Portable Pain Weapons Leave No Trace of Use, May Become Police Issue

[Eugen Leitl]

(what a GREAT IDEA).

http://gizmodo.com/5371574/portable-pain-weapons-leave-no-trace-of-use-may-become-police-issue

Portable Pain Weapons Leave No Trace of Use, May Become Police Issue

By Rosa Golijan, 10:30 PM on Wed Sep 30 2009, 10,988 views (Edit, to draft,
Slurp)

We don't hesitate to show excitement over non lethal and less-than-lethal
weapons, but the reality is that they're kinda scary. In particular when
we're starting to see hand-held heat weapons which leave little to no trace
of ever being used.

A long time ago we heard about the UK considering testing out some non lethal
directed energy gear. Basically a beam-based weapon which would cause a
burning sensation to discourage a victim (or attacker), but not actually
damage skin or leave burn marks. This is what the Joint Non-Lethal Weapons
Directorate, JNLWD, has been exploring since 2005. But according to project
engineer Wesley Burgei, they've still got a few bugs left to work out:

    "We have established the minimum irradiance to cause a sensation and have
characterised where thermal injury begins," he says. "But the exact operating
irradiance which balances a useful military effect with a conservative margin
of safety has not been nailed down yet."

In plain words? There are some itty bitty safety issues. Thankfully those
will be ironed out before the weapons ever hit the streets due to some UN
protocol on blinding laser weapons. It turns out that they forbid weapons
which would penetrate the retina and cause blindness. It seems odd that a
beam-based weapon could affect skin without damaging eyesight, but, according
to Burgei, it's entirely possible to use a "retina safe" wavelength.

It's great that safety is a priority in the design and creation of these
beam-based weapons, but Steve Wright, a non lethal weapons analyst at Leeds
Metropolitan University, raises an interesting point about them:

    "Persuading by pain rather than brain - through conversation - has led to
push-button torture in the past. If it leaves no mark on the skin how will
anyone prove it's been abused?"

Tasers and the like leave evidence, marks and traces of use, but once they're
within proper safety limitations, beam-based weapons like the one being built
by the JNLWD won't. Not to start the "Oh, no! They'll be abused!" train, but
how will we regulate them? [New Scientist]