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Police Equipment

Three basic types of police equipment include the taser, incapacitant spray, and the classic baton. Although the baton has been in use since the earliest police forces creation the other two are quite new. The baton, also called, bludgeon, truncheon, or nightstick, come in a variety of styles and are very good at what they do. Some are collapsible for ease of carrying and all of them are deceptively light. What they lack in weight they make up for in velocity, because they use physics to deliver a fast blow to a small area instantly making it go numb and stop functioning.

Incapacitant spray has been in use since the 1960’s in various different forms. The most common form found in police equipment is called CS/PAVA incapacitant spray. It is of a special chemical design that differs from its pepper-based predecessors. It works by delivering a stream of noxious chemical to the suspects face causing burning and blindness for thirty to sixty minutes.

The last type of police equipment to fall into this category is the taser. The use of the taser has only developed in the last ten or fifteen years and has been popular in countries were most officers do not carry sidearms. The taser is an electrical device that shoots electrodes into a suspect’s midsection and delivers a strong incapacitating electrical shock. Despite their popularity with law enforcement, they have recently come under fire as the cause of death of otherwise healthy individuals in police altercations.

 

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