Less-lethal weapon

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It has been suggested that Electromagnetic Weapon be merged into this article or section. (Discuss)

It has been suggested that Incapacitant be merged into this article or section. (Discuss)

The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with North America and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article or discuss the issue on the talk page.

Contents 1 History 2 Safety controversy 3 "Non-lethal rounds" 4 Darts 5 Gases and sprays 5.1 Pepper spray 5.2 Tear gas 5.3 Other gases 6 Sticky foam 7 Scent-based weapons 8 Electroshock weapons 9 Directed energy weapons 9.1 Lasers 9.1.1 Examples 9.2 Sonic weapons 9.2.1 Examples 9.3 Safety, effects, and legal status 9.4 Use 10 Allegations of torture 11 Terrorism concerns 12 See also 13 Notes 14 External links

Less-lethal weapons, less-than-lethal weapons, non-lethal weapons, non-deadly weapons, or, more recently, compliance weapons are weapons intended to be less likely to kill or to cause great bodily injury to a living target than a conventional weapon. Less-lethal weapons are used in riot control and self-defense.

[edit] History

In the past, police (or soldiers) called to a riot were primarily limited to use of bayonet or saber charges, or firing live ammunition at crowds. Less-lethal riot control weapons were developed to fulfill the needs of public authorities to reduce the loss of life in such situations. Before the invention of less-lethal weapons, police officers had few if any non-lethal options for riot control. Common tactics included a slowly-advancing wall of soldiers or officers with batons, or a charge into a riot using the flats of sabers. Some success was also had using shotguns with lower-powered cartridges, "salt shells", and/or richocheting the shot off of the ground. In the mid 1900's with the integration of fire-control systems into major cities, police found that the use of high-pressure fire hoses could be effective in dispersing a crowd (the use of water cannons and fire trucks has remained an effective nonlethal tactic to disperse riots). Trained police dogs were also commonly used to scare and disperse rioters and/or apprehend single subjects.

In the 1980s, the development of the high-tensile plastics Kevlar and Lexan revolutionized personal armor and led to new tactics for riot squads and other special-purpose teams. Officers could now stand up against violent rioters throwing objects without having to resort to lethal methods to quickly disperse the danger. Coupled with the introduction of effective non-lethal chemical agents such as tear gas and offensive odor canisters, and non-lethal impact rounds such as rubber bullets and "bean bag" flexible baton rounds, riot tactics were modified to resort less on violent response to attacking rioters and a return to the slowly-advancing wall, with supporting officers firing non-lethal ordnance into the crowd to discourage advance.

Police officers on patrol were traditionally armed with a baton and/or pistol, and non-lethal methods of subduing an attacker centered on hand-fighting techniques such as Jujutsu and baton use. In the 1980s and 1990s officers began deploying non-lethal personal sidearms, such as pepper sprays and eventually electroshock weapons such as Tasers, which were developed for use by police and also found a market in self-defense by private citizens. However, these weapons were developed for non-lethal de-escalation of a one-on-one conflict.

During the 1990s and early 2000s, interest in various other forms of less-lethal weapons has risen, both in military and police contexts. The interest arose because the use of less-lethal weapons may, under international law and treaty, be legal in situations where weapons such as lethal gases are not, as well as further efforts to keep the peace after conflict.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, police began to adopt a new pepper spray delivery system based on the equipment used in paintball. A specialized paintball, called a "pepperball", is filled with liquid or powdered capsaicin, the active ingredient in pepper spray, and is propelled by compressed gas using a paintball marker similar to those used for the sport, but modified for higher-pressure operation. The capsule breaks open on impact and the capsaicin disperses with similar effect to aerosol pepper spray. In addition, the pain caused by the capsule's impact (a pepperball's shell is thicker than a standard paintball and is fired at higher velocity) can independently encourage compliance.

In 2001 the United States Marine Corps revealed its development of a less-lethal energy weapon called the Active Denial System, a focused microwave device said to be capable of heating the outer skin of a target individual or group to approximately 130° Fahrenheit (54° Celsius) in about two seconds, causing intolerable pain. The system is designed to be nonlethal as subjects will try to escape the beam immediately, but if escape from the target area is impossible, the device can produce lasting burns after several seconds' exposure.

In 2004 author Jon Ronson revealed a military report titled "Non-Lethal Weapons: Terms and References." There were a total of 21 acoustic weapons listed, in various stages of development, including the Infrasound ("Very low-frequency sound which can travel long distances and easily penetrate most buildings and vehicles...biophysical effects: nausea, loss of bowels, disorientation, vomiting, potential internal organ damage or death may occur. Superior to ultrasound..."^[1]

[edit] Safety controversy

This article is missing citations or needs footnotes. Please help add inline citations to guard against copyright violations and factual inaccuracies. (October 2007)

The basic concept of less-lethal weapons is intended to minimize unintended casualties. Although rioters are occasionally killed by these weapons, fatalities are rare and usually accidental. Typical causes of death from non-lethal weapons include misplaced or ricocheting shots, a hidden medical condition, insufficient training on the part of the user, and intentional misuse.

As different parts of the body differ in vulnerability, and because people vary in weight and fitness, any weapon powerful enough to incapacitate may be capable of killing under certain circumstances. Thus "non-lethal force" does have some risk of causing death: in this context "non-lethal" means only "not intended to kill". For this reason, two new terms, "less than lethal" and particularly "less-lethal", were coined and are now being used in place of "non-lethal" by many weapons manufacturers and law enforcement agencies (and even those who oppose their common use in riot control). This meaning emphasizes that they tend to kill or injure far fewer targets than traditional weapons.

Several groups maintain there is great room for improvement in non-lethal weapons and procedures for their use. Claims for the relative safety of such weapons are usually contingent on their being used "properly." For example, the rubber bullets developed during the 1960s were supposed to be fired at the ground and hit the target only after ricochet.^{[citation needed]} In practice they were often fired directly at human targets and caused serious injury.

[edit] "Non-lethal rounds"

Non-lethal or less-lethal rounds are firearm rounds which are designed to incapacitate, but not kill, a target. The rounds rely on the transfer of kinetic energy to accomplish this incapacitation. Rubber bullets, wax bullets, plastic bullets and rubber bullets with electroshock effect (e.g. Taser XREP rounds) are less lethal than conventional metal bullets, and are also propelled at lower speed. (Gunpowder is not used, only a percussion cap.) "Bean bag" type bullets are sometimes referred to as flexible baton rounds. More recently, high-velocity paintball guns are also used to launch less-lethal rounds, including the FN 303 launcher and PepperBall ^[2] commercial products. There is also the Variable Velocity Weapon Concept, ^[3] for which a propulsion energy source may not yet have been clearly established and/or finalized. In any case, all of these technologies apply the same basic mechanism, which is to launch a mass at the target that interacts kinetically.

Because the impact energy varies based on engagement range, it is accepted that less lethal ammunition in some scenarios may cause injury. The risk of adverse effects: contusions, abrasions, broken ribs, concussions, loss of eyes, superficial organ damage, serious skin lacerations, massive skull fractures, rupture of the heart or kidney, fragmentation of the liver, hemorrhages, and death are considerable. Policies for determining if medical assistance should be contacted immediately after an actual deployment of a less-lethal munition (even if no physical injuries appear on subject or subjects) are usually determined by the organization using such devices. There is currently no universal consensus policy paper to suggest an alternative.

A patent is pending for a non-lethal spread projectile suitable for firing from a shotgun that maintains a ballistic shape until impact thus allowing for accurate use over a considerable distance. ^[4]

[edit] Darts

This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2009)

Unlike less-lethal rounds that rely mostly on the kinetic energy of the projectile to incapacitate the opponent, darts use sedative agents to incapacitate the target. Darts have been used for centuries in wildlife parks and zoos to incapacitate large and/or dangerous animals (eg leopards, tigers, elephants) in order to transport them. Darts can be fired with repeating crossbows, compressed air rifles or blowpipes, or with electromagnetics such as in the Gauss pistol.

[edit] Gases and sprays

[edit] Pepper spray

An estimate by the International Association of Chiefs of Police suggested at least 113 pepper spray related fatalities had occurred in the United States, mostly from positional asphyxia, which is caused by airway-restrictive immobilizing holds. Such holds can be exacerbated by the use of pepper spray and the resulting airway inflammation.

[edit] Tear gas

The use of chemical weapons such as tear gas (CS) and pepper spray (OC) has come under increasing scrutiny and criticism due to studies showing serious long term side effects. One indication is that many police forces are no longer exposing their members to the chemicals during training. Another is that tear gas and pepper spray are banned in warfare under the Biological and Chemical Weapons Convention. This argument is similar to those levied by gun control advocates who condemn the commercial availability of hollow-point bullets, banned in wartime by the Hague Convention.

Journalist Ruben Salazar was killed in Los Angeles in 1970 by an errant CS gas canister during the Chicano riots.

There have been accusations that the use of (inflammable) CS gas canisters during the Waco siege in 1993 contributed to the fire that killed many Branch Davidians.^{[citation needed]}

This article may need to be updated. Please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information, and remove this template when finished. Please see the talk page for more information.

Victoria Snelgrove was accidentally killed by police in October 2004, near Fenway Park, Boston by a pepper spray projectile fired from an FN 303 classified as a less-lethal weapon – which hit her in her eye causing her to bleed excessively. Following this incident several police forces including Seattle's had temporarily discontinued use of this weapon until after the results of the investigation were published.

[edit] Other gases

Other gases include BZ, LSD, Kolokol-1, EA-3167. CR gas is another (less-used) riot control agent and Blister agents could also be considered as less-lethal weapons.

[edit] Sticky foam

Sticky foam was tried by the U.S. Marine Corps in the peacekeeping Operation United Shield in 1995 with some success, but as a result various complications in its field use were also discovered.^[5]

[edit] Scent-based weapons

In 2008 The Israeli Defense Forces have begun using Skunk for crowd control. It is a form of mist sprayed from a water cannon, which leaves a terrible odor of rot or sewage on whatever it touches, and does not wash off easily.

[edit] Electroshock weapons

Electroshock weapons are incapacitant weapons used for subduing a person by administering electric shock aimed at disrupting superficial muscle functions. One type is a conductive energy device (CED), an electroshock gun popularly known by the brand name "Taser", which fires projectiles that administer the shock through a thin, flexible wire. Other electroshock weapons such as stun guns, stun batons, and electroshock belts administer an electric shock by direct contact.

[edit] Directed energy weapons

Directed energy weapons are weapons that emit energy in an aimed direction without the means of a projectile. They are non-lethal and can immobilize people as well as machines (e.g. vehicles). ^[6] Directed energy weapons include electromagnetic radiation (typically lasers or masers), particles with mass (Particle beam weapons), and sound (sonic weaponry).

[edit] Lasers

[edit] Examples

• Dazzler (weapon)
• MEDUSA (weapon)
• Active Denial System

[edit] Sonic weapons

Cavitation, which affects gas nuclei in human tissue, and heating can result from exposure to ultrasound and can cause damage to tissue and organs. Studies have found that exposure to high intensity ultrasound at frequencies from 700 kHz to 3.6 MHz can cause lung and intestinal damage in mice. Heart rate patterns following vibroacoustic stimulation has resulted in serious negative consequences such as arterial flutter and bradycardia. Researchers have concluded that generating pain through the auditory system using high intensity sound resulted in a high risk of permanent hearing damage. Organizations in a research program which included several institutions^[7] involved high intensity audible sound experiments on human subjects. The extra-aural (unrelated to hearing) bioeffects on various internal organs and the central nervous system included auditory shifts, vibrotactile sensitivity change, muscle contraction, cardiovascular function change, central nervous system effects, vestibular (inner ear) effects, and chest wall/lung tissue effects. Researchers found that low frequency sonar exposure could result in significant cavitations, hypothermia, and tissue shearing. No follow on experiments were recommended. Tests performed on mice show the threshold for both lung and liver damage occurs at about 184 dB. Damage increases rapidly as intensity is increased. Noise-induced neurologic disturbances in humans exposed to continuous low frequency tones for durations longer than 15 minutes involved development of immediate and long term problems affecting brain tissue. The symptoms resembled those of individuals who had suffered minor head injuries. One theory for a causal mechanism is that the prolonged sound exposure resulted in enough mechanical strain to brain tissue to induce an encephalopathy.^[8]

[edit] Examples

• Long Range Acoustic Device

[edit] Safety, effects, and legal status

In the United States of America, the University of Texas-Austin Institute for Advanced Technology (IAT) conducts basic research to advance electrodynamics and hypervelocity physics related to electromagnetic weapons.^[9] Generally considered 'non-lethal weapons', electromagnetic weaponry do however pose health threats to humans. In fact, "non-lethal weapons can sometimes be deadly."^[10]

Department of Defense policy explicitly states that non-lethal weapons "shall not be required to have a zero probability of producing fatalities or permanent injuries."^[11] Although a Human Effects Advisory Panel was established in 1998 to provide independent assessment on human effects, data, and models for the use of 'non-lethal weapons' on the general population,^[12] the TECOM Technology Symposium in 1997 concluded on non-lethal weapons, “Determining the target effects on personnel is the greatest challenge to the testing community,” primarily because "the potential of injury and death severely limits human tests." However, "directed energy weapons that target the central nervous system and cause neurophysiological disorders may violate the Certain Conventional Weapons Convention of 1980. And weapons that go beyond non-lethal intentions and cause “superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering” could violate the Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions of 1977."^[13]

Some common bio-effects of electromagnetic or non-lethal weapons include affects to the human central nervous system resulting in physical pain, difficulty breathing, vertigo, nausea, disorientation, or other systemic discomfort. Interference with breathing poses the most significant, potentially lethal results. Light and repetitive visual signals can induce epileptic seizures (called the Bucha effect). Vection and motion sickness can also occur.

Project Pandora, conducted by the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, WRAIR, included externally induced auditory input from pulsed microwave audiograms of words or oral sounds which create the effect of hearing voices that are not a part of the recipients own thought processes. Microwave pulses can also affect the epidermis (skin) and dermis, the thick sensitive layer of skin and connective tissue beneath the epidermis that contains blood, lymph vessels, sweat glands, and nerve endings, generating a burn from as far as 700 yards.^[14]

[edit] Use

During the Gulf War, electromagnetic weapons, including high power microwaves were used to disrupt and destroy the enemy's electronic systems and may have been used for other effects. Types and magnitudes of exposure to electromagnetic fields is unknown.^[15]

[edit] Allegations of torture

Both pepper spray and electroshock weapons have been misused in so-called "pain compliance" techniques against people attempting to practice nonviolent civil disobedience. For instance, pepper spray has been swabbed directly into the eyes of protesters who were being held immobile with their eyelids forcibly pulled back.^[16] In at least one case, notwithstanding manufacturer's warnings of the danger of such use, a judge has upheld the use of such method.^{[citation needed]} Amnesty International in 1997 released a report titled USA: Police use of pepper spray is tantamount to torture.

[edit] Terrorism concerns

Loren Thompson, chief operating officer of the Lexington Institute in Virginia states that: “The relevant (electromagnetic weapon) technology is well within the grasp of some countries and transnational terrorist groups," and further states that U.S. hardware is susceptible to microwave and other directed-energy weapons.^[17]

Suitable materials and tools to create electromagnetic weapons are commonly available. "The threat of electromagnetic bomb proliferation is very real."^[18]

Also, electroshock weapons can be easily made DIY. Reports have been made of people making tasers from cell phones and other electrical devices. ^[19]

[edit] See also

• Peroneal strike (hand-to-hand technique)

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

• 'Non-Lethal' Weapons - New book. Palgrave, Global Issues Series, June 2009.
• Bradford Non-Lethal Weapons Research Project (BNLWRP), University of Bradford, UK.
• The Sunshine Project, 'Non-Lethal' Incapacitating (Bio)Chemical Weapons (website)
• Ro'i Ben-Horin, "Non-Lethal Weapons Theory, Practice, and what Lies Between", Strategic Assessment, Volume 3, No. 4, April 2001
• Centurio Products Group, Baffled Advantage Device (BAD) electronic "Sound & Flash" or "Flashbang" grenades
• Pharaoh's Army, documentary about less-lethal weapons
• The European Parliament Directorate General for Research, The STOA - Scientific and Technological Options. An Appraisal of Technologies of Political Control
• LED Incapacitator
• WSTIAC, Weapon Systems library