Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Pepper Spray: Better Than A Wood Shampoo, But Still Too Much For Some



The casual manner in which the University of California campus police sprayed those protesters reminds me of myself watering the shrubs around my house. It definitely wasn't an instance of self-defense, and it might just have political consequences that won't go away with a little water and a few minutes in the open air.

The New York Times has an article today about the fallout that could result from police forces using pepper spray as a compliance tool rather than as a less-than-lethal option for self-defense.

As pepper spray has become ubiquitous in this country over the last two decades, it has not raised many eyebrows. But now, after images of the campus police at the University of California, Davis, spraying the Kool-Aid-colored orange compound on docile protesters on Friday, pepper spray is a topic of national debate.

It has become the crowd-control measure of choice lately by police departments from New York to Denver to Portland, Ore., as they counter protests by the Occupy Wall Street movement.

-- snip --

To Kamran Loghman, who helped develop pepper spray into a weapons-grade material with the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the 1980s, the incident at Davis violated his original intent.

“I have never seen such an inappropriate and improper use of chemical agents,” Mr. Loghman said in an interview.

Mr. Loghman, who also helped develop guidelines for police departments using the spray, said that use-of-force manuals generally advise that pepper spray is appropriate only if a person is physically threatening a police officer or another person.


The last time we had prolonged civil disturbances in the U.S., in the late 60s and early 70s, police didn't have any riot control chemical agents that were as selective as pepper spray. Back then it was tear gas grenades, and they could indiscriminately effect an acre or so of demonstrators and bystanders. I don't recall any great controversy about them, but maybe that was because they were pretty much the only alternative to wedge formations of police swinging long wooden riot batons.
















Such wonderful memories! When we trained at doing the 'stomp and drag' in Military Police School, our instructors told us to swing our batons for the feet because hippies wear sandals. I see that the feet are still the preferred target area, according to page 68 of this Field Manual, and that hitting the head with a riot baton - AKA a 'wood shampoo' - is still strictly prohibited, so apparently some things never change.

Being doused with pepper spray sounds to me like a good alternative to getting your toes smashed. However, I don't think today's elected officials, or juries, will take such a pragmatic attitude.

The NYT quoted Robert Thompson, a professor of popular culture at Syracuse University who is studying the social impact of pepper spray incidents such as that at UC Davis:

Those jarring images ... were a reminder that “this is a new generation of subduing people, and while the decision to use it may not be right,” he added, “we are in the age of pepper spray, not the age of real bullets.”


Maybe someday somebody will invent a Nerf ball tool for dispersing rioters and non-violent demonstrators, but until then, it will hurt when you get hit.

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great post TSB! lilgwb recalls his training 10 years ago in the "cat-claw shampoo" and the "hiss-swipe and run"... but then, his mom had more moxie than he does. gwb

Anonymous said...

Happy Thanksgiving TSB! The Iraq war is over; Al Quaeda can't fill it's #3 job anymore; Pakistan is making trade agrmts with India and Tunisia has a democratic govt!

Thanks for all the great posts! gwb

TSB said...

I hope you have a happy Thanksgiving as well!

Anonymous said...

Pisti Basile "Linda" Katehi-Tseregounis (UC Davis Chancellor)


TSB: Do you know why Greeks are unable to learn to either speak or pronounce english even after 30 years? My theory: They have such impossibly long names everyone just gives them a pass. gwb

TSB said...

That is one impressive double-barrel name she's got.

Anonymous said...

TSB: Walmart is considering a new
"personal protection dept" where you can buy pepper spray and wooden sticks to protect yourself while shopping for Christmas. (Also useful in case you run into any of those OWS radicals sitting in the aisles or standing in empty parking spaces) I'm scared to go to our Walmart cause of those 85 yo
women cruising in the electric carts. If they ever organize we're doomed! gwb

TSB said...

Agreed. I stay well away from big box stores on this day (and I'm too agoraphobic to go to them much the rest of the year).

Anonymous said...

George "W" just got back from the Occupy Portland march on Nordstroms (Fur Free Friday!) You can't see him in this picture but he swears he was there. gwb

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2011/11/protesters_march_through_downt.html

Anonymous said...

TSB: Some cool 4 yr old info from Glenn Greenwald: The neocon 5 year plan is right on schedule! gwb

http://www.salon.com/writer/glenn_greenwald/
memo from the Secretary of Defense’s office. It says we’re going to attack and destroy the governments in 7 countries in five years – we’re going to start with Iraq, and then we’re going to move to Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Iran.”

Anonymous said...

TSB: Certainly, we live in ridiculous times! I love these quotes from some of our best Presidents! gwb

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/11/26/1040152/-HL-Mencken:-George-Washington-in-the-2012-GOP-Presidential-Primary?via=siderecent

TSB said...

My favorite Presidential quote:

“The government of the United States is a device for maintaining in perpetuity the rights of the people, with the ultimate extinction of all privileged classes.” ― Calvin Coolidge

I don't know why Coolidge is not commonly regarded as our greatest President since Washington.

Anonymous said...

Anyone who reads that book about the flood of 27 has to love Silent Cal!
gwb

TSB said...

I don't know much about the '27 flood, but given the size of the Fed back then - total budget: $3 billion - I don't see there was much chance for direct assistance.

Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover tried to turn abandoned flooded land into small farm holdings that would end the southern sharecropper system. That's a flood response I'd agree with.

Anonymous said...

My mistake TSB: It was Hoover I was thinking of re: the flood of 27
"governors of six states along the Mississippi specifically asked for Herbert Hoover in the emergency. President Calvin Coolidge sent Hoover to mobilize state and local authorities, militia, army engineers, the Coast Guard, and the American Red Cross.

With a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation, Hoover set up health units to work in the flooded regions for a year. These workers stamped out malaria, pellagra, and typhoid fever from many areas. His work during the flood brought Herbert Hoover to the front page of newspapers almost everywhere, and he gained new accolades as a humanitarian. The great victory of his relief work, he stressed, was not that the government rushed in and provided all assistance; it was that much of the assistance available was provided by private citizens and organizations in response to his appeals. "I suppose I could have called in the Army to help," he said, "but why should I, when I only had to call upon Main Street."
I guess Cal thought he was kind of a showboat! gwb

TSB said...

I think Hoover coined the word "associationalism" to describe that strategy of organizing voluntary public-private partnerships. His relief work in Europe after WWI saved millions from starvation. Hoover was a mining engineer before becoming a politician, working mainly overseas, including in China. He and his wife learned Chinese while working there - way before Jon Huntsman!

Anonymous said...

http://www.infowars.com/senate-moves-to-allow-military-to-intern-americans-without-trial/
TSB: I wonder what opinio juris will think of this one? I'm hiding my watch, my binoculars and my 22!
gwb

Anonymous said...

US Sells 21 Tons of Tear Gas to Egypt (www.wemeantwell.com/blog/
gwb

November 30, 2011 // 0 Comments
The tear gas is made by the few Americans actually left with jobs in Pennsylvania, in this case working for Combined Tactical Systems. In addition to tear gas, these guys also make a whole array of “non-lethal projectiles” and riot munitions, along with the weapons to fire them and handy accessories. Perfect for busting up your favorite “Occupy” site. Check out their “Tear Ball Multi-Effect Grenades,” which disperse hard rubber pellets and tear gas, suitable for indoor or outdoor use! They also sell those pepper spray spray devices like the UC Davis cop famously used.

Anonymous said...

TSB: Pepe says Libyan fighters and arms (TNC) are at work organizing the "Syrian Civil War" which was kicked off after a big meeting in Istanbul recently. gwb