Know Your Enemy Pt.2
11 01 09 - 22:28 All information obtained publicly through http://people.howstuffworks.com/riot-control1.htm
Blunt-force rounds - These rounds cause pain when they strike, but they don't penetrate the skin.
They are often fired at the ground so the round skips off the pavement and strikes the rioters in the legs.
(Can someone say shin guards)
Wood Baton - 40-mm wooden cylinders (long-range and accurate)
Rubber Baton - 40-mm rubber cylinders (long-range and accurate)
Foam Baton - 40-mm foam cylinders (shorter-range because they are so light; they are fired at single
aggressors who are getting close enough to the officer to directly threaten him or her)
Each baton round is filled with small discs, like little hockey pucks, made of the appropriate material.
When officers skip the rounds off the ground in front of rioters, the discs separate from the round and
tend to hit multiple targets. Or, if they hit someone directly, the round breaks apart into the separate
discs on impact, dissipating a lot of the kinetic energy. It hurts, but it has less chance of doing damage
than if it were a solid chunk of the material. The object is to cause enough pain to get the rioter to
comply with the officers.
Bean Bag Round - Square-shaped bean bags (long-range, but they tend to be inaccurate;
Sponge Round - Bullet-shaped round with a sponge tip (all-purpose, with middle-grade range and accuracy)
and accuracy) (Can you say BMX chest protector under your sweatshirt)
Stinger rounds - A Stinger round is loaded with small, rubber pellets that disperse on impact.
Pepperball rounds - A paintball gun is slightly modified to fire pepper-spray pellets instead of paintballs.
When these strike someone, the severe burning sensation in the eyes and nose will incapacitate most people
without doing permanent harm. When children or elderly people might be present in a crowd, the police can
instead use water pellets. It still stings to get hit with water pellets, and sometimes people are afraid
they have actually been hit with pepper spray, so the crowd disperses.
Ferret rounds - Ferret rounds are made to penetrate windows or wooden barricades, where they can then
deposit a load of gas. These are used to flush people out of barricades and other standoff situations.
Dye rounds - Sponge rounds, ferret rounds and pepperball rounds can all be filled with marker dye.
These are used to mark certain people in a crowd so that other officers can identify them or so that
they can be caught later in case they flee the scene. In a riot, the leaders are often tagged with
marker-dye rounds so the arrest team can pick them up later.
Gas rounds - These rounds are loaded with a gas that causes severe irritation to the eyes, nose and throat,
and even causes contact skin burns in some cases.
O.C. gas - Oleoresin capsicum, or pepper spray
C.S. gas - Chlorobenzylidene malonitrile, a form of tear gas
Officers don't like to use gas rounds, because they know they're going to experience some of the effects
of the gas themselves. Still, they wear gas masks and goggles to protect themselves in case the need arises.
Zip Ties- Are used instead of handcuffs because of the quantity they can carry at once.
Let me know if you want another dose.
A.O.C.
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