CROWD CONTROL TECHNOLOGIES - Omega Research Foundation

By 1994 this work was well on its way to completion and President Clinton was able to say, )I
will..direct the Office of the Secretary of Defense to accelerate efforts to field non-chemical, non-lethal
alternatives to Riot Control Agents for use in situations where combatants and non-combatants are
intermingled(. 336 By 1998 other paralysing tunable weapons for layered defence and less-lethal area
denial munitions were selected for funding - including overhead chemical agent dispensers and rocket
delivered micro-enscapsulated malodourous substances. 337 Future non-lethal weapons identified by
the US Marines for 2000 onwards include pulsed energy systems, microwave systems, advanced
delivery robototics and unmanned vehicles carrying less-lethal weapons etc. 338 A few examples of what
has emerged already are discussed below. Some attempt has been made to say which technologies
are now available, which are on the horizon or at prototype stages and which lie some years off but for
which preparatory research programmes are already in place.
6.3.2 Upgrades of Existing Crowd Control Technologies Much of what has been promoted for nonlethal
munitions has been around in various guises for some time. In 1995, the US Joint Non-Lethal
Weapons working Group had tested various off the shelf candidates including blunt impact devices,
chemical irritants, entanglements and aqueous foam barriers. Fiscal Year (FY) 1995 Non Lethal
accomplishments were identified by Charles Thornton, Division Chief of the Dismounted Battle
Laboratory, TDADOC as blunt impact (12 gauge muzzle launched 37/40mm); chemical irritants such
(such as OC & CS and what he calls RCAs) Disorientating Techs Set beam and Maxi-beam(these are
dazzling light torches) entanglements; barriers - aqueous foam; 40mm sponge grenades, soft
munitions and ballistic entanglements. BY FY 1996, technologies listed still included blunt impact,
entanglements, slippery barriers and sticky foam but also alternatives to land mines
(CALTROPS/Volcano), distraction devices and acoustic weapons. 339 Also in 1996, the US Army
Research Laboratory was developing a Variable Velocity Rifle System which allows the operator to
select between lethal and non-lethal on a shot by shot basis using so called dual purpose bruiser
ammunition. (This device works by a venting system which keeps padding around the sabot style
ammunition during low velocity firings which is released at higher more lethal speeds). 340 At the same
time, the Federal Bureau of prisons was looking at off the shelf candidates for prison riot control such
as chemicals, OC, smoke, flash-bang grenades, electronic stun belts and some future applications
such as anaesthetic darts/pellets. 341
6.3.3 Entanglements - popularly known as stickem and slickem. By 1997, after several TV and
magazine articles on less-lethal weapons, the image of the sticky foamed target of a glue gun had
become almost the symbol of the 2 nd . Generation of less-lethal weapons. Net guns used for personal
capture are now in operational use. For example police in Western Australia recently ordered them. In
1997 342 Alliant Tech, better known for making mines, made an industry perspective on non-lethal
weapon systems which looked at spider net entanglements, foams to block an area and super slippery
substances which make roads and pathways impassable. 343 However, at the same conference, Hilda
Libby no longer talked of sticky foam as a stick em - it was seen more as an area denial munition.
Why? Because despite the massive Public Relations exercise promoting its benign use to paralyse
targets, it took hours to decontaminate a subject from the foam (using baby oil) and there is a real risk
of suffocation if the foam covers the mouth and nose. Little is being said about such failures. Likewise a
dart weapon for prisons has also apparently been quietly dropped after fears about lethal effects
emerged. 344
6.3.4 Directed Energy Weapons - These weapons have created the most heated debate. Some
variants such as isotropic radiators have come on to the market as omni-directional laser bright
rounds, where precision targeting is impossible. They are being promoted as cheap dazzle devices
against people and optics but little has emerged in the way of technical data. Other more directional
lasers have been used as dazzle devices for example the USAF Saber 203 laser dazzle system,
prototypes of which were used by the US Marines in Somalia. 345 Blinding laser weapons are banned by
the blinding laser convention, 346 nevertheless, even after this treaty, their use is still being promoted for
law enforcement. 347 A recent development has been using a UV laser which can ionize the air
sufficiently for it to conduct an electric charge. This enables an electric shock to be delivered over some
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