Less Lethal Munitions
Less lethal impact munitions fire a projectile providing a transfer of kinetic energy that will impact and potentially incapacitate a suspect. Different launchers and projectiles are on the market with many projectiles existing to fit the specific need of the individual scenario.
The current launchers available are 12-gauge shotguns and 37/40mm grenade launchers. No semi-automatic shotguns are known to reliably cycle less lethal rounds, thus pump-action weapons are required.
There are wide ranges of launched munitions of a variety of compositions. While the weapons are often employed at relatively close range, the resulting injuries increase as the distance between the launcher and the suspect decreases. The composition of the projectile will also affect injuries because solid wood batons are more likely to injure than soft foam rounds. In other words, weapons fired at closer distances with harder payloads are more likely to cause injury.
For the complete version of this article, please refer to the November/December 2005 issue of Campus Safety magazine.
