Look into safer weapons

The  Editor: National Security Minister Martin Joseph has to do something immediately about trigger-happy cops whose only response to confrontation is the use of deadly force. The society is still reeling from the acquittal of a cop who shot an alleged “hot mouthed” unarmed teenage girl at a phone booth and the even more bizzare laying of charges laid on two officers who shot dead an armed rich kid at the International School where a local Columbine drama almost played itself out.

We have been down this road before too many times.  Once again there is talk of non-lethal methods of subduing violent and abusive persons. Soon enough the interest dies away until the next senseless police killing.  The relatives of the unarmed woman slain by police last week should seek every means of taking legal action against the police service, the State and the policemen involved. Our local lawyers should come forward and provide services to these people.  Rodney King was awarded $54 million in compensation following his savage beating at the hands of Los Angeles cops.  The cops in question also faced charges and jail for this act and the rough tactics of the California cops changed almost overnight. There are several alternates to the use of deadly force.  A couple of years ago, a deranged woman wielding a piece of wood on Wrightson Road was shot dead by a passing patrolman. 

This was followed by a father and son shot by police who came in response to the father calling the cops to restrain his deranged son.  The son died as a result.  There were cries for alternative measures and an American firm demonstrated a non-lethal electrical TASER  which temporarily paralyses a person by shocking the muscular system with up to twenty-five thousand volts of “pulsed” electricity.  The ‘pulsed’ nature of the voltage is what caused paralysis and not death. The victim remains paralysed for as long the charge is kept applied and recovers fully, three to five minutes after the current  is switched off. 

Alas interest in the TASER waned soon thereafter and we are back to square one.   In addition to this device there are several options available to our police service.  There is the bean bag gun which shoots a bean bag filled with hard rubber balls.  It is aimed at the torso and like the TASER can fell a human of any size or strength.  There is no permanent  injury and the victim  recovers unhurt. Pepper spray and pepper balls are used by several police services in the developed countries. 

A special gun shoots plastic balls filled with noxious pepper powder and other “condiments” which renders anyone hit at chest height helpless for several minutes.  Then there is the glue gun which fires a stream of  super adhesive glue which bonds to an aggressive person and renders immobility in seconds; the glue is dissolved easily with the application of a solvent.  There are several other non-lethal weapons available to our police. The use of deadly force against “hot mouthed” women and deranged citizens is not  going to take us to 2020. Correct this deadly folly now Mr Joseph.

Mc  Donald James
Couva