Cops & guns & tazers & mace?...get ready, now we have..

[JK/SEA]

http://www.king5.com/news/BLINDING-LASER-BEAM-NEWEST-POLICE-TOOL-98973794.html

I'm starting to think the police don't like us.

[Political Terror]

nice within a couple years all the gangsters will be wearing giant mirrors around their necks instead of clocks.

[TonySutton]

who is taking bets on how long before we hear of bad guys using these

[Kludge]

who is taking bets on how long before we hear of bad guys using these

Would that be good news or bad news?

[Austrian Econ Disciple]

I am pretty sure if the cops ever start this up there will be citizens in retaliation using the 200$ 1W lasers that can blind you permanently from over a mile away. This is just getting out of hand. What's next, microwave beams?

[tpreitzel]

Not new ... I should know. ;)

However, it may be a relatively new item in the tool of police departments ...

Let me say this much. In the palm of your hand, one can hold a 1000mw (1 watt) laser so powerful, it'll burn holes through common materials within seconds, place a relatively tight spot on objects up to 10 miles away (if one could actually see that far unaided) and cost about $1000. Now, imagine holding such a weapon in the palm of your hand with a beam in the IR spectrum which the eye can't detect (no eye reflex response) and you'll soon see the potential for these higher power lasers as weapons. Get em' but you need to learn to respect them (wear appropriate glasses) and never use them in sight of people unless THEY are wearing special glasses as well.

Now, let's jump ahead a bit. We'll soon have major increases in the power density of batteries which will render Li-Ion as ancient technology. Now, imagine lasers with batteries 4x+ more energy dense than Li-Ion along with concomitant increases in more powerful laser diodes and we'll soon have lasers capable of hitting targets 50 miles away... * all in the palm of your hand. (wear gloves) ;)

Also, battery technology and high powered LEDs are driving conventional (incoherent) light sources to levels which will work nearly as well as lasers as a weapon for disorienting adversaries. Brave new world ... Sunlight is ~ 100k lumens per square meter so we have a ways to go yet. :)


* Lasers (coherent light) are notoriously susceptible to atmospheric conditions which shouldn't be much of a problem in this particular case.

[CaseyJones]

mirrored sunglasses ban in 3..2..1....

[Political Terror]

I am pretty sure if the cops ever start this up there will be citizens in retaliation using the 200$ 1W lasers that can blind you permanently from over a mile away. This is just getting out of hand. What's next, microwave beams?

Ask and you shall receive..... there already in the works.

Link(******) (http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ground/v-mads.htm)

Vehicle-Mounted Active Denial System (V-MADS)

Active Denial Technology is a breakthrough non-lethal technology that uses millimeter-wave electromagnetic energy to stop, deter and turn back an advancing adversary from relatively long range. It is expected to save countless lives by providing a way to stop individuals without causing injury, before a deadly confrontation develops.

http://i1036.photobucket.com/albums/a442/PoliticalTerror/v-mads-ADT-1s.jpg
working prototype

http://i1036.photobucket.com/albums/a442/PoliticalTerror/v-mads-ADT-2-1.jpg
mockup of the vehicle mounted one

[michaelwise]

great. More crap the public has to pay for.

[Arion45]

Just another device that the law enforcers can blame for using their gun mistakenly.

[Andromeda]

That reminds me of the weapon they used in the most recent Hulk Movie with Edward Norton.

Also - about the lights. Sometimes bright lights or flashing lights can cause seizures. Seems like a terrible idea that will only bring about more harm - regardless of all the "good intentions" they have for such a weapon.

[libertybrewcity]

I am pretty sure if the cops ever start this up there will be citizens in retaliation using the 200$ 1W lasers that can blind you permanently from over a mile away. This is just getting out of hand. What's next, microwave beams?

don't give em any ideas!ha

[libertybrewcity]

this technology would not have been developed if there wasn't a massive federal government with trillions to spend.

I haven't heard of this one yet...but the police-industrial complex is flourishing..

[alsis8xmy]

Frickin laserbeams!!!

YouTube - Sharks with lazers on their heads - Austin Powers (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pozlp_wnkRk)

[TinCanToNA]

this technology would not have been developed if there wasn't a massive federal government with trillions to spend.

I haven't heard of this one yet...but the police-industrial complex is flourishing..

That is potentially true. However, eventually the police will run out of room on to put a firearm if they keep getting all these "less-than-lethal" weapons. That's the optimist in me talking, anyways.

The realist in me sees it another way. The way I see it, police training is insufficient to warrant many of the equipment they carry. Tasers are the perfect example, as it is plainly obvious that the majority of police officers are unqualified to use them. A taser is an intermediate weapon, not a hard control--this means it should only ever be used to respond to aggression, not to compel compliance. It's the same with physical strikes, as those are intermediate weapons too; for self defense use only, not because someone is uncooperative.