Over the past week police officers have attacked peaceful demonstrators protesting after the killing of George Floyd with pepper spray, tear gas, rubber and wooden bullets, and batons, among other creative forms of violence. Intended to subdue people without killing them, these tools are often called “non-lethal,” but that term is misleading, and masks the true damage these weapons can cause.
Non-lethal weapons, sometimes more accurately called “less-lethal,” started to gain traction in the 90s, after the United Nations adopted the Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials, which encouraged their use and development by police officers in member states around the world. The thinking seemed to make sense — encourage officers to develop alternate ways of policing that don’t require shooting people — but in practice it has resulted in widespread use of excessive force, often in situations that violate international law.
Non-lethal weapons fall into a few broad categories. Batons and projectiles such as rubber bullets are considered kinetic impact; tear gas and pepper spray fall under the umbrella of chemical irritants; TASERs are electrical; and sound cannons are acoustic devices, and could also be considered physiological weapons. Continue reading.