DIM, CO
ROCKY IIllUHTAIH HEW!
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Mandl'
NOV

0 38UG7

26. 2001

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L!lUlLI!IPRess CLIPPINGS

SPECIAL REPORT: POUCE SHOOTINGS

DPD arsenal offers
less-lethal weapons
City among leaders
oftrend with recent

"We are not going to use this on real
felons, violent felons. We are going
to use it people who are in crisis."
It's a program that many believe
addition ofTasers)
will save lives.
A Rocky Mounlain News analybeanbag shotguns
sis of the 85 police shootings from
1990 to 2000 found that ahout one
By 8rfa11 D. er.c.te
of every four cases might have fit
N"",.< Slaff m·il,,·
under the guidelines for using
Jeremiah Kennedy wasn't going less-lethal weapons.
to be taken alive.
By the end of next year, eva)'
Claiming he had a gun, the 22neighborhood patrol officer and
year-old drug fugitive stood on the supervisor will be b-ained and armed
front steps of an abandoned buildwith two less-lethal weaP?'ls:
ing on Oct. 15 with his hand
• The M26 Taser, whIch fires
jammed in his waistband and dared electric probes up to 21 feel A26police to shoot him.
watt charge from the probe causes a
So they did - and probably
suspect's arm and lei muscles to
saved his life.
contract and lock up or live seconds.
Two Denver SWAT officers pep'
• The beanbag shotgun, which
pered Kennedy with .
fires a two-inch-square
pellet-filled bags fired
beanbag into a person
"~are
not
from a shotgun.
with enough force to
The first three bags
cause loss ofbreath.
going to use
slammed into
The department
Kennedy's thighs. He
this on real
bought about 100 of
staggered. A fOUlth bag felons. m, are
each weapon with the
knocked him offhis
help of a $100,000 fedfeet. That's when offigoing to use it eral block grant,
cers arrested him.
Vasquez said.
on
people
who
"There were no
The department
.
.."
marks on his legs after
are tn CrtSts.
also bought 10 semithe incident," said
automatic PepperBall
M.co
V....
ae;r.
SWAT Capt. TIm
guns for the SWAT
Denver
Police
Cuthriell. "He had a
unit to test.
captain.
pretty good red welt
The rifles fire a plasabollt the size of a silver
tic paint-ball-like
dollar on his side - but
ammo filled with a conit could have been a bullet hole."
centrated derivative of red cayenne
Kennedy's timing was good.
pepper. The plastic balls burst on
His confrontation with police last impact, unleashing the pepper pow_
month came two weeks after Dender in a cloud that wafts into a perver police started a "less-letha!"
son's eyes, nose and lWlgs. That
weapons program that expelts !lay
can cause temporary hlindness and
will make the department one ofthe difficulty breathing.
most progressive in the country.
The air-powered guns can fire six
Less-lethal weapons are
rounds per second up to 100 feet.
designed to stop aperson without
Denver did a good job of chooskilling him. Howevel; the depart·
inli! its !ess-lethal weapons, said
ment will train officers to use
Michael Brave, president of
these weapons only in situations
LAAW International, which prowhere shooting a suspect with a
vides law enforcement lisk-mangun would bejustified.
agement services.
"There is a trend nationwide of
"We would not train our officers to
use less-lethal when confronted
departments. moving toward lesslethal, but Denver seems to be a
with a suspect anned with a hand·
(eadel:"
gun," Capt. Marco Thsquez said.

on

SAfER STOPPING POWER
By the end of next year, the Denl'ef Police Department wtllaml aN patrol offfcer5 and SUpeMsors with Tasen
and beanbat ammunition. The SWAT unit wtll test semiautomatic Pepp&r8a1l .f1Ins.

M26 Taser
Jhe Taaer shoots two probes up to 21 feet, ClKIslng a PllBOrl'S skeletal muscles to contlact and lock up.

HOWlTwaRU:
Honnallrl'aln signals

. .1+

DATA PORT:

Bui~·in memory automatically records

the date and time of eacIl

AIR CAllTRJD8I: Compressed nitrogen prope~

two probes. Wires attached to probes conduc

dfsche~"~ ~50~'OOO~~_~I'I'IU..'~·.~'~·.;;l:~~.
......

CommunicatiOn
between the bl'ain and
the body is conducted

lAa elecbical sllJ1als.

Tllserslgnall

IAFETJ:
Thumb·
aclMIted

+4+

~~

The laser's sI9l9l is smlar
to the body's sifJla\S.

-.n,

Yellow color
Uses the
same motion marks the
laser as a lessM'

Taler MIl bnk1slgnal,

_rn.

-4-«

traditional

These slWlals jam the

communication between

The Taser has a IllI1ge of up

lASER SIGHT: A
built·ln laser sight is
activated when the
safe1;y is turned off.

lethal~.

"WEI SOlACE: The laser runs
on 8 standard M batteries.

l!1e brain and the body,
incapacltatilgthe pefSOI'l shot.

...

COLOR KIT:

to 21 feet. With it, a police officer call sutxlue a Slt$pCCt at a safe distal'lCe.

'. ' . "~
. " 12:0

...... : .. ' ",
"

.•

S:~2J

AcIl.III/ size

"'..

Beanbag ammunUion

PepperBall projectiles

HOW" MlRII5: Fired from a brill! orange
shotgon, the beallbll8 ammunition is II 24nch

HOW IT WORII: Similar tD paint balls,
Peweraall projectiles release a buJst
of pepper spray on impact. causing

square lilled IYlth lead shot that delivers a
blunt impact that can knock down or
knock the wind out of a suspect,
allowing ~k:e to gain

.....
-,
control.

20 and
30 feet

tearing of the eyes and Joss

of breath for the person

"'"
IWt8E:

From point-blank U

....

""00

Pepper8all rifl.

(I'IlpperBBlI, C~11 also be

/ired from a IlOndglm·sty\!!
launchal'l.