STUN GRENADES, OR FLASH-BANGS PEPPER SPRAY • PEPPER-SPRAY CANISTER USED FOR CROWDS • PEPPER BALLS USED TO TARGET AN INDIVIDUAL • HANDHELD PEPPER SPRAY USED AT CLOSE RANGE WHAT IT IS A stun grenade is a small canister filled with magnesium-based pyrotechnic chemicals. It is thrown or fired like a hand grenade. After a short delay, it explodes with light bright enough to cause temporary blindness (the flash) and a noise loud enough to cause temporary deafness (the bang) in anyone within a few feet of it. Its purpose is to cause disorientation and panic. Loud bangs, smoke as protesters gather near White House WHAT CAN GO WRONG Anyone who is very close to a stun-grenade blast could suffer serious burns, internal injuries from the shock waves — especially eardrum injuries — or puncture wounds from flying shrapnel if the canister breaks apart. The noise, 150 to 180 decibels, according to Physicians for Human Rights, is well past the “painful and dangerous” threshold set by the American Academy of Audiology. A 2015 ProPublica investigation found cases of police losing hands and fingers and people being severely injured or killed by the devices, including a 19-month-old baby who was catastrophically wounded in 2014 when a stun grenade landed in his crib during a raid in Georgia HANDHELD SPRAYS — just like the kind mail carriers use to ward off angry dogs and citizens often use for personal protection — they are routinely carried by law enforcement officers to use when subduing a suspect during an arrest. The device shoots a quick, precise aerosol stream into a person’s face and works from up to about 12 feet away. CANISTERS AND GRENADES, on the other hand, are considered much more serious uses of force because they produce indiscriminate chemical clouds that can affect everyone in their path. Large canisters are sprayed like fire extinguishers; smaller ones are fired like grenades. Both are used to subdue and disperse crowds. WHAT CAN GO WRONG Pepper spray can cause the same respiratory and cardiovascular problems as tear gas, and skin contact can cause burning, inflammation, and allergic reactions. Grenades and cannisters . can also cause the same respiratory and cardiovascular problems as tear gas and have a broad range so non-involved bystanders could be collateral damage. TASER, STUN GUNS WHAT IT IS A Taser uses electrical shocks to stop a person by causing painful and involuntarily muscle contractions. Current is delivered in five-second bursts by two electrodes that are attached to the device by insulated wires that can reach up to 20 feet away. (An officer can prolong the jolt to more than five seconds by holding the trigger down.) Stun guns are similar, but they are pressed directly against a person. Both types of weapons are used to control a single person rather than a crowd, and law enforcement officers do not appear to be using them often during recent protests. WHAT CAN GO WRONG The manufacturer’s warning lists many things, from burning, scarring and puncture wounds to seizures and respiratory and cardiac problems. Injuries can result from falls when people lose muscle control. Muscle injuries and bone fractures can be caused by violent muscle spasms, particularly in people who have preexisting conditions. 68 The BLUES The BLUES 69
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