Police and Non-Lethal Weapons

Paper Summary:

The paper addresses the right of the police to inflict lethal harm and explores the debate surrounding the use of non-lethal weapons. The paper explains the position of some that non-lethal weapons represents a better means of stopping crime without inflicting lethal damage on the perpetrator while others assert that irreversible damage can still be caused with limited force. The paper concludes that more needs to be done in order to decrease the number of casualties for a type of weapon which is not meant to provoke death for its targets.

From the Paper:

"There is a wide variety of weapons which are now available for self defense as well as for the use of police when tackling dangerous perpetrators. While some are used particularly to inflict lethal harm to the attacker others aim at only detracting the perpetrator from causing any harm to the victim. The use of non lethal weapons by the police has been a subject for debate for some time now because it has become obvious that technology enables the law enforcement forces to use in their missions different means that are not lethal for the human life."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Adachi, Ken. (2005) "Sanctioned Torture & Summary Execution In America". Educate yourself website. Accessed 24 June 2008, from http://educate-yourself.org/pnt/index.shtml
• America Civil Liberties Union. (1997) Fighting Police Abuse: A Community Action Manual. Accessed 24 June 2008, from http://www.aclu.org/police/gen/14614pub19971201.html
• Bunker, R. J. (n.d.) Nonlethal Weapons: Terms and References. INSS Occasional Paper 15. USAF Institute for National Security Studies. Accessed 24 June 2008, from http://www.angelfire.com/or/mctrl/nonlethal.html
• Corlett, A. J. (2001) Responsibility and Punishment. Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
• Hambling, D. (2005) "Police toy with 'less lethal' weapons". New Scientist. Accessed 24 June 2008, from http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7326

More papers on Police and Non-Lethal Weapons:

• Research Paper # 101785 : "Non-Lethal Weapons"
• Argumentative Essay # 134683 : "Laser Technology and Stun Guns"
• Research Paper # 93063 : "Police and Communication"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: