Security technology: Should a more high-tech approach to keeping the peace, using sounds, shocks and stinks, replace existing methods? WHEN faced with rowdy protesters, police forces have a number of tools at their disposal with which to disperse crowds and quell violence, including batons, shields, rubber bullets and water cannons. But these antiquated devices are crude and rely on brute force, which can lead to further violence and can, in some situations, prove lethal. A number of new crowd-control technologies take a different approach, employing sounds, shocks and stinks to disperse or incapacitate protesters. Such “non-lethal weapons” (NLWs) have been talked about for years, but they are now attracting much more interest, for a simple reason: Iraq. It is not only human-rights activists and conspiracy theorists who regard NLWs with suspicion. Without rigorous, peer-reviewed research into the effects of all of these devices on people, it is impossible to be sure that they are any safer than batons and rubber bullets. The term “non-lethal” is something of a misnomer, since weapons described as such do not have to pass any specific test to demonstrate their non-lethal nature, and nearly all NLWs can kill if used in a certain manner.

Between 1997 and 2003, America's Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Programme, which co-ordinates the development of NLWs for the American military, had an annual budget of around $22m. In 2004, it was increased to $43.3m. The extra funding reflects the growing need, in Iraq in particular, for ways to control crowds while causing as little harm as possible.

http://www.economist.com/science/tq/displayStory.cfm?story_id=3423036


From:
Aftermath News
Top Stories - December 20th, 2004

Use of police stun guns against children "torture."

A report by an international human rights group condemning the use of stun guns has prompted calls in Cincinnati to prohibit police from using Tasers on children younger than 11. Councilman Christopher Smitherman proposed Wednesday that Cincinnati police set a policy prohibiting officers from using Tasers on children aged 7 through 10. Department policy, following national standards, already prohibits Taser use on children younger than 7.

Smitherman's proposal was prompted by the release of an Amnesty International report this week describing the use of police stun guns against children "torture."

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041202/NEWS01/412020378/1056/news01

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Police are too quick to grab for Taser's power, say critics

Teens and pregnant women have felt jolt in King County

When deputies pulled her over, Valinda Otis told them she was pregnant and needed to use the bathroom. When they wouldn't let her go to a nearby restroom, she walked toward it, anyway, she said, and was quickly handcuffed and placed in a patrol car. She screamed and kicked the car door. That's when a deputy with the King County Sheriff's Office pulled out a Taser, pressed it against her thigh and jolted her with 50,000 volts of electricity. "It was a sharp pain," said Otis, 24, who was three months pregnant at the time of the September incident. "I kept asking, 'Is it gonna mess up my baby?' "

Tasers have been used locally to end violent standoffs and subdue suicidal people, but a Seattle Post-Intelligencer review found they're also being used routinely in far less threatening situations -- including against juveniles, pregnant women and people who have already been handcuffed.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/201700_taser30.html


From:
Aftermath News
Top Stories - December 11th, 2004

San Luis Obispo Tribune

11/30/04

In a report being released Tuesday, Amnesty International says stun guns are being abused by police and wants more scientific study done to determine whether the devices are safe. Amnesty says at least 74 people have died in the United States and Canada in the past four years after being shocked with Tasers. The group also says officers have turned stun guns on the mentally disturbed, children and the elderly...

http://makeashorterlink.com/?Y4AF156E9


Taser ad blitz touts consumer stun gun

Arizona Republic

11/29/04

Just in time for the holiday season, Scottsdale-based Taser International is marketing a consumer version of the electric stun gun carried by police officers nationwide. A newspaper and billboard advertising campaign began this month in Phoenix, the only city where the advertisements are running. Tasers fire a pair of darts that deliver a debilitating electrical charge. The stun guns are used by about 1,150 law enforcement departments and have been credited with reducing police shootings. 'Given the violence out there and the overall success with law enforcement, this is the operative tool for self-defense,' company spokesman Steve Tuttle said. 'It can stop the most dangerous individuals, which most non-lethal weapons cannot. This is the answer to stop those people safely.' But while the company insists Tasers are non-lethal, some evidence links them to deaths...

http://makeashorterlink.com/?R2FE325E9


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

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As orders soar, concerns over stun guns grow
Fatalities arouse worries over abuse of shock devices

From Korean Air flight crews to U.S. police and corrections officers to beat cops in Britain, the orders are pouring in for stun guns made by Taser International Inc. The Scottsdale, Ariz., company even recently launched a metro Phoenix ad campaign urging private citizens to arm themselves with the weapons, which temporarily paralyze people with a 50,000-volt jolt. Yet while Taser’s stock has soared with the booming business, concerns are growing about whether the shock-inducing guns are truly as non-lethal as advertised.

In a report being released Tuesday, Amnesty International says stun guns are being abused by police and wants more scientific study done to determine whether the devices are safe.

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/6614365/


Warning on police use of stun guns after 74 die

THE use of stun guns by British police must remain tightly controlled after a report showed dozens have died from their use in North America, a human rights group has warned. Amnesty International has published a study which claims that 74 people have been killed after US and Canadian police shot them with the Taser gun. The organisation also called for a "rigorous, independent and impartial" study into the weapons, which deliver a 50,000-volt shock to disable suspects. In September, the Home Secretary, David Blunkett, announced Tasers were to be authorised for police firearms officers across England and Wales, following a successful trial. Amnesty said Tasers had been used in the US against unruly schoolchildren as young as nine; pregnant women, one of whom lost her baby shortly afterwards; unarmed, mentally- ill people; and those who simply ignored a police officer’s instructions. Amnesty’s UK director, Kate Allen, said: "In some cases, simply walking away from a police officer has led to people getting a 50,000-volt electric shock. Is this a glimpse into the future of UK policing?

"With over 70 deaths following Taser use in the US, surely we must have a full inquiry into their effects before the government even considers any wider deployment on Britain’s streets.

http://news.scotsman.com/uk.cfm?id=1373572004


Taser on children OK, police say

Officials from a majority of law enforcement agencies in Volusia and Flagler counties say they would not hesitate to shoot a child with a Taser stun gun to keep the youngster from harming himself or someone else. The Taser policies of law enforcement agencies in both counties require police to consider everything from a suspect's age to physical and mental condition, but no local agency specifically prohibits using the weapon on a child. "There are those youths out there that are just as capable of hurting someone as any 18-year-old," said Sgt. Pete Moon of the DeLand Police Department. "Each scenario is different." Debra Johnson, a spokeswoman with the Flagler County Sheriff's Office, agreed that age wasn't the only deciding factor. "There are some 12 year-olds out there that are bigger than some adults," she said.

The weapons are equipped with electric barbs that penetrate the skin and transmit an electric shock of up to 50,000 volts from the Taser. Tasers also may be used as a stun gun by pressing the weapon against the skin.

http://www.infowars.com/articles/ps/taser_on_children_ok.htm


USA / Canada: Pattern of abuse -- suspend use of taser guns

Excessive and lethal force? Amnesty International's concerns about deaths and ill-treatment involving police use of tasers
More than 70 people in the USA and Canada have died since 2001, after being electro-shocked with taser guns. While coroners have generally attributed cause of death to factors such as drug intoxication, in at least five cases they have found the taser played a role. "Tasers have been used by police officers against unruly schoolchildren; unarmed mentally disturbed or intoxicated individuals; suspects fleeing minor crime scenes and people who argue with police or fail to comply immediately with a command," said Amnesty International today as it launched two new reports examining the use of taser guns in the USA and Canada. Evidence suggests that, far from being restricted to narrowly-defined circumstances in order to avoid lethal force, tasers have become the most prevalent force tool in some police departments. More than 5,000 law enforcement and correctional agencies in 49 US states are currently reported to be deploying or testing taser equipment, with the take-up rate continuing to grow. In Canada approximately 60 police departments have been issued with tasers.

Despite being widely deployed, there has been no rigorous, independent and impartial study into the use and effects of tasers, particularly in the case of people suffering from heart disease, or under the influence of drugs.

http://news.amnesty.org/index/ENGAMR511682004


Stun gun use on prisoners probed

AMNESTY International has asked the US Defence Department whether the military used Taser electric stun guns on prisoners in Iraq or Afghanistan, saying it is uneasy about reports of mistreatment and abuse. The human rights group said it had made the request under the Freedom of Information Act after interviewing dozens of prisoners formerly held by US forces. "We do have credible evidence that certainly raises the question that Tasers might have been used," Gerald Le Melee, Amnesty International USA's deputy executive director, said today. Amnesty has long expressed misgivings about the safety of Tasers and whether they are open to abuse because they can inflict severe pain without leaving marks.

The group has urged law enforcement agencies to suspend the use of all electroshock weapons pending the outcome of a vigorous independent inquiry into whether the weapons pose health risks.

http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,11542577%255E1702,00.html


From:
Aftermath News
Top Stories - December 2nd, 2004


Man Dies After Police Use Taser Gun On Him

A man died Wednesday night after he was shot with a Taser gun by police officers in Hollywood. The incident began around 8 p.m. when a rescue crew saw a man walking down the 7400 block of Sheridan Street. Crews spotted the man after police had received a call about a white van driving erratically, and suspected the man was the driver. Crews thought there had been an accident, so they went to render help, but the man apparently became unruly. Police were summoned to the scene. During the ensuing altercation, a female officer shot the man with an M-26 Taser gun, which carries a charge of 50,000 volts. Officers said they were unsure why the man became unruly. "They don't know what the problem is with him. Is he having a medical need, or is he intoxicated, they're not quite sure.

Somehow, someway, a confrontation occurs between the officers and this individual, and one of our female police officers deployed her M-26 Taser on our individual," Hollywood Police Capt. Tony Rode said. The 36-year-old man was taken to Memorial Regional Hospital, where he died. The cause of death has not been determined. An investigation is under way.

Another man died after police used an M-26 Taser gun on him in 2003.

http://www.infowars.com/articles/ps/tasers_death_after_police_taser.htm


From:
Aftermath News
Top Stories - December 20th, 2004

http://www.thememoryhole.org/mil/nl-weapons_terms


Informant: Anna Webb

Police say a 6-year-old Florida boy wasn't hurt when they shocked him with a 50,000-volt taser to keep him from cutting himself with a piece of glass.

http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20041112-111756-3329r.htm


From Information Clearing House

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-stun-gun-death,0,1305487.story?coll=sns-ap-nationworld-headlines

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Arizona: Police expand use of Taser

Arizona Republic

11/07/04

Tasers have replaced batons, chemical spray and physical restraint as the weapons of choice for Phoenix police. The electric stun guns are touted by law enforcement authorities as a safe, non-lethal alternative to using a gun in a violent confrontation. But an Arizona Republic analysis of police reports of Taser-related incidents from 2003 found that Phoenix police were far more likely to use the stun guns to make someone obey orders at a traffic stop than to bring down an armed robber. ... With medical examiners finding that Tasers may have played a role in the deaths of eight people around the country, ethical, legal and procedural concerns are being raised about the guns' use in situations involving drunken drivers, shoplifters, family fights and the mentally ill. At the heart of many of these concerns is the potential liability for a police department or city in an expensive wrongful-death suit...

http://makeashorterlink.com/?T1C8569B9

Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Police in Connecticut will continue using non-lethal weapons for crowd control, despite last week's death of a Boston college student fatally struck by a pepper spray-filled projectile during a rowdy Red Sox celebration. Since the incident, Boston police have temporarily stopped using the pellet guns and the Seattle Police Department in Washington has also called for a suspension of the weapons. West Hartford Police Chief James J. Strillacci said Thursday that banning non-lethal weapons is a step in the wrong direction. With the proper training, the weapons are designed to control unruly crowds and prevent injuries, he said.

"It sounds like a knee-jerk reaction to me," said Strillacci, president of the Connecticut Police Chiefs Association. "It's better than shooting somebody. If used properly, these devices can cause little injury to the person."

http://makeashorterlink.com/?N34D548A9

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Police wield deadly power

Is a burned car or smashed storefront worth Victoria Snelgrove's life? What would you do, if you found her dead on the ground?

That's the question Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young asked in "Ohio," a song about the killing 34 years ago of four young people by Ohio National Guardsmen at Kent State University. Last week it was another innocent, 21-year-old Emerson College student Victoria Snelgrove, who was dead on the ground. Why? If you're Boston Mayor Tom Menino, you could blame unruly crowds that flowed out of bars and into Kenmore Square after the Red Sox beat the Yankees. Or you could target the bar owners who served too much and too late in the evening. You could blame the hooligans and punks who got the crowd worked up, setting fire to a car and trashing street lights and storefronts. But roll back the tape and be honest. Boston police had their fingers on the triggers of these new high-tech gadgets they bought for the Democratic National Convention in July. Not the crowd, not the hooligans, not the bar owners. Police didn't get to use these new weapons in July, because the anticipated bedlam and huge crowds didn't show up for the Democrats. But last week police turned these lethal weapons on innocent revelers, hitting three in the head and killing one, Victoria Snelgrove, with a pepperball in the eye.

No one would dispute that being a cop trying to control a huge crowd of pumped up -- and in many cases, booze-fueled -- sports fans is stressful, unpredictable and dangerous. But is a burned car or smashed storefront worth Victoria Snelgrove's life?

http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/columnists/view.bg?articleid=81675

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Group Seeks Ban on 'Less-Lethal' Weapons

Civil rights advocates angry over the death of a student hit by a pepper-spray pellet are seeking at least a temporary ban on the Boston Police Department's use of so-called "less-lethal" weapons to control crowds.

The police commissioner last week created an independent commission to investigate the Oct. 21 death of Victoria Snelgrove and review weapons like the one believed to have caused the 21-year-old's death. Snelgrove was shot in the eye during a massive celebration outside Fenway Park after the Red Sox won the American League pennant. But critics who held a news conference Thursday said Boston police should stop using pepper-ball pellets, bean bag projectiles and rubber bullets until they expand training, ensure accountability and get the weapons independently tested. The belief that such weapons are less dangerous than conventional firearms has led police to use them "as a substitute for negotiation and communication in crowd control," said Gan Golan, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology student and member of a nonprofit group called Save Our Civil Liberties. "This has seriously increased the potential for harm to the public, not decreased it," Golan said.

About 1,000 Boston residents so far have signed a petition that is to be presented to city officials on Nov. 15, advocates said. A companion petition has been signed by about 40 faculty from local colleges and universities.

http://makeashorterlink.com/?G165117B9


From:
Aftermath News
Top Stories - November 1/7st, 2004



Red Sox Fan Victoria Snelgrove Killed by Policeman's 'Non-Lethal' Weapon
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/377678/

Police departments across the country are turning to less lethal weapons, like the high-pressure pepper spray gun used in Boston on Lansdowne Street, to control crowds or dangerous suspects. But the weapons are raising concern because they are sometimes doing exactly what they are designed not to, causing death or serious injuries. Since 1999, the high-pressure guns that fire pepper spray or pepper-powder-filled plastic balls have been adopted by more than 2,500 of the nation's police departments. "There is certainly a safe range for these, but they can cause irreversible damage," said Glenn Shwaery, director of the University of New Hampshire's Nonlethal Technology Innovation Center, speaking about nonlethal weapons in general. "It does give you an option between using nothing and lethal force, but the technology is not where we want it to be."

http://makeashorterlink.com/?C42923B99


From:
Aftermath News
Top Stories - October 25th, 2004



Red Sox Fan Victoria Snelgrove Killed by Policeman's 'Non-Lethal' Weapon
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/377678/

Rick Snelgrove said his daughter did nothing wrong.

A student celebrating the Boston Red Sox’s dramatic baseball victory over the New York Yankees was killed after a policeman on crowd control shot her in the eye with what was designed to be a non-lethal weapon. Fifteen other people, including a policeman, suffered minor injuries in Boston’s Kenmore Square after thousands of fans spilled onto the streets to celebrate after the win in New York. Boston’s mayor said he was considering banning alcohol sales in the city during the World Series baseball finals to avoid a repeat of the rowdiness. Victoria Snelgrove, a 21-year-old journalism student, was hit by a projectile fired by an officer on crowd-control duty. Police Commissioner Kathleen O’Toole said officers were using projectiles “designed to break upon impact, dousing the target with (pepper-like) spray.” She said: “While I firmly and emphatically accept responsibilities for any errors, I also condemn in the harshest words possible the actions of the punks who turned our city’s victory into an opportunity for violence and mindless destruction.” Rick Snelgrove said his daughter did nothing wrong.

http://www.infowars.com/print/us/redsoxfan.htm


Victoria Snelgrove, an Emerson College student, appears in this undated family photo. Snelgrove, 21, died Thursday, Oct. 20, 2004, of a head injury suffered in a clash between police officers and a crowd of Red Sox fans who poured into the streets outside Fenway Park to celebrate their team's victory over the New York Yankees. (AP Photo/Family Photo) http://tinyurl.com/3sbx8


Boston police accept 'full responsibility' in death of Red Sox fan Woman killed by projectile fired to disperse crowds

The Boston Police Department "accepts full responsibility" for the death of a 21-year-old college student killed by a police projectile fired to disperse crowds celebrating the Boston Red Sox victory over the New York Yankees.

Preliminary findings indicate that Victoria Snelgrove, a journalism student at Emerson College, was hit in the eye by a projectile that disperses pepper spray on impact, Boston Police Commissioner Kathleen O'Toole said Thursday. Snelgrove died at 12:50 p.m. at Brigham and Women's Hospital, hours after the overnight melee. "The Boston Police Department is devastated by this tragedy. This terrible event should never have happened," O'Toole told reporters. "The Boston Police Department accepts full responsibility for the death of Victoria Snelgrove."

http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/10/22/fan.death/index.html


Boston Debates Police Force, Riot Weaponry

The death of a college student who was hit in the eye with a pepper spray-filled projectile has sparked anger and questions about whether police used too much force to break up revelers after the come-from-behind victory by the Red Sox. Police Commissioner Kathleen O'Toole said police are considering discontinuing the use of the weaponry that killed Victoria Snelgrove as officers tried to contain an estimated 80,000 fans who poured into the area Wednesday after Boston beat the Yankees in New York. O'Toole said the officers showed "great restraint" but had to fire the projectiles after a few revelers set small fires and threw bottles at police and vandalized property, endangering others. Snelgrove, a 21-year-old Emerson College student, was hit in the eye and died hours later. The plastic balls of pepper spray, which are propelled from devices similar to paintball guns, are meant to help police control large groups without injuring people.

http://makeashorterlink.com/?U65931B99


Death sparks a look at 'nonlethal' weapons

Crowd-control device is also used in Utah

Following the death in Boston of an innocent bystander, hit in the eye by a pepper-spray projectile fired by police, the use of "less-lethal" and "non-lethal" weapons by law enforcement is receiving scrutiny nationwide — including Utah. A Boston police officer takes aim with pepper-spray weapon early Thursday to control crowd of Red Sox fans. College student Victoria Snelgrove died after she was shot in the eye with one of the weapons. Many of the crowd-control devices used by police in Boston trying to control unruly fans after a Red Sox baseball victory are also used by the Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office. And the Utah deputies hope the tragic incident early Thursday involving a Boston officer and a 21-year-old college student does not prompt the public to become critical of the use of those weapons. In Boston, Police Commissioner Kathleen O'Toole said the department may discontinue the use of the weaponry that killed Victoria Snelgrove as officers tried to contain an estimated 80,000 fans. The crowd had poured into the Fenway Park area following the Red Sox victory at Yankee Stadium in New York, a win that sent the Boston team to the World Series.

Salt Lake County Sheriff's Range Master Nick Roberts said the situation in Boston is very sad, and his heart goes out to the victim's family. But he hopes the incident doesn't become a springboard to criticize those types of weapons.

http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,595100297,00.html



From:
Aftermath News
Top Stories - October 25th, 2004



'Nonlethal' guns causing alarm
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/377689/

Police defend use of non-lethal weapons for crowd control
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/385103/