Protesters in San Diego may be met by police carrying Pepperball guns

By Ben Fox

Associated Press Writer



SAN DIEGO (AP) -- Demonstrators who get out of hand at next week's biotechnology industry convention could get a blast from the newest weapon in the police department's arsenal.

The Pepperball launcher is designed to pelt people or the area around them with a marble-sized plastic ball that breaks on impact into a dusty cloud of acrid pepper dust. It can fire six rounds per second but, if used as intended, won't kill anyone.

San Diego police bought two dozen Pepperball launchers and plan to have them ready for the BIO 2001 convention that opens Sunday, said SWAT team commander Lt. Cesar Solis.

"It gives the officers one more option, rather than resort to something that could be lethal," Solis said.

Police expect thousands of demonstrators to converge on the San Diego Convention Center and have trained to crack down on those who turn violent.

The biggest concerns are the so-called "black blocs" of masked anarchists who brought mayhem to the 1999 World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle and other gatherings of world leaders.

The Seattle protests turned violent and resulted in more than 600 arrests and $2.5 million in vandalism and property damage.

"There will be the heaviest presence of blue uniforms in downtown San Diego that this city has seen in some time," police spokesman David Cohen said.

He declined to provide numbers or specifics on tactics.

Officers will move quickly to arrest any demonstrators who block intersections and violate laws and get them off the streets for the duration of the convention, which ends Wednesday.

"We will be very aggressive," Cohen said. "Our goal is to not let it become a Seattle."

Police and the manufacturers of the non-lethal weapons credit them with saving lives, but not everyone believes they are harmless.

Paul Marini, a political activist from Oakland who demonstrated in Seattle, said nonlethal devices such as Pepperball or beanbag guns can cause injuries if the projectiles hit someone in the eye or other sensitive body part.

"It's an unholy alliance between pepper spray and the rubber bullet," said Marini, who works with the Midnight Special Law Collective, an organization that provides assistance to demonstrators.

"What they really are is maiming weapons."

Officials with Jaycor Tactical Systems Inc., the San Diego company that manufactures Pepperball, said their product is unlikely to cause serious injury.

Company videos show employees and volunteers being hit with the plastic ball, which causes a welt but doesn't break the skin. It's also effective when shooting it around someone, which can spread the pepper dust just as well.

"The only way you are going to kill someone with this is if you hold them down and shoot it down their throat," said Dennis Cole, a retired San Diego County sheriff's captain who is a salesman for the company.

The search for more nonlethal options is a common pursuit around the nation.

Jaycor is privately held and doesn't disclose sales figures. But company officials said they have sold Pepperball to 400 law enforcement agencies, with an equal number studying it.

The technology in Pepperball is really just an adaptation of the paintball guns used for mock war games. Unlike pepper spray, they don't require officers to get in proximity to a suspect and can be fired from 30 feet away.

Unlike tear gas, there are no canisters that can be tossed back at police. The air-powered launchers start at about $180 for a basic model and go to nearly $1,000 for a high-end model that looks like an M-16 rifle.

Agencies that use them include the police departments of New York, Los Angeles and Prince George's County in Maryland, according to the company.

San Diego hopes to acquire enough to always have one available in emergencies along with other nonlethal weapons, Solis said. But he doesn't expect standard guns will be replaced anytime soon.

"Not everyone is going to react the way you want them to with nonlethal force," he said.



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On the Net:

www.pepperball.net

www.airtaser.com

Anarchists/black bloc/ben-laddins/terrorists OH MY!!!!!!



We will be there.

In massive force.

Thanks for info.

pig.