Real Action Paintball T16 LE

The T16 training weapon loads from a bottom-mounted magazine, like an M4 rifle. Officers can attach any M4/AR attachments to the weapon, including sights and scopes. The T16 can also be used as a less-than-lethal weapon to subdue large groups or individuals when necessary.

In Search of the Star Trek Phaser

When it comes to capturing, subduing, and arresting bad guys, law enforcement currently has four types of less-lethal and less-than-lethal tools: physical restraint such as handcuffs and Ripp Hobble restraints, chemical weapons such as oleoresin capsicum (OC) spray, electrical shock devices such as Tasers, and impact tools such as batons and Asps.

How Tasers Are Used by the Cincinnati PD

When the Cincinnati Police Department decided to equip all of its patrol officers with X26 Tasers, department brass had to establish policy for use of the conductive weapons. After studying the research assembled by Specialist John Rose, Chief Thomas Streicher Jr. decided that the Cincinnati PD would place Tasers right after verbal commands in the department’s force continuum.

TASER: Navigating the Learning Curve

Editor’s Note: On Nov. 30, 2003, three officers of the Cincinnati Police Department were called to the parking lot of one of the city’s many White Castle restaurants. There they found an immense 41-year-old man named Nathaniel Jones who was scaring the restaurant’s employees with his bizarre behavior.

Pepper Gel

Less-lethal OC weapons are now available in a gel form from Mace Security International. Take Down 10-percent pepper gel is a nontoxic, nonflammable, water-soluble gel that contains 1.4 percent capsaicinoids concentration and has more range than Mace stream products.

OC Spray Flashlight

Now in use by the U.S. Air Force, Tigerlight is a flashlight that can also be used to deploy pepper spray. With Tigerlight, an officer has immediate access to pepper spray while a suspect only sees a flashlight. This combination tool also leaves an officer’s other hand free to grab his gun if necessary.

Duty Belt Deconstruction

While some safety measures may seem insignificant now, they might actually save your life someday. Start by looking at your duty belt. Did you configure the items on it because they work best that way for you, or because everyone else does it that way?

Shock Treatment

Because the high-powered Taser has been so swiftly fielded by so many agencies, there is no consensus on how officers who carry the weapon should be trained. Despite the fact that Taser International no longer emphasizes that all users should be stunned with the weapon, people at the company believe there are many reasons for departments to consider mandatory exposure.

Hot Shots

OC has come a long way since it first arrived on the law enforcement market about a decade ago. Today, there are a wide variety of formulas, sizes, and systems that are common to the law enforcement market. And manufacturers keep working to develop improved versions.

Hot Shots: The Scoville Scale