April 30: Beth and Melanie encounter a viking
Next, we moved to a smaller room that could reasonably be termed a “shed.” Cement floor, white drywall that felt aged and fragile, a water cooler, absolutely no heating source, an alarmingly well-stocked med kit on a counter, and a big table in the middle of the room—chest-high on shrimps such as myself—upon which sat two heavy-duty duffle bags, two black gun cases, and two nonlethal guns.
Presiding was a redheaded giant in a fully loaded police vest. He might as well have had “viking” tattooed on his neck. There was plenty of canvas. His neck began at the halfway mark on his shoulders and went straight up to the top of his head. He was a cylinder with a nose.
His name was Sergeant Clemhagen, he was an arms instructor (and like all the arms instructors, an armorer, as well) and his mission in life was to enable arrests through the use of nonlethal force.
As we saw in the posts about Sergeant Sofianos’ Use Of Force class, the standard is “least amount of force necessary.” So when Sergeant Clemhagen held up the midnight-black, hard-metal, ghetto-born bastard cousin of a Super Soaker, we were willing to believe.
This was the 40 mm launcher.
It can shoot two different types of rounds: a BIP (Blunt Object Projectile) or a “bluenose” (picture a tomato paste can with a spongy golf ball jammed into one end.)
About the BIPs: they’re a tough shell with a gel core (and they’re painted glittery gold). When the shell breaks, the gel oozes out to spread the impact out a bit, both widening the area of effect and also reducing the impact a bit. Some law enforcement agencies in the US swear by them. But the gel reduces the impact significantly enough that it takes more shots to stop somebody.
So the projectile of choice is the bluenose. Officers are trained to aim for areas with big muscle groups, and to avoid the head, neck and spine.
Question from the class: What about shooting ‘em in the butt? (Although this sounds like a Tangentia kind of question, she did not show up for Range Day.)
Sergeant Clemhagen (with enthusiasm): “Actually, the butt is a great place to hit ‘em! It’s the largest muscle in the body!”
Lest you think the butt is the most optimal use for the 40 mm launcher, let me add that bluenose projectiles can also be used on objects. Deputies often have trouble because people with guns can see the police through home security systems, and shoot the officers through the door. However, the bluenose projectiles are large enough to easily destroy security cameras.
Aiming can be a bit tricky if you have to move around, but Deputies use the same heel-toe walk they’d use when carrying a rifle. (That heel-toe walk minimizes the bouncing you get with a normal stride and helps you keep your aim steady.)
But the launcher isn’t the only option out there.
Sergeant Clemhagen: “Who here is a paintballer?”
Animal Control Girl raised her hand.
Well, lucky for her, the other nonlethal option we were here to see was the 10-12 mm “less lethal” rifle (technically, both weapons would be considered “less lethal”. It is possible for someone to die if they get hit in the wrong place. Sometimes, people dodge or duck, and the shot lands in a place the officer didn’t intend to hit.)
Sergeant Clemhagen passed around a yellow and black rifle that really did look like a toy. Which happens to shoot plastic balls filled with capsaicin.
Sergeant Clemhagen: “Pale skin has larger pores that absorb capsaicin better. Skin like mine is the most easily irritated. I’m a ginger, as you can see. . . hopefully nobody is offended by that term. . . my skin type is best for pepper balls.”
Here’s the deal with pepper spray: it uses an aerosol propellant, which means it can also drift back to affect the person using it. Also, criminals will sometimes swipe their hands over their faces, then smear the pepper spray on the face of the officer trying to stop them.
Enter the pepper balls. Precision peppering from a safe distance. There is a design flaw, however; there’s a thin bar of metal the width of a pencil lead across the muzzle of the rifle, used to hold the balls inside the gun until it’s time to shoot one. You have to be careful when you load these rifles, because you do it by shoving pepper balls down the muzzle of the gun, and if your hand slips, the balls fantail out the front of the gun like water out of a golf-course sprinkler. Cops refer to this pepper ball eruption as “the rainbow.”
The sergeant also handed around a bucket of pepper balls (“inert” balls filled with baby powder). Have you ever taken a gel capsule medication? Pepper balls feel about like that.
The 10-12 mm has spiraling inside the barrel, just like a gun that shoots bullets. It reduces the spin as a bullet leaves a gun, making it fly straighter. You can also get pepper balls with little flaps that further reduce spin. They are, however, more dangerous; if somebody is accidentally shot in the eye, those flanges can cause permanent damage.
I should mention here that (although I didn’t have a way to write them all down) Beth was asking more questions in this one session than she has asked in all other sessions combined. And it was at this point that she casually mentioned that during her time in the military, she’d been tear gassed as part of basic training.
Beth: “How do pepper balls compare in terms of tear gas?”
Sergeant Clemhagen (who has apparently also been tear gassed): “Pretty comparable. Pepper balls are maybe slightly more painful.”
The sergeant then mentioned that pepper balls work best in an enclosed space, and were particularly effective if the suspect was in a car. This is the one time in the whole day where I actually gave a good accounting of myself:
Me (musing): “You’d have to break the windows first. . .”
Sergeant Clemhagen was very excited that I had reached the proper conclusion so quickly. “That’s why these weapons are most effective when used together!” He declared. To me. Suddenly, we were the only two people in the room, bonding over pepper-spraying people trapped in cars.
This is the method, for anyone interested in joining our ranks: you do an “L-off” on a car (one police car parallel to the suspect’s vehicle, one in front of it), then use the launcher to break the back window and shoot a couple of pepper balls through the hole.
Sergeant Clemhagen: “A bluenose goes through glass like a hot knife through butter. The longest I’ve ever seen someone stay in the vehicle after that was about seven seconds.”
Officers are required to re-qualify on both weapons every year.
But wait! We have not discussed tasing!
Optimal tasing conditions:
- The two probes (which look like fat bullets) have to have about a foot of spread between them.
- The probes need to land on the trunk of the body to affect the highest number of muscle groups.
- The person needs to be wearing clothing (or clothing layers) light enough for the electric charge to actually reach their body.
Sergeant Clemhagen was over the moon because the Sheriff’s Office is now using the Taser 10—so named because it can fire ten times before you need to reload. Each time you fire, you deliver another shock, which (despite Sergeant Sofianos’ pessimism) takes the success rate from about 30% to over 90%. (I don’t know where these guys are getting their numbers, but really, how can you go wrong with a taser that can electrocute somebody ten times?)
Each time you fire, the charge lasts for five seconds, then shuts off automatically. The bullets can travel 44 feet (double the distance of earlier models) and according to Sergeant Clemhagen, there’s only a half of one percent chance that a taser shot will give someone a heart attack. Please note: the sergeant did not cite a source for that information, so please take care when tasing someone with a heart condition.
About then, Commander Barsness signaled sternly through the window that the time for chili dogs had come. It was clear that no amount of physical force or nonlethal weaponry would keep Commander Barsness from his chili dogs, so we called a halt to that particular class.
I am certain the chili dogs were excellent. What with the whole no-gluten-no-dairy thingamabob, I had to skip most of it. People gave me funny looks when I loaded my tray down with nothing but weiners and mustard.
Hey. Girl’s gotta eat.
Next up: The SWAT vehicle and the shoot/don’t shoot scenarios!
