44.493
Issues in Criminal Justice Technology & Security
less-lethal weapons (continued)
Some specific options that have been suggested
include:
- "Electromagnetic pulse
generators and high-powered microwaves, which would short out
communication systems and fry electronics
- Computer viruses would infiltrate
and paralyze banking networks and command-and-control operations.
- Aircraft-targeting sensors could
fall prey to "demons," directed-energy munitions that
emit flashes of light brighter than the sun.
- Clouds of combustion-inhibiting
chemicals would choke engines, stopping tanks and troop carriers
in their tracks, while metal-eating microbes and super-caustic
chemicals would eat away at their armor.
- Enemy soldiers might be confused
by holographic projections, dazzled by laser rifles, or disoriented
by low-frequency acoustic beams that provoke vomiting and diarrhea.
- And if being blinded and humiliated
isn't enough to sap their will, they could find themselves trapped
in stinging nets or glued in place by ultrasticky foams."
The NIJ
has created a report on the criminal justice applications of the
military's less lethal weapons programs. It covers:
- chemicals
- electrical devices
- blunt impact munitions
- directed energy
- miscellaneous or hybrid systems
complete copy of report
Critics say there may be un-intended consequences
and problems:
- International Red Cross says
laser weapons might permanently blind people
- A project a Los Alamos that
could stop a car by disrupting the electronics with an energy
burst could also cook the car's occupants
- Nonlethal gasses, liquids, and
microbes under consideration could violate UN-sponsored treaties
on chemical weapons and biological warfare.
How would these technologies rate according
to our criteria?
Perhaps
the most important thing about this research is that it is outside-the-box,
reframing the issue of one where innovative technologies could
diffuse a crisis situation rapidly and without violence.
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