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Pepper spray for police? (1)

01 January 1991

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Pepper spray for police?
artdoc July=1994


The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) is calling for
the introduction into Britain of a gas made from oil of peppers,
oleoresin capsicum. They say there are no need for trials her as
it is widely used by police in the US and Canada. It instantly
incapacitates those sprayed, giving them severe respiratory
problems for up to a minute, with further `limited side effects'
lasting up to an hour. However, the Police Scientific Development
Branch (PSDB) say there are fears that the sprays cause cancer.
The PSDB has sent a report to the Home Office after collating
worldwide research. `There are some outstanding medical concerns
expressed about the risk of cancer', said a PSBD source. Deputy
Commissioner of the Met Sir John Smith called on the Home Office
to approve the gas's immediate issue. There was no need for
trials here, he said, since they had been carried out in the US.
Suggestions that the spray is carcinogenic, were dismissed by
John Hoddinott, Chief Constable for Hampshire, who said it was
`time to sweep away the niceties that might hinder us making
progress'.
The only chemical agent the police are currently authorised to
use is CS gas and this only in extreme public order situations
or against armed besieged criminals. The Joint Sanding Committee
on the Police Use of Firearms is still considering a report from
the PSDB on `less than lethal force' (all self defence and the
use of truncheons are considered `less than lethal').

Statewatch, vol 4 no 3, May-June 1994

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