New Inmate Zapper Patrols LA Jail
- Posted on September 10, 2010 at 9:10am by
Jonathon M. Seidl
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Los Angeles police have introduced a new tool to help control unruly inmates: a device that creates a burning sensation when its millimeter-sized waves hit their target.
“You know when they set their phasers to stun, they did that so they didn’t kill people? Well, that’s exactly what this is. It does stun you,” Mike Booen, a vice president of Raytheon Missile Systems (which designed the device) told NPR.
“It penetrates about a 64th of an inch under your skin,” Booen explained. “That’s about where your pain receptacles are. So it’s what it would feel like if you just opened up the doors of a blast furnace. You feel this wave of heat immediately.”
From a secure location, officers can halt dangerous riots by simply using the device’s Atari-like joystick, making the less-than-lethal device popular so far. And while this “zapper” may seem like something out of a sci-fi movie, the LA device is only a scaled down version of one the company built for the military (see video below).
The ACLU isn’t happy. “We’re going to use people in the jails as guinea pigs for some mega arms builder to test their device,” ACLU attorney Peter Eliasberg says.
H/T: Gawker
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Karena
Posted on September 10, 2010 at 11:30pmHow long before they come up with an excuse to use it against citizens that are simply trying to defend their homes form unlawful invasion, their families or their property from being taken from them or harmed, etc., etc.
Report Post »Has anyone ever read “Fahrenheit 451”?
Kim-Chee
Posted on September 11, 2010 at 9:23amThat’s exactly right. It’s never the technology – it‘s always it’s application. Rays guns on the border facing south can always swivel north depending on who is in power. Some technologies lend themselves to abuse and misuse. I have concerns…
Report Post »“There’s nothing more frightening than ignorance in action” – Albert Einstein
klsitton
Posted on September 10, 2010 at 2:42pmJudiciously applied to sensitive parts of the body, it could also be used to extract useful information. And being mentally coercive instead of physically coercive (…you don’t actually TOUCH the target…), it cannot be called torture by any interpretation of existing law.
I like it…
Report Post »klsitton
Posted on September 10, 2010 at 2:36pmIf applied with a phased scanning array, it could really inhibit illegal border crossings, like in TX, CA, AZ, prison walls, sensitive confined enclosures, Smithsonian exhibits, etc.
Report Post »Prospero
Posted on September 10, 2010 at 2:04pmMy, there sure are a lot of handwringers and bedwetters posting on this site. I figured we’d have a bit more Conservative membership.
Report Post »RaMukantagara
Posted on September 10, 2010 at 1:52pmThere is nothing I loathe more on the left than the ACLU.
Report Post »Ben
Posted on September 10, 2010 at 1:35pmAnd how long before Bubba learns how to aim at someone’s eye or eardrum to inflict some kind of lasting damage with this “wave”.
Report Post »davejake
Posted on September 10, 2010 at 1:26pmintersting
Report Post »roanokepatriot
Posted on September 10, 2010 at 1:12pm@JJBBSSLL, Love the border security application!
Report Post »Irritated
Posted on September 10, 2010 at 12:30pmMy concern is the potential for abuse. What sort of control is going to be on the use. If Bubba with a badge decides that the rec yard looks like a large shooting gallery. What’s going to be there to keep him from taking pot shots for fun. There are a lot of honest, upstanding corrections officers but there are also a lot of former bullies that never grew up.
Report Post »Joseph
Posted on September 10, 2010 at 1:47pmThat can be easily montitored. A chip with time and frequency of use, and Biometrics for the user can be identified.
Report Post »abq767
Posted on September 10, 2010 at 11:08amYou want to see some REAL prison torture ?
Take away the FREE cable TV, FREE health care, FREE gym, FREE food, etc.
Report Post »DeclareTruth
Posted on September 10, 2010 at 11:58amReally!!! And THEN the ACLU will REALLY beef up a storm, won’t they? Why doesn’t that useless bunch of idiots do something that actually has to do with civil liberties? Oh, now I remember, they are only a front for the “progressive” political elitist agenda. Silly me.
Report Post »jjbbssll
Posted on September 10, 2010 at 10:44amLooks like a way to convince illegal aliens not to cross the border!
Report Post »patriot308
Posted on September 10, 2010 at 12:46pmA future possibility, if mass production lowers the per unit cost enough. I love this use of Tech., to keep jail personal safer. ACLU can go to HE!!
Report Post »countrysideflair
Posted on September 10, 2010 at 6:05pmOh yea. I like that. Who needs a fence? Just make a wall of ray guns.
Report Post »Montana Miles
Posted on September 10, 2010 at 10:27amOn Star Trek it had higher settings.
Report Post »Docere
Posted on September 10, 2010 at 10:07amI am for one room cells for inmates. Just a door in a 4×4x8 cell. So they can be shut off from the other population. either that or find some way to freeze or put them in to a state of sleep. I never found jails to be a good thing for the inmates them selves. Most do not learn anything while they are in there. A waste of money I think. if they can‘t move or they can’t communicate they will be no riots in jail.
Report Post »Poorfessor
Posted on September 10, 2010 at 10:27amTry checking out the TV shows called SuperMax you will see this kind of prison. Maybe pick up a copy of Bird Man of Alcatraz, to see how prisons were run just a few years ago.
Report Post »Joseph
Posted on September 10, 2010 at 9:59amI love this thing! Brilliant! I had 2nd and 3rd degree burns ove 5% of my body and it’s no fun.After a while though you build a tolerance of the pain and it’s ingrained in your nervous system, so some people can be immunte or desensitized to it.
As for Peter Eliasberg of the ACLU, I have to agree.If your in jail and your starting a riot, you most likly will never become a peacful and useful citizen. It’s better to just shoot them.
Report Post »Iamtheoracle
Posted on September 10, 2010 at 9:43amVery bad idea. And of course there is no way we could test something like this on terrorists – but we can test it on our own citizens. MY personal opinion about riots in prison is – let them riot… just lock the gates and let them go at it – suffering the consequences of their own actions. More personnel are injured by inmates when they step in to administer their “police authority” to stop their behavior… let them just go at it. Tons of things wrong with the prison system – I don’t see this getting better either.
Report Post »shotgun
Posted on September 10, 2010 at 9:29amI wonder if this is used for torture being there is no evidence after the fact. I hope not.
Report Post »warriorcop
Posted on September 10, 2010 at 9:26amI can’t wait to see the ACLU lawsuits on this one…..
Report Post »debellator
Posted on September 10, 2010 at 9:24amTo the the ACLU lawyer: “Ahhh…. YES! And its about time inmates give back something to society”
Report Post »russelpolk
Posted on September 10, 2010 at 10:57amLet’s just drop the ACLU lawyers in the next prison riot, and see what they want to use. I’m betting on flamethrowers.
Report Post »GlennBeckIsADemagogue
Posted on September 10, 2010 at 9:15amsoon there will be a video of some dude screaming, “don’t zap me, bro”.
Report Post »printdesignchicago.com
Posted on September 10, 2010 at 9:23amlmao… i can see it now on foxnews…
realistically, this isn’t a bad option. i’ve seen articles about this device before. it does (though i haven’t done actual research) seem to be a better option than tasers, which can cause heart attacks or even seizures in some people. according to what i’ve read about this – it only makes you feel like someone’s putting a hot match to your skin – it doesn’t electrocute you.
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