The incident at the University of California, Davis put pepper spray back in the headlines.[1] But the appalling conduct by the UC Davis police is not an isolated incident. There have been similar incidents around the country resulting in dozens of deaths.
It is not that police hierarchy is unaware of the potential problems with pepper spray also known as OC for oleoresin capsicum, the active ingredient.
“Many law enforcement and corrections agencies now prohibit the practice of spraying trainees directly in the face with OC. Based on reports of ocular damage, bronchospasm, pulmonary edema, laryngospasm, respiratory arrest, and death following OC exposure, it is reasonable to conclude that exposure during training, particularly repetitive, direct facial spraying of individuals at increased risk, may cause serious adverse effects and possibly even death.”[2]
The underlying problem is the term itself, “non-lethal,” that encourages a mindset that allows police to use these weapons with casual disregard for the consequences.
As Lieutenant Colonel Erik L. Nutley pointed out in a review of non-lethal weapons on the battlefield, these weapons can be deadly.
“…though the term ‘non-lethal’ seems to imply that no fatalities will ever be caused by these weapons, this is not the case. Rather, non-lethal weapons are intended to significantly reduce the probability of these consequences compared to traditional weapons. In fact, DOD policy explicitly states that non-lethal weapons ‘shall not be required to have a zero probability of producing fatalities or permanent injuries.’ … In short, just as their lethal counterparts sometimes fail to kill, non-lethal weapons can sometimes be deadly. The description, therefore, applies to the intent rather than the effect.”[3]
There have been deaths associated with everyone of the “non lethal” weapons used by police today. There is only one circumstance when any these weapons should be used—when the only alternative is to use “lethal” weapons.
[1] Brad Knickerbocker, UC Davis pepper spray incident goes viral, The Christian Science Monitor, November 20, 2011
[2] C. Gregory Smith, Woodhall Stopford, Health Hazards of Pepper Spray, North Carolina Medical Journal, September/October 1999
[3] Erik L. Nutley, Lieutenant Colonel, USAF, NON-LETHAL WEAPONS: SETTING OUR PHASERS ON STUN? Potential Strategic Blessings and Curses of Non-Lethal Weapons on the Battlefield, Center for Strategy and Technology; Air War College, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama, August 2003
Other Useful Links
Meredith Melnick, How Painful Is Pepper Spray?, Time.com, November 22, 2011
Deborah Blum, About Pepper Spray, ScientificAmerican.com, November 21, 2011