About
half of the cops in the US joined the police out of Dominate Father-Penis envy
issues and having official sanction to carry a gun does a lot for them in
dealing with those issues. These are the thugs who shoot people, with a reason
and without a reason. Take away their guns and this type of loon will stop
applying to the police. Here’s some ways to do that.
Alternatives to Bullets
From liquids that smell like dead
animals to high-temperature heat rays, the present and future of non-lethal
weapons.
By ELI HAGER
In the wake of recent
high-profile police shootings, manufacturers of non-lethal weapons have seized
on the opportunity to sell devices they say might have saved the lives of
Michael Brown, Walter Scott, Tamir Rice, and many others. Companies with names
like Micron Products, Alternative Ballistics, and Bruzer Less Lethal
International are now a part of the decades-old field of less-lethal weapons —
also called “compliance” or “pacification” devices — offering everything from
bullets that don’t penetrate to devices that slow bullets down.
“I just looked out there and
there wasn’t anything that really would have been practical and useful in a
tense one-on-one situation like in Ferguson,” says Christian Ellis, the CEO of
Alternative Ballistics, which tried to sell one such device to the Ferguson
police department. “That’s why we got into this business.”
Police officers, for their part,
already have less-lethal tools on their belts — nightsticks, pepper spray, and
TASERs — and some feel that the additional options are not much more useful
despite their variety and complexity. “It’s like comparing phone plans,” says
Sid Heal, former commander in the L.A.P.D. and an expert on less-lethal force.
Whatever the future holds for
these alternatives, police departments already have, in recent years, added a
few gentler tools to their arsenals. Below, an inventory of some of those
tools, as well as a look at what might flood the market soon.
Bean
Bags
A sock-shaped pouch filled with
lead, silicone, or rubber balls, fired from a shotgun. The pouch expands in the
air for wider impact.
Approximate cost: $4.50 to $6.50
per round.
When it’s most useful: Anytime a
person is "noncompliant" but far away and "not yet a direct
threat," says Steve Ijames, the police chief in Republic, Mo. and an
expert on less-lethal force.
Effect on target: Pain, muscle
spasms, and temporary immobility, but no penetration of the skin.
Why it’s appealing: It’s
inexpensive.
Potential downsides: Unless a
shotgun containing bean bags is adequately marked in a different color (usually
orange), it can easily be confused with a shotgun loaded with real shells,
which police call "cross-contamination" and has repeatedly
causeddeaths, according to the National Institute of Justice. Even if the
correct gun is used, there is a risk of serious or deadly injury if the bean
bag is fired at the head — and it’s difficult to avoid hitting the head, face,
throat, or center of the chest "when a person is twisting or running
around," says Heal.
Where it’s used: Different
versions of bean bags have existed for over three decades, and are perhaps the
most widely-used non-lethal weapon outside of the TASER, pepper spray, and
nightstick. As the technology has evolved (from a flatter, squarer bag that was
inaccurate as a projectile and sometimes failed to expand properly mid-air), it
has become significantly less dangerous.
Blunt-Impact
Projectiles
Plastic bullets (37 mm or 40 mm)
capped with gel, silicone, or foam, fired from a single-shot gas launcher or
giant revolver. The bullets are designed to flatten upon impact. They can also
be filled with pepper spray or liquids that smell like fecal matter, rotten
eggs, or dead animals, to further repel the suspect.
Approximate cost: $350 to $1200
for the gun, $25 per round.
When it’s most useful: Subduing a
potentially violent suspect from a distance, and when the officer has time to
get a large, specialized weapon out of the trunk.
Effect on target: Severe, blunt
pain.
Why it’s appealing: The
projectiles have a soft, wide surface of impact and should not be able to
pierce through skin or injure internal organs.
Potential downsides: Very
expensive and only useful at long range; also liable to cause serious or deadly
injury if fired at the head, neck, or chest.
Where it’s used: The newest
version has already been purchased by at least 16 law-enforcement agencies,
including the SWAT teams in L.A. County and Sacramento.
Pepperballs
Small (.68-inch), round, plastic
balls filled with synthetic capsaicin powder, the active ingredient in chili
peppers. A paintball-style gun rapidly fires the balls, which explode after
hitting any surface, releasing the powder.
Approximate cost: $150 to $300
for a paintball gun or $250 to $500 for a brand-name PepperBall gun; $3 to $5
per round.
When it’s most useful: Indoors
(including in jails and other correctional situations), when the officer can
aim at walls and ceilings to release the pepper powder.
Effect on target: Puffy, watery,
stinging eyes; runny nose; difficulty breathing; and coughing.
Why it’s appealing: One of the
few alternatives that doesn't need to make direct contact with the target —
police can shoot it anywhere nearby, and the effect of the capsaicin powder
will be the same. However, cops’ training and instincts often cause them to aim
for "center mass," says Heal. According to Ijames, the pepperballs
"beg a shot to the upper body, because the officer wants to make sure the
suspect gets the worst of the pepper."
Potential downsides: The round
shape of a pepperball is relatively unstable as it flies through the air, and
because of "trajectory degradation," it is not nearly as accurate as
a sleek, pointed bullet.
Where it’s used: Most famously
used in 1999 during the “Battle of Seattle” anti-WTO riots. In 2004, the Boston
Police Department accidentally killed a 21-year-old college student who was
celebrating the Red Sox's World Series victory — by firing a pepperball at her
eye.
“The
Alternative”
An orange metal attachment that
an officer can quickly clip onto the barrel of his handgun before firing a
shot. The clip-on “catches” the bullet — like an airbag — making it fly about
one-fifth as fast.
Approximate cost: $45 per unit.
When it’s most useful: Anytime an
officer needs to fire his regular service weapon but does not want the shot to
be deadly, and has time to attach this device.
Effect on target: Instead of
penetrating and potentially killing the suspect, the slowed-down bullet only
knocks him down. “But it might break ribs and it feels like getting hit in the
chest with a hammer,” says Ellis, the CEO of the company that manufactures the
product.
Why it’s appealing: The
Alternative is a compact device that is relatively easy to incorporate into
everyday use. The officer can take the clip-on from his belt and attach it to
his handgun.
Potential downsides: According to
Heal, one “weapons platform” should deliver only one type of force — either
lethal or non-lethal. Combining the two on the same gun, he says, is inherently
dangerous: What if the officer instinctively “double-taps” (pulls the trigger
twice), as most police are trained to do? The result would be the firing of a
lethal round right after the non-lethal one has already been discharged.
Where it’s used: A month after
the shooting of Michael Brown, the assistant chief of Ferguson's police
department took to Google, searching for a less-lethal option for cops. He came
up with The Alternative, but after a group of experts sent a letter saying how
dangerous they believed the device was, Ferguson has stopped considering it.
“The
XREP”
Manufactured until 2012 by TASER
International, the XREP is essentially a long-range, wireless version of the
traditional TASER, firing plastic shells that each contain sharpened
electrodes, a battery, a transmitter, and a microprocessor. When a shell hits
the suspect, the electrodes are released and pierce through clothes and skin,
releasing up to 50,000 volts of electricity for 20 seconds.
Approximate cost: Over $1,000 for
the launcher, $100 per round.
When it’s most useful: For
incapacitating people from a distance.
Effect on target: Muscles
contract uncontrollably, causing the person to freeze and fall to the ground.
And if the person attempts to pull out the electrodes, a circuit is created,
spreading the effect.
Why it’s appealing: Like a TASER,
the XREP can effectively subdue a person who is suicidal or under the influence
of drugs, or otherwise has a high threshold for pain. And unlike a TASER, the
XREP can be fired from a distance.
Potential downsides: The XREP’s
high cost is its main downside. But, like TASER products, it could be
dangerous: According to a 2013 report by Amnesty International, the TASER has
caused more than 500 deaths in the United States since 2001.
Where it’s been used: TASER
discontinued the XREP back in 2012, because it was expensive and “departments
just weren’t buying it,” says TASER spokesperson Steve Tuttle. But several
police departments around the country still have the XREP, and few use it
occasionally. It was used in March by cops in Albuquerque, N.M., against a
mentally-ill person.
“ML-12”
Less-Lethal Launcher
A two-shot pistol that shoots
most types of less-lethal ammunition (bean bags, pepper rounds, rubber balls,
flares, etc.).
When it’s most useful: Close or
hand-to-hand confrontations, at traffic stops, in small rooms.
Approximate cost: $549 for the
launcher and holster, $4 to $7 per round.
Effect on target: Depends on the
type of round.
Why it’s appealing: This is a
weapon that the officer can wear on his/her belt and have on hand in any
situation.
Potential downsides: It only
fires two shots, and two-thirds of use-of-force encounters require an officer
to fire more than twice, according to the National Institute of Justice.
Where it’s used: Tommy Teach, the
founder of Bruzer Less Lethal International, the company that markets the
ML-12, says it has been purchased by over a hundred "small, rural police
departments — who prefer it to the TASER because of its lower cost."
“Active
Denial System”
Designed
by the military, the ADS, also known as the “pain ray,” is shaped like a
satellite dish and shoots an invisible, 95 GHz wave of heat at the suspect —
similar to the waves inside a microwave.
How it
would be used: To stop, deter, and force the retreat of a person who is
approaching too aggressively.
Effect
on target: Heats the skin to 130° Fahrenheit in under two seconds, causing
excruciating, quickly unbearable pain.
Why
it’s appealing: The ADS has been thoroughly researched by the Department of
Defense, and after 13,000 tests on human subjects, there have been only two
serious injuries and no lasting side effects, according to the Pentagon.
Potential
downsides: The ADS is very large; the existing model is designed to be mounted
on top of a humvee or military-sized vehicle. Police would need a much smaller
version with less range but greater portability (and one that doesn’t take half
a day to boot up). The ACLU has also called the ADS a torture device.
Status:
Available to the military in Afghanistan for deterring individuals who were
getting too close to U.S. troops, the ADS was considered for use at the
Pitchess Detention Center in Los Angeles County to disrupt assaults and fights.
The National Institute of Justice has long considered developing a smaller,
handheld version — to be used by law enforcement.
