the CEW, for the purpose of generating compliance from a person. A display may include a visible electrical discharge across the front of the device or an audible alert.

CEW Probe Cartridge: An encasement that contains blast doors, probes, wires, AFIDs and other components that is attached to and required for probe deployment of a CEW. Cartridges vary in length of wire, probe type and distance probes will travel to embed in a person to deliver an electrical charge from the CEW.

Conducted Energy Weapon or CEW: A weapon that when discharged uses a conducted electrical charge in order to incapacitate a person, or to generate compliance through pain.

Officer: A constable appointed under the Police Act or an enforcement officer appointed under s. 18.1 of the Police Act.

Operational CEW Discharge: The act of firing a CEW in any mode against a person, whether intentional or not, and including when the CEW is discharged but malfunctions or is unsuccessful in reaching the intended person.

Operational CEW Download: The process that occurs when technical data is downloaded from the CEW after an operational discharge of the CEW involving a subject. Operational CEW download data includes date, time, and duration of the weapon’s discharge(s).

Use-of-Force Report: The information that must be provided, in a provincially-approved format, when an officer applies force against a person.

Standards

CEW control processes

The Chief Constable, Chief Officer, or Commissioner must ensure that:

(1) Ensure an up to date inventory of all CEWs and CEW Probe Cartridges controlled or owned by the police force is maintained.

(2) Ensure secure storage of CEWs and CEW Probe Cartridges so that only person(s) authorized by the Chief Constable, Chief Officer, or Commissioner have access to CEWs and CEW Probe Cartridges.

(3) Implement a documentation process for authorized Officers to sign out and return CEWs and CEW Probe Cartridges, in a manner that ensures all CEWs and CEW Probe Cartridges can be tracked and accounted for by identifying: assigned Officer; CEW unique identifier; number of CEW Probe Cartridges; and the date and time the CEW and CEW Probe Cartridges were signed out and returned. This applies to both personal issue CEWs and CEWs available for shared use by any authorized Officer within the police force.

(4) Ensure that there is a person responsible at all times for the control process referred to in Standard (3) above.

Post CEW discharge requirements

The Chief Constable, Chief Officer, or Commissioner must:

(5) Ensure that, after an Operational CEW Discharge:

(a) The CEW is removed from service;
(b) An Operational CEW Download is conducted;
(c) A copy of the Operational CEW Download report is linked to the Officer’s Use-of-Force Report; and
(d) If serious injury or death occurred proximate to the discharge, the CEW is not returned to service until it is tested, and repaired and retested if required (see BCPPS 1.3.6 CEW Testing and Maintenance).

Monitoring and review

The Chief Constable, Chief Officer, or Commissioner must:

(6)  Designate a person responsible for internal CEW incident monitoring that would include being responsible for:

(a) Ensuring that, for every Operational CEW Download report there is a corresponding Use-of-Force Report and vice versa; and
(b) Accounting for any discrepancies between the Operational CEW Download report and the Use-of-Force Report.

(7)  Ensure that a CEW Event Log Download is conducted for each CEW at least annually and a record of the download data is maintained on file.

(8) Conduct, annually, an internal review of CEW controls and the use of CEWs by police officers in the police force to determine compliance with the BC Provincial Policing Standards and the police force’s policies and procedures, and to identify potential training or policy development issues. At minimum, the review should examine and document, both at the Officer level and for the police force overall:

(a) The circumstances and manner in which CEWs are being used (e.g., imminent Bodily Harm threshold, number and duration of cycles, number of probes deployed); and
(b) The reporting of CEW use by police officers.

Reporting

The Chief Constable, Chief Officer, or Commissioner must:

(9) Submit annually a written report to the Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General and the board that must include:

(a) Aggregate counts of CEW Displays and operational discharges; and
(b) A summary of the annual review conducted as per Standard (8) above.

Policies and procedures

The Chief Constable, Chief Officer, or Commissioner must:

(10) Ensure policies and procedures are consistent with these BC Provincial Policing Standards.