User:Husky79/Sandbox

LESS LETHAL WEAPONS

Non lethal or less lethal weapons have been common place in the law enforcement community; they have become integrated into many officers duty gear. More and more departments are adopting these new less lethal systems; there are many different systems to choose from projectiles, gas, and electrical current, each has a different was of accomplishing the goal of subduing the suspect with out further escalation of violence and resorting to deadly force.

Electrical current weapons  known commonly as Tasers/ stun guns   these weapons use an electrical shock of fifty thousand volts to temporarily freeze the person’s muscles allowing the officer to subdue the suspect with out a larger physical altercation. One of the down sides of this weapon is that if the person has a pre existing medical condition that has to do with the heart or has a pacemaker. The electrical shock of the weapon can cause them harm. Here is a taser commonly carried by police departments around the country.

One type of projectile weapon is the Bean bag round or rubber bullet these rounds are fired from a variety of weapons including a 12 gauge shotgun, 20, 30, or 40 millimeter grenade launcher. These rounds have very little if any gun powder in them allowing them to hit with enough force to cause discomfort, but not penetrate the body. When shot with one of these rounds the person experiences immense pain. This is intended to cause them to give up quickly and without further escalation. These weapons leave bruises and welts on the skin after being shot. If used improperly these weapons can cause death.

Above pictured from left to right, Bean bag round, a less lethal shotgun, and a 40 Millimeter delivery system.

Chemical or gas agents such as tear gas, OC, and pepper spray, these agents cause irritation of the eyes. When sprayed in the eye, the eye is irritated it tears up blurring the vision of the suspect or causes the eyes to temporarily swell up causing temporary blindness. These agents need to be washed from the eyes using water and other chemicals. Also if any gets on the persons skin or clothing they could re agitate their eyes if they were to touch them.

Pictured above a can of pepper spray commonly carried by most police departments.

Another type of projectile weapon is the Sting ball and pepper ball are projectiles similar to paintballs but larger. A sting ball is a rubber ball that can either be fired from a special gun or packed into a grenade. These weapons are designed to cause pain when the person is struck convincing them to give up. Pepper ball is like pepper spray but the chemicals are contained in a hard plastic shell similar to a paintball. These weapons leave bruising and welts similar to paintballs. These weapons must not be shot at the suspects head. Doing so increases the risk of death to the suspect.

Above sting ball grenade on the left and a tube of pepper ball ammo.

Pepper balls were used by Boston Police during the 2004 World Series riots. Tragically they were miss used and resulted in the death of Victoria Snellgrove. An Emerson college student. This story made national head lines, it tarnished the image of the Boston Police but also of the less lethal weapons that were used during the riots. The weapons were FN303 blunt trauma (sting ball)/ pepper ball guns. The weapons were used incorrectly and that lack of training or disregard by the officers resulted in Victoria receiving a pepper ball in the eye which caused massive bleeding and brain damage which contributed to her death.

Despite the negative publicity that comes from a few tragic incidents the majority of outcomes are good when less lethal weapons are used. Less lethal weapons allow officers to more safely approach dangerous situations. Take control of the situation; protect themselves, their fellow officers, and the public. Many times the suspect has a weapon or is prone to and is showing a violent tendency that would require multiple officers upwards of six in some cases, in order to restrain the suspect. While responding to a call especially drug calls where the suspect has almost super human strength because of the drugs. Many times the officers are injured, suffer broken bones, concussions, and on some occasions have their service weapon taken from them and are shot and killed with their own weapon. Having less lethal weapons in the arsenal allow officers to more quickly and easily quell these dangerous situations without loss of life or sever injury to the officer and the suspect.

In a May 2006 article in police one magazine the author describes a call that police responded to in which a naked man was high in PCP  during the course of events the officer was over powered  had his service weapon taken from him and shot in the face with his own gun. Taking this same situation and running a few scenarios using less lethal weapons the officer could have retained his gun. Scenario A Armed with a taser the officer could have shocked the suspect and which his muscles were frozen from the electrical current placed him under arrest. Scenario B the officer armed with a bean bag or rubber bullet type weapon could have shot the suspect with a rubber bullet temporarily disorienting him and bringing him to his knees from the excruciating pain and arrest him with out incident.

Less lethal weapons are a step in the right direction to protect the police and the public with out reverting to deadly force. Adding a few more tools and steps to the force continuum benefit all involved. Less lethal weapons will never fully replace deadly force weapons; they are playing more and more of a role in day to day operations of police officers around the country and the world.