http://cbs13.com/national/flashlight.weapon.crowd.2.645991.htmlNew Weapon Against Terror: A Flashlight?
Brandi Hitt
LOS ANGELES (CBS13) It looks like a normal flashlight, but
Homeland Security has paid close to a million dollars for it. It can stop
you right in your tracks.
Law enforcement is already calling it "controversial."
The point of this device is to disorient you, so we modified the video
when we showed it on air. If you wish to see the unmodified footage of the
device in action, you can click here -- but be warned, you may find the
experience uncomfortable.
http://www.cbs13.com/video/?id=29977@kovr.dayport.com
For riots and chaotic situations, police often use tasers, rubber bullets
and pepper spray to try and control the crowd. But there could soon be a
new weapon in their arsenal: a hi-tech flashlight with a big punch.
"Flashblindness, the 'Oh my gosh this light is really bright, I can't see
anything behind it.' That effect is immediate for everybody," said Bob
Lieberman, president of Intelligent Optical Systems.
Nausea and a feeling of disorientation soon follow. The device is called
the "LED Incapacitator." Intelligent Optical Systems is the company
building it right here in California, thanks to an $800,000 contract from
Homeland Security.
Once Lieberman turned on the Incapacitator for us, we started feeling the
effects. It can be irritating to watch the video, but in person it's even
more stunning.
According to Lieberman, the device flashes LED lights at several specific
frequencies. Before your brain has time to adjust to one frequency, the
Incapacitator flashes another. Add multiple colors and random pulses and
the brain just can't keep up.
"The longer you look at this, the more you don't want to look at it," said
Lieberman. "The closer you are to it, the more intense the effect."
The only ways to escape the effects? "Close your eyes, put your hand up,
turn your head away, all of which will give the user the advantage they
need," said Lieberman.
We wanted to see just how effective the light is, so I tried it out. You
see green, white, and after a while it becomes very blurry. I didn't feel
sick, but I could not tell where the operator was standing at one point.
I also saw blotches in my vision, which stayed with me for about a half
hour after the test. Then, a strong headache kicked in.
David Throckmorton is a Homeland Security program manager in Washington
DC. He says the government would like to arm the Coast Guard, Secret
Service, Border Patrol and Air Marshals with the device.
"It doesn't really do any damage to you," said David. "For them, it would
be a way to stop a terrorist or whoever from advancing."
Commander Sid Hale with the L.A. County Sheriff's Department helped design
the device over the last three years, and says this is something all law
enforcement wants, especially at night and for crowd control, so they
don't have to pull their guns.
"They may be incorporated into existing architecture," said Hale. "If we
have a big jail riot, we just turn out the regular lights and turn on the
flashing lights. This is about the safest thing you can find and still be
considered some type of force. This is about one step above screaming and
yelling at a guy."
Michael Soller with the ACLU says he's concerned.
"Let's not pretend these are anything less than a weapon," said Soller.
His concern is not so much with the device itself, but how officers are
trained to handle it, and if they misuse it.
"Tasers were sold and police officers were trained that they're
nonlethal," said Soller. "We have 300 deaths over the past few years that
show that the claim was not true."
Is there a possibility that someone could go blind from something like this?
"No," said Lieberman. "We've been very careful to design this so the
maximum permissible exposure limit for human eye safety is never
exceeded."
Medical safety tests are already underway, and law enforcement field
trials will likely start later this year.
Could the public get their hands on this?
"Yes, this kind of technology could possibly be useful for someone in a
situation where they're trying to fend off an attacker," said Lieberman.
That's news to Homeland Security. The department says it may be restricted
to just law enforcement. Still, by 2010, Intelligent Optical Systems hopes
to be selling this technology on store shelves.
The whole point of this weapon is to disorient you, and it does. Some are
concerned that if the public will get its hands on this, that means
criminals will too.
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