Sangamon County sheriff's deputies will receive training within the next few months on how to safely subdue people in states of excited delirium.
The training comes after a Springfield resident, Patrick Burns, died in January after a struggle with deputies. The Sangamon County coroner's office ruled that Burns died due to excited delirium – a condition marked by bizarre behavior, paranoia and super-human strength that can coincide with drug use.
A pathologist hired by relatives has challenged that conclusion, contending that Burns suffered a brain injury due to lack of oxygen caused by being transported to the hospital while hog-tied.
Sheriff Neil Williamson says his deputies didn't do anything wrong, but Burns' death prompted him to call in Lt. Michael Paulus of the Champaign Police Department to train local deputies. Paulus has trained officers as far away as Nevada on how to arrest suspects believed to be in a state of excited delirium.
The goal is for deputies to recognize excited delirium and summon medical help before subduing suspects, Williamson said.
"We want to be on the front end of this," the sheriff said.
Four deputies shocked Burns multiple times with Taser stun guns during the struggle. The new training will be open to any deputy who carries a Taser, Williamson said.
No more 'polyester piles'
Richard Burns, brother of Patrick Burns, said the training is needed and that the sheriff's department should have acted sooner.
"It's bittersweet," Richard Burns said. "I'm glad to hear it for the sake of other people. It's frustrating that it took my brother's death to have Williamson pay attention to the fact that his tactics weren't working."
Champaign police changed the way officers deal with people in states of excited delirium after a death in 2007, Paulus said. The approach now is a multi-disciplinary one that involves emergency medical personnel, emergency dispatchers and police, he said.
The first step is training dispatchers to gather enough information from callers to determine whether a person might be in a state of excited delirium, Paulus said. The next step is getting both emergency medical personnel and enough officers on scene. Paulus recommends four to six police officers.
Instead of a "polyester pile," where officers jump a person en masse, police and emergency medical personnel form a plan, Paulus said. Once a person is restrained, paramedics administer sedatives via syringe while officers pin down the person's arms and legs.
"Officers ahead of time decide what they're going to go for: arm or leg, pin the shoulder down," Paulus said. "You have to have a smarter way of doing it than catch-as-catch-can. We want to stop the struggle as soon as possible. Everybody knows what the plan is."
Officers, public safer
Champaign officers don't carry Tasers, but Paulus said stun guns are safe and useful as a takedown tool when dealing with a person in a state of excited delirium. In Burns' case, deputies deployed Tasers 21 times, but said they couldn't be sure how many times Burns was shocked.
Paulus said he trains officers to stop deploying Tasers once the person is on the ground.
"Once the person is on the ground, there's really no further need for additional shocks, because officers are going to be hands-on at that point," Paulus said.
Champaign police have deployed about 15 times for suspected excited delirium since changing tactics in 2008, Paulus said. Sedation was used in two cases.
"When we first went online, every naked, sweaty guy was a potential excited delirium case," Paulus said. "We haven't had anyone die since we implemented our protocol. Is it because of our response? I don't know.
"I think officers are safer, the public is safer, based on how we respond to these things."
What is excited delirium?
Excited delirium is a condition marked by bizarre behavior, paranoia and super-human strength that can coincide with drug use.
People in states of excited delirium are prone to over-heating, and some medical experts believe that hog-tying, especially in prone positions, presents a risk of asphyxiation.
In the case of Patrick Burns, a pathologist hired by his family determined that death was a result of being hog-tied and transported to Memorial Medical Center in a face-down position, which cut off oxygen to his brain.
That conclusion was rejected by Sangamon County Coroner Susan Boone, who attributed the death to excited delirium.
In Champaign, where police work with paramedics to subdue people believed to be in states of excited delirium, officers use leg hobbles, handcuffs and chemical sedation so hog-tying isn't needed, said Lt. Michael Paulus.
"It really depends on the case," Paulus said. "If the EMS folks are there, there's really no reason to hog-tie. … Our purpose is, once we get them restrained, we're now in a treatment mode, and they should be on their backs in the ambulance."
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