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Unpacking the myth of non-lethal crowd-control measures. A Thread:
We're seeing a distressing number of instances in which police use “non-lethal” means to “keep the peace.” Last week, Dr. @rohinihaar & I joined @DrRobertGlatter on @medscape to clarify the extent of injuries caused by three methods: tear gas, rubber bullets & flashbangs.
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“The term ‘tear gas’ is a common for a wide variety of different agents...The vast majority of people exposed to tear gas experience a transient and self-limiting but incredibly severe pain and incapacitation. When it's being misused, people will suffer more.” - @rohinihaar
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When we talk about rubber bullets, it's important to clarify a few things. First of all, this category includes projectiles that are made out of all sorts of material, whether it's foam, plastic, or wood, and some even have metal within them.
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Historically, the British colonial forces were the first to use special ammunition for crowd control. At that time, they were actually using teak, a tropical hardwood, and devised to be shot at the ground to then deflect up & hit the knee--hence the term "knee knockers."
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What is commonly referred to as rubber bullet was known as anti-riot baton round. It's essentially made of rubber with a plastic/metal casing. They used the term "rubber bullet" bc it was meant to persuade the public that these are harmless. SPOILER: THEY ARE NOT HARMLESS.
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The harm of so-called rubber bullets depends on a variety of factors, including distance (ie, shot from short or long range) and the location where the person is shot.
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Rubber bullets cause everything from soft tissue injury, eye injury and blindness, to broken bones, internal bleeding — and, in some circumstances, fatality.
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It's hard to say that these injuries are benign. Rubber bullets were introduced with the idea to reduce injuries and casualties caused by conventional firearms. But with this in mind, the idea that these bullets are considered non lethal is simply not factual.
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Tear gas canisters, “have been one of the biggest causes of significant disability and death” among crowd control measures. “Those canisters are supposed to be fired at the outskirts of a crowd or, at the very least, not directly targeted at individuals.” - @rohinihaar
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“If you talk to police officers, they are supposed to fire at the largest body mass, which is the chest or the trunk. Bc the bullets are so hard to aim and target, it's no surprise that many of them unintentionally hit the eyes” & create traumatic injuries. - @rohinihaar
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The flashbang or the stun grenade was designed to temporarily disorient the senses without really killing anyone. It creates a really bright light (the flash piece) and then a very loud noise (the bang). The British Army's Special Air Service developed it in the '70s.
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When a flashbang detonates, it ignites a magnesium-based charge that releases a burst of light around 7 MILLION candela. What does that mean exactly? (For reference: a 25-watt compact fluorescent light bulb emits about 135 candela.)
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The other piece of the device affects the ears by the noise that it creates. The noise is louder than 170 decibels when the ammonium nitrate is detonated. Just to compare, 170 decibels is much louder than a jet engine, which is just over 140 decibels.
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The loud noise can cause temporary deafness and tinnitus. At close range, the intensity of the sound of the flashbang could be loud enough to cause permanent hearing damage.
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“There are at least 50 documented cases of deaths from flashbangs, primarily when fired in enclosed spaces or inside someone's home. These canisters are combustible. Their explosive energy can also cause burns, other significant injuries, and death.” - @rohinihaar
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“The vast majority of people, even if a protest turns violent, are peaceful. There are 3 primary principles that we think about when deciding to use weapons or disperse a crowd. One is necessity. Have other options been tried? Weapons should be a last resort.” - @rohinihaar
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“Two is the principle of proportionality. If someone throws an apple, you really can't justify the use of a high number of crowd-control weapons because of that kind of violence.” - @rohinihaar
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“Three is use & misuse. The use needs to be legal. These weapons have very specific guidelines for use based on the distance of firing: How many should be fired, in what setting, & what kind of avenues of egress should protesters have if you fire these weapons.” @rohinihaar
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Historically, we know that the whole point of these weapons was to create enough pain to prevent people from behaving in certain ways. How do you do that with a minimal impact from injury and death? It's a complex problem that we've had a hard time figuring out.
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Many thanks to @drrobertglatter, @rohinihaar, and @medscape for including me in this important conversation. You can watch our full discussion here: https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/932959
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Not sure why it did't show up, but the Photo Credit goes to Jim Bourg from Reuters.
