The pros and cons of police use of bean bags, stun guns, and other types of nonlethal chemical and electrical alternatives to gunfire are examined in five pages. Six sources are cited in the bibliography.
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is when their lives or others are in danger, and if they aim for a leg for example, they are still in danger as the suspect can shoot back. Yet,
the thinking has begun to change as incidents such as the one where Amadou Diallo was shot 41 times by the NYPD because they thought he was reaching for
a gun are more frequent. By the way, Diallo was reaching for a wallet. And while the idea for non lethal force has become popular of late, even different methods
of quelling criminals has come under scrutiny. Everyone remembers Rodney King and the beating he took. Is taking out clubs really preferable to taking out guns? Of course, King lived,
but he was seriously hurt. There are other lessons which indicate the need for non lethal weapons for law enforcement agencies (Alexander, 1999). The Branch Davidian compound near
Waco, Texas, saw the deaths of 82 people, including children, at the hands of police (1999). Prior to Waco, there was Ruby Ridge,where in rural Idaho, 14-year-old Sammy
Weaver had been shot in the back by U.S. Marshals and his mother, who was also holding a baby at the time, was killed by an FBI sniper (1999). Clearly,
the need for non lethal weapons is significant as the twenty-first century unfolds. There have been too many deaths of innocent people, and even of guilty people who still did
not deserve an execution. From both a human and economic perspective, the development of non lethal weapons should be high priority for many cities (1999). Police officers are
often caught in a quandary over whether to use deadly force or force at all, something exacerbated by the fact that people demand increased protection from criminals (Alexander, 1999).