Study Says Police Beanbags Can Cause Serious Injury

A study of patients at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center found that beanbags fired by police can cause serious injuries and in one case killed a man who was struck in the chest.

The study, published in this month’s issue of the Annals of Emergency Medicine, looked at 40 people who were hit by beanbags and treated at the hospital between 1996 and 2000.

Doctors concluded that the large majority of patients were either under the influence of drugs or suffering from major psychiatric problems when officers fired the beanbags.

Law enforcement agencies throughout the world are using the fabric bags as an alternative to real ammunition.

The study’s authors found that the bags, which are packed with lead pellets and usually fired from a shotgun, can cause significant damage.

According to the study, the beanbags sometimes penetrated skin and had to be surgically removed. In one case, the blow, often compared to a baseball pitcher’s fastball, ruptured a patient’s spleen. In another, an 18-year-old suicidal man lost his eye when a pad struck him in the face.

The projectile was responsible for one fatal injury when a beanbag penetrated a man’s chest and cut through his lung, the report said.

The authors of the study said their research was intended to serve as a warning to other physicians that patients struck by the bag need close medical examination.

Manufacturers of the bags say the chance of injury increases with proximity. But they say the projectiles are a much better alternative to ammunition.

“Since the beanbags have come into use, law enforcement agencies across the country have saved countless lives,” said Michael Keith, president of MK Ballistic Systems, which supplies the LAPD.