by SkewsMe.com
7 April 2005
When cops go bad, a riot may ensue.
"The Los Angeles Riots began April 29, 1992. The riots, which were sparked by the not-guilty verdict of four police officers who assaulted Rodney King, lasted for 6 days. After stopping Mr. King, they used excessive force to apprehend him which was clearly shown in the video tape. George Holiday, the camera man, spread the video tape to a local television station which broadcast it to the L.A. area. The verdict was handed down April 29, 1992; riot ensued. Over 40 dead, 2,000 injured and over 1 billion dollars in property damage was the result of the 6 day riot."[1]
Riot police still have their trusted methods of dealing with the unruly, but soon they'll have some new ones.
"The US military is funding development of a weapon that delivers a bout of excruciating pain from up to 2 kilometres away. Intended for use against rioters, it is meant to leave victims unharmed. But pain researchers are furious that work aimed at controlling pain has been used to develop a weapon. And they fear that the technology will be used for torture. The research came to light in documents unearthed by the Sunshine Project, an organisation based in Texas and in Hamburg, Germany, that exposes biological weapons research. The papers were released under the US's Freedom of Information Act. One document, a research contract between the Office of Naval Research and the University of Florida in Gainsville, is entitled "Sensory consequences of electromagnetic pulses emitted by laser induced plasmas". It concerns so-called Pulsed Energy Projectiles (PEPs), which fire a laser pulse that generates a burst of expanding plasma when it hits something solid, like a person (New Scientist, 12 October 2002, p 42). The weapon, destined for use in 2007, could literally knock rioters off their feet."[2]
"The Active Denial System (ADS) is a non-lethal, counter-personnel directed energy weapon. It uses breakthrough technologies to provide un-precedented, standoff, non-lethal capabilities at ranges beyond effective small arms range. ADS projects a focused, speed-of-light milli-meter-wave energy beam to induce an intolerable heating sensation on an adversary’s skin and cause that individual to be repelled without injury."[3]
"HSV Technologies of San Diego, a developer of weapons for police officers and military personnel,...introduced a prototype of a weapon that shoots laser beams to stop criminals in their tracks. Known either as the "Anti-Personnel Beam Weapon" or "Non-Lethal Tetanizing Beam Weapon," it releases two ultraviolet laser beams with a wavelength of 193 to 248 nanometers that paralyzes the skeletal muscles of people and animals up to 2 kilometers away. The laser beams, which sends currents at 10 milliampere and are effective within a few milliseconds after they charge, are strong enough to penetrate clothing but too weak to damage the skin or to be lethal, according to Eric Herr, vice president of HSV Technologies."[4]
"Israel is to introduce a non-lethal acoustic weapon to control riots and disperse crowds after widespread criticism of its use of tear gas, rubber bullets and live ammunition. The latest system, known as The Shout, uses a high intensity, high frequency sound beam to incapacitate targets up to 100 yards away without causing them permanent physical damage."[5]
[1]
http://www.sheftman.com/ewrt1a/mihugo/stofkocr6.html
[2]
http://www.newscientist.com/channel/mech-tech/mg18524894.500
[3]
http://www.de.afrl.af.mil/factsheets/ActiveDenial.html
[4]
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,40494,00.html
[5]
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/10/17/wmid17.xml&sSheet=/news/2004/10/17/ixworld.html