Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Pepper Spray And Pain

How Painful Is Pepper Spray? – TIME Healthland:

'...MORE: When Should Police Use Pepper Spray?

Classified as a riot-control agent and banned for use in war by Article I.5 of the Chemical Weapons Convention, pepper spray is meant to be used against violent attackers who are resisting arrest and threatening physical harm to others. That doesn't apply to the passive protesters at U.C. Davis.
"Pepper spray should only be used when there's a clear threat to officers or severe-enough resistance — essentially, when the only alternative is more extreme force," John MacDonald, professor of criminology at the University of Pennsylvania, told our colleague Nick Carbone over at NewsFeed. "But if the only threat is time, then the best weapon to exercise is patience..."'

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