Users and Developers Test “Less-Lethal”
Technologies at Working Group Session

PASADENA, Calif. (12/8/06) — When confronted with a threatening suspect, how can law enforcement officers defuse the situation with minimal harm to the suspect and themselves without risking the safety of others?

A demonstration of “less-lethal weapons” at a National Institute of Justice-sponsored Less Lethal Technology Working Group offered some answers. The group, hosted by the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center-West (NLECTC-W), met in Pasadena Dec. 5 through 8 at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s (JPL) firing range and at an off-site location. The event featured demonstrations of a number of technologies that can incapacitate a person without causing death or serious injury.

According to Matt Begert, NLECTC-W less-lethal weapons specialist, these weapons are playing an increasingly important role in law enforcement and corrections, giving officers the ability to widen their range of responses to threats and enabling them to respond to violent situations with a more appropriate use of force.

“The purpose of the working group was to bring together the users of these technologies, the scientists who develop them, and the organizations responsible for funding and regulating their use,” Begert said. “The meetings are designed to facilitate a dialogue between these groups and to identify requirements in the law enforcement and corrections communities that can be fulfilled by new or existing technologies.”

Among the weapons demonstrated at the firing range was the DefTech 40-millimeter Sponge Round, which is painful but not lethal and leaves the suspect with a bruise. The 40-millimeter round has a blue sponge tip attached to a black metal body and is fired by the DefTech 40-millimeter Grenade Launcher.

Another technology, called the “Phazer,” is a prototype being developed by the Air Force Research Laboratory. A “directed-energy” weapon, the Phazer stimulates pain receptors, creating an intense burning sensation. While participants were able to feel the sting of the Phazer on their hands and arms, the weapon’s effects were not discernable through clothing, which many considered a serious drawback of the technology.

Dr. Robert Waldron, center director, said that these working groups provide operators and scientists a greater understanding of the capabilities, limitations, and requirements for less-lethal weaponry. “Achieving these goals will better equip the law enforcement and corrections communities with technologies that enable them to perform their functions in a safer and more
effective manner,” he said.

Located at the The Aerospace Corporation’s headquarters in El Segundo, the NLECTC-W, in collaboration with the National Institute of Justice Office of Science and Technology, researches and implements new technologies for both regional and national law enforcement and corrections services in the Western Region of the U.S., including Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Washington.

The Aerospace Corporation, based in El Segundo, Calif., is an independent, nonprofit company that provides objective technical analyses and assessments for national-security space programs and selected civil and commercial space programs in the national interest.

Media Inquiries: Dave Jonta, 310-336-5041, david.l.jonta@aero.org