16 Nov 01

Some comments from knowledgeable friends and colleagues:

"Just had training in less-lethal weapons from BATF. For most law enforcement situations, the amount of time is often so short between employing pepper spray and batons and employing firearms (as violence escalates), that less-lethal, projectile weapons are difficult to bring into action soon enough to matter."

"A sewn (square) "beanie," fired from fifteen yards, struck the suspect's left chest and penetrated several inches. Suspect was DRT (Dead Right There). Local ME determined that the bean bag had turned sideways in flight ("frizzbied") and slipped between the suspect's ribs upon impact. The death was, of course, unintentional"

"I disagree with your comments about accuracy. Sock shaped beanbags are better, and are my preference. But, the square ones (CTS, current, DefTec, or MK Ballistics) are certainly accurate enough to hit a man in the thigh or lower abdomen to fifteen yards."

"I fired and hit her with a 37mm baton round in the rear of the leg. She did not immediately go down but hesitated. After several seconds, she finally went to the ground. I would have liked to have had the ability to hit her again immediately.

We have therefore decided to purchase a rotary, 37mm launcher. We will supplement this with current 12ga Mossbergs using CTS Super Sock Rounds. At fifteen yards, our officers are able to put CTS rounds into a three-inch circle consistently.

We have 223 CAR-15's for deadly-force response. Using in-car, Big Sky racks, officers have immediate access to the rifle. These racks keep the carbines out of public view. Access is still very quick."

"Here in Denver, an officer mixed up rounds (it was dark) and unintentionally hit a suspect with a charge of 00 buck, instead of a beanbag. Suspect was DRT. Oops!

Having a single gun doing two different things is always going to be a hazard"

/John