
Ask HN: Non lethal weapons for law enforcement - jelliclesfarm
If we take guns and tasers away from the equation, what remains:<p>1. Paint guns that ‘mark’ the criminals.<p>2. Snap a bracelet or ankle restraint that tracks them even if they escape instead of handcuffing<p>3. Some kind of frisbee like or boomerang like device that can latch on to criminals instead of handcuffs.<p>4. Handcuffing with a diff design of cuffs rather than one that stresses the body.<p>5. Robots that can be sent forth instead of cops armed with guns and tasers.<p>6. Blob like net material that captures criminals<p>7. A removable&#x2F;dissolvable chip for various crimes from felony to DUI to burglary. No arrests.<p>8. Built in breathalyzer in automobiles&#x2F;vehicles.
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elmerfud
Number 2 exists today and is common for those under court ordered house
arrest.

Number 4 would be difficult to achieve because if the body is not stressed
then it likely doesn't function as an adequate restraint or it wouldn't be one
that could be put on someone uncooperative. Even cuffs today are not always
sufficient restraint.

Number 7, these exist today. There must be an arrest and a conviction in court
because police judges do not exist yet and so people are innocent until proven
guilty.

Number 8 exists today and can be court ordered.

The remaining entries would be less that lethal and not non lethal. There's a
very big distinction. Bean bag guns are non lethal when used optimally but
circumstances of a police action dictate that optimal conditions do not exist
in the real world.

The problem with policing isn't the physical tools that they have it's the
mental tools they have. They have a difficult job in difficult circumstances
under constant "arm chair quarterbacking". That does not excuse bad behavior
in any way but we as a society have construed a set of polices to guide
officers in what they are allowed to do and what they are not. These policies
give officers the benefit of the doubt that their actions are always correct
and justified for the circumstances. There's also the police culture of
protecting each other instead of doing what's right.

What needs to change is the polices that govern an officers acceptable
actions. This is achieved through of the local city governments who appoint
the chief of police and enact the polices that are followed. The sheriff is an
elected office as well. These are local community changes that can be made
quite quickly if the community desires. Policies need to no longer assume that
the officer is always taking a justified action. De-escalation and non arrest,
if warranted, should be a primary focus instead of the current bully tactics.

Additionally the culture of the police officers must change. Individually they
should evaluate if their actions are correct and the actions they see other
officers perform. The blue gang mindset needs to disappear. If officers
behavior in both their personal and professional life was conducted in an
irreproachable manor much of the us vs them attitude would vanish.

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jelliclesfarm
All good points.

But I honestly think it’s all about lethality of weapons. In the latest
horrifying Atlanta video, it would have ended differently if there were no
guns or tasers around.

The police were polite. There was no indication of racism. Everything was
according to protocol.

Until ‘weapons’ became accessible to both parties. That’s what we need to
focus on...how to create non lethal forms of restraint.

Maybe an aikido robot. Have you ever hugged someone tight? It can paralyze
them. Taking cues from the animal kingdom..lets say..the ball python. First
they restrain, incapacitate and then kill. No animal kills before it weakens
the prey.

But lethal weapons ..due to the implicit deadly force and threat..changes the
rules of the game completely! We need non lethal tools and weapons to
restrain.

Now the police need training in deciding who needs restraining in the first
place.

Whatever we have right now is not working. I don’t see what the Atlanta cops
could have done differently in terms of behaviour. It’s the guns. It’s
weapons. They have to go and be replaced by less or non lethal weapons or
tools of restraint.

At some point, we will have to revisit the second amendment. It won’t be an
easy conversation.

