by Frederick Kessinger

Created on: December 02, 2008

Search on the internet for Non-lethal weapons and it will soon be obvious that the general public has many mixed feelings about this subject. Most of the negative connotations people have concerning non-lethal weapons derives from the name non-lethal' and the fact that there have, indeed, been deaths connected with the use of these weapons. Many departments and organizations use other terms, such as less than lethal' or less lethal.' Non-lethal is the term most often heard as it is the name that was chosen by the Department of Defense.

Regardless of the term used, and the perception that it generates with the public, non-lethal weapons have their place and purposeful function. If you ask a law enforcement officer if non-lethal weapons are better than lethal weapons, she or he will tell you that you can't separate them that way. Non-lethal weapons do not replace lethal weapons. They do, however, add a few vital steps to the force continuum. Consider a perpetrator, for instance a man robbing a convenience store with a knife. With conventional lethal weapons the officer has limited options to diffuse the situation. The officer orders the perpetrator to drop the knife. The perpetrator does not comply and turns on the officer. The officer has two choices: unarmed self defense or lethal force. Most people, not just law enforcement, would choose lethal force against a knife threat.

If the officer has a taser or Oleoresin Capsicum (OC) spray available, that adds another intermediate option that will most likely end the conflict without the loss of life. Many people outside of the law enforcement community do not realize that the officer would much rather resolve a situation without the use of lethal force if that option is available. In fact, the goal is to resolve the situation without the use of force at all. Unfortunately, many times the perpetrator has already decided how far they are willing to go and will not listen to reasoning of any sort.

Law enforcement is not Hollywood. It is also not a man or woman with a badge and a gun out looking for a fight. Law enforcement officers venture out every day with the limited toolbox that legislation has given them to enforce our laws and defend our freedom and quality of life. They are daily pitted against perpetrators who do not play by the same set of rules the officers are required to follow. Non-lethal weapons add options that not only help them resolve conflicts without lethal force, but contribute to the officer's safety as well.

As with anything else, there will always be opinions on both sides of the spectrum about non-lethal weapons. There will also be instances where use of non-lethal weapons did not have the intended results. Just like anything else law enforcement or the military is involved in, it will be a media subject. Law enforcement needs to be responsible and safe in the use of these extraordinary resources, and the public needs to be educated about procedures, statistics and facts before forming an opinion.

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