Since the end of World War II, the need to keep escalation of force at the minimum levels necessary to control a situation and avoid unnecessary death and human suffering has increased. As a result, significant research and development in non-lethal and less-than-lethal weapons technology for military and police use has been conducted over the past 40 years with the first field options deployed in the mid-1990s as an option for soldiers and policemen to use scalable force when controlling crowds.
How Does a Non Lethal Crowd Control Weapon Work?
All non-lethal weapons are designed to reduce the chances of severe injury or death. Despite these goals, deaths are still experienced when used on persons with per-existing medical conditions, improper employment of the weapon, or repetitive applications and/or misuse. All crowd control weapons are designed to stop human behavior whether in a riot or other threatening condition without bullets or other kinetic weapons being employed. Examples of effective non-lethal weapons include: pepper spray, tear gas, microwave radiation emissions with the Active Denial System, sticky foam, rubber bullets, and acoustic emissions. Each of the systems is made to create intense pain or discomfort in the targeted individual to make the person stop moving or cease the behavior that is unwanted (ie rioting or yelling at police or servicemen).
Examples of Non Lethal Crowd Control Weapons
Water Canons
Water canons are one of the most commonly used non lethal crowd control weapons. They have been effectively employed to disperse persons, prevent movement on a position, and to help control riots.
Scent-Based Weapons
Scent-based weapons have also been used to encourage groups of rioters to disperse a desired area. These are also referred to as malodorants, and the Israelis have effectively deployed Skunk smells in the form of a mist shot from a water cannon to get crowds to leave a desired area.
Pepper Spray, Tear Gas, and Mace
Pepper spray is one of the most widely deployed non lethal crowd control weapons world-wide. The spray is made from a derivative of the cayenne pepper plan and is used to temporarily disable an individual. Most inadvertent deaths from the use of the spray typically come from the combination of the spray with a choke hold that deprives the individual of air. Tear gas, on the other hand, is commonly used to displace rioters from a greater distance using gas canisters that are launched. Another point defense chemical agent used for self defense is mace, but can also be used in crowd control situations.
Sleep Gas
Sleep gas is another chemical agent that is not used as frequently to control crowds, and was used in the very public Moscow theater hostage crisis. The gas is designed to induce sleep in both hostages and terrorists, with the potential for death from choking on vomit or overdose being high.
Sticky Foam
Sticky foam has been tried by the U.S. And other organizations to stop persons tending to violence in crowd control situations. The use of foam, however, brings additional complications such as post-riot clean-up, potential asphyxiation of the people being brought under control, and the difficulty in employment.
Microwave Weapons
The use of microwave emissions in tool kits such as the U.S. Government’s Active Denial System is another area experiencing significant interest in Research & Development sectors across a number of governments. In the case of the ADS, short bursts of microwaves are emitted that cause severe pain in the crowd or groups of persons that require dispersal. Once the affected individuals leave the area, the pain subsides. All side effects of the weapon have not been assessed, however, as there is debate on whether or not the ADS can cause permanent harm to targeted persons eyes.