PERF: Feds Should Issue Guidance on Less-Lethal Weapon Use During Unrest

The federal government should study how police use less-lethal weapons and offer guidance to law enforcement agencies across nationwide because officers are often left with little information beyond the manufacturer’s guidelines, according to a new report from the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF).

The PERF study examines how police departments handled the thousands of riots and protests in the U.S. in the summer of 2020, the Associated Press reports.

The report also examines the use of less-lethal weapons and points specifically to the need to study their use and for police forces to have a playbook to follow – something the report notes has been sorely lacking for years. Now, the group is recommending the Justice Department’s research arm, the National Institute of Justice, begin examining their use and offer resources to law enforcement agencies about when and how to use the weapons.

Chuck Wexler, the executive director of PERF, said he has spoken with Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta, who oversees the National Institute of Justice, and that she was receptive to the recommendation and said examining these issues is a department priority.