[CH] pepper balls

Alex Silbajoris (asilbajo@hotmail.com)
Tue, 03 Dec 2002 11:45:42 +0000 

Sounds like a holiday recipe, but it isn't.  I just watched a news story 
about a police chase that mentioned pepper balls as non-lethal weapons.  So 
I did a yahoo search on 'police pepper balls' and found this story from the 
Cincinnati Enquirer:




   While Cincinnati police face a federal investigation over their use of 
beanbag projectiles, city officers soon will have a new, nonlethal weapon 
added to their crowd-control arsenal.

        Police will receive 17 pepper-ball air rifles, which fire a small 
round ball containing a powerful pepper powder. The balls quickly debilitate 
their targets upon impact by emitting powder that is breathed into the lungs 
and stings the eyes.

        The weapon passed its first test with Hamilton County sheriff's 
deputies this week when they were used to subdue a pit bull and Rottweiller 
that were threatening officers who were trying to arrest a Northside man in 
his home.

Hamilton County Chief Sheriff's Deputy Sean Donavan displays a pepper-ball 
air rifle, which Cincinnati police will soon add to their nonlethal crowd 
control arsenal.
(Tony Jones photo)
| ZOOM |
        Sheriff's officials bought 41 pepper-ball rifles about the time of 
the April riots but had yet to use them, said sheriff's spokesman Steve 
Barnett.

        The pepper-ball rifles' advantage over traditional pepper spray is 
distance. The rifle allows officers to apply the spray from a greater and 
safer distance — up to 100 feet.

        And unlike beanbag projectiles — which are designed to stun, slow or 
stop suspects through physical pain — the pepper ball's physical impact is 
relatively minimal, usually lasting 10 minutes, police officials said.

        “It's a double whammy. It has a dual effect of the kinetic energy of 
the impact and the impact of the pepper round,” said Cincinnati Police Sgt. 
Doug Ventre, a SWAT coordinator.

        Sgt. Ventre volunteered to be shot eight times with the pepper 
rounds as part of the pre-purchase testing.

        “I think they will be extremely effective,” he said of the 17 
rifles, which use compressed air to fire the powder balls and cost the city 
about $25,000.

        The weapon joins officers' options of nonlethal weapons such as 
batons, chemical spray, electrical Tasers, rubber bullets and beanbag 
projectiles. Several other Tristate police departments have also bought the 
new pepper powder weapons.

        On Tuesday, sheriff's deputies tried to arrest Tyrone Alford, 42, of 
the 3900 block of Borden Street, who was wanted on a felony warrant for 
owing more than $40,000 in child support. Deputies used the pepper-ball 
rifle when Mr. Alford refused to leave his home.

        Officers first subdued Mr. Alford's pit bull with pepper balls and 
then, forcing the door open to the residence, fired the projectiles at his 
Rottweiller 20 feet down a hallway preparing to attack.

        Both dogs fled after being hit and Mr. Alford was arrested, Mr. 
Barnett said.

        “The weapon worked well. The dogs are all right,” he said. “A lot of 
times in the past we would have had no choice but to shoot them with a gun.”

        The new pepper-ball rifles will not, however, replace the city nor 
county sheriff's use of beanbag rifles. Their alleged misuse after the April 
funeral of Timothy Thomas is the focus of a federal investigation by 
protesters who claim officers unfairly fired on them in Over-the-Rhine.

        “The beanbags are still extremely effective,” said Sgt. Ventre, who 
added that beanbag rounds were a key tool in controlling rioters and 
protesters during the April unrest.

        The 19-year-old Mr. Thomas' fatal shooting by a Cincinnati police 
officer on April 7 sparked rioting and protests, some of which continued 
during the day of Mr. Thomas' funeral.

        The FBI is investigating whether the beanbag shootings violated 
federal civil rights laws.

        Mr. Barnett said sheriff's officials believe the new weapon is “an 
excellent choice for crowd dispersal.”

        Officers facing a crowd-control situation can often avoid shooting 
the pepper rounds directly at individuals by aiming at the ground in front 
of a crowd so everyone gets a whiff of cayenne pepper.

        “That is usually enough to do the job,” said Mr. Barnett.




Of course, I'm thinking, what a way to jazz up a hotluck!

- A


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