Law enforcement agencies are developing and adopting new non-lethal weapons like lasers, pain rays, and directed energy beams to replace tasers and stun guns. These technologies aim to lessen the risk of injury or death to officers and civilians during arrests or riots. The U.S. military has been researching these types of weapons for over 20 years through programs that develop and test less-lethal options. One such system currently ready for use is the Active Denial System, which fires an invisible heat beam that causes a sharp rise in body temperature and severe pain within seconds from a vehicle-mounted device. However, civil liberties groups have concerns about how these advanced weapons could be misused without proper training and oversight.

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Pewer Neves
ACTIVE DENIAL SYSTEM
PublicBDLaw enforcement gets new ammo.
he future has arrived for law
enforcement, as technology has
pushed its non-lethal/less-lethal
capabilities to a whole new level.Weapons
that feature lasers and pain rays are to replace
tasers and stun guns.The hope behind this shift
is that these non-lethal and less-lethal weapons
will lessen the risk of police officers killing
civilians or getting killed themselves.
According to a 2004 report by the National
Institute ofJustice, under the Less-Lethal
Technologies Program the National Institute of
Justice provides funds to identify, develop and
evaluate new or improved devices and other
technology that will minimize the risk of death
and injury to law enforcement officers, suspects,
prisoners and the general public.
The Department of Defense has been
using a similar program since 1995 under its
Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Program, when
civil agencies provided less-lethal weapons and
equipment, technical assistance and training
to support the US military's redeployment to
Somalia. Some non-lethal weapons being used
currently are tasers, stun guns, wooden batons
and high intensity lights. Law enforcement
agencies at every level have been incorporating
these kinds of weapons into their arsenals,
especially in situations like riots, fleeing persons
and close encounters.
However; a new generation of non-lethal/
less-lethal weapons is being developed-
what people once thought futuristic is now
not far from being implemented. Weapons
like the Active Denial System are ready for
use.The Active Denial System is a non-lethal
directed energy weapon developed by the
US military, which is perched on a vehicle
that fires a focused invisible beam, causing
a sharp rise in body heat and severe pain
WORDS LULAINE COMPERE
within a few seconds. Raytheon, a defense
contractor; has developed a smaller version
of the ADS called the Silent Guardian.
Xtreme Alternative Defense System's now
abandoned Close Quarters Shock Rifle is
a weapon that shoots visible lightning from
about I0 to 12 feet. XADS would not
comment on the CQSR, saying only that it's
defunct. But Xtreme also developed TALl,
a military-grade precision laser that affects
the target's faculties to balance and focus
without causing permanent eye damage.
The technological advances in weaponry
like the shock rifle and ADS can do a lot of
good or evil depending on how they're used.
The American Civil Liberties Union has issued
reports like the one in 2005 following a death
in Massachusetts, where the ACLU called for
monitoring and improved training of less-lethal
weapons. Question is, will that be enough7 a