Police Need Training in ‘Less Lethal’ Tools to Deal with Protests: Report
The convergence of the COVID Pandemic and the murder of George Floyd and subsequent national protests created a new set of challenges for law enforcement, requiring them to use less-than-lethal force tools they hadn’t used in years, and hadn’t trained for, said the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) in a new report.
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Police agencies must rethink their approach to use of force during demonstrations, says the country’s leading law enforcement think tank.
The convergence of he COVID Pandemic and the murder of George Floyd and subsequent national protesters created a new set of challenges for law enforcement, requiring them to use less-than-lethal force tools they hadn’t used in years and hadn’t trained for, said the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) in a new report.
“CS gas, pepper spray, beanbag rounds, rubber bullets, ‘flash-bang’ devices, and other tools were being used in many cities, and often, police officers hadn’t received special training on their use. It simply hadn’t been a priority for training, because these devices hadn’t been widely used for many years,” wrote Chuck Wexler, executive director of PERF.
The report, based on interviews with police chiefs, reviews of after-action reports and an analysis of intelligence and other police reports, offers 38 recommendations for police departments about how to handle demonstrations, civil disturbances and the violence that occurred during the unrest, reports the Associated Press in a summary of the report.
The recommendations include improving training, avoiding mass arrests, improving communication both internally within police forces and to the community during demonstrations and conducting robust reviews after large-scale protests.
The group started to examine whether there were guidelines or standards for the use of less-lethal weapons. While some police departments have developed their own policies around when to use such force, many are left with only the manufacturer’s guidelines, Wexler said.
The report recommends the National Institute of Justice “conduct significant research on this to determine the limitations and best practices of this kind of equipment,” Wexler said.
“There is no there is no playbook that exists today for American police in using this kind of equipment,” he said.
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