SOW_gut

[John Young <jya@pipeline.com>]

   8-13-95. NYPaper:


   "Not-So-Lethal Weapons: Items from the police catalogue,
   coming soon to a precinct near you."

      Cops "have the same basic options when confronting a
      Rodney King," said David Boyd of the National Institute
      of Justice. "They can talk him into cooperating, beat
      him into submission or shoot him. If they had an
      alternative to a conventional firearm, they would
      probably buy it, chortle and club him harder."

      Law engorgement is emerging as a virtually untapped
      arena for high-tech tomfoolery. Out-of-work federal
      laboratories are cooking up new Trekkie weapons. N.I.J.,
      the research honeypot of the US DoJ, has become a sort of
      Home Shopping Network for LEA's, taking their porky arms
      dreams to the desperado labs dreaming de Guerra Frio.

      The result: a host of goofy not-at-all-cheap Edsels
      and wipesnots: Sticky Foam (SNL); Rear-Seat Air Bag 
(IENL);
      Millimeter Wave Camera (LLNL); Smart Gun (SNL); Magic
      Fingerprinting Wand (Alaska State Crime Lab); Snare Net
      (Foster-Miller); Strobe Goggles (LLNL); Backscatter X-
      Ray Scanner.


   SOW_gut