Daily Alert Archives

Non-Lethal Crowd Control

[Ha'aretz] Kobi Ben Shimon - Three weeks ago, at a demonstration in the West Bank village of Na'alin, the Israel Police debuted a new method of dispersing demonstrations. "The Border Police introduced the Skunk - a new tool in the service of the police, which will cause every demonstrator to flee for his life because of the terrible stench," the police website declared on Aug. 17. "Until now, for demonstrations on the seam line the police used mainly pepper gas, water cannons and mounted police, but we were looking for less lethal means," said Maj. Gen. Yaki Azulai, who heads the unit for countering terror and public disturbances. David Ben Harosh, head of the department of technological development at the police, explains, "We have to meet legal and health standards, and that's not easy....I created a liquid from only natural organic substances, which when combined produced the unique smell....I'm sure that it will become a hit worldwide; there's a very great demand for this type of device." "The formula is secret and unique, but I can say that the dominant components are yeast and protein....You can drink it, and you would definitely have a great protein drink." Ben Harosh said, "I was there...to see how the demonstrators reacted. But we knew exactly how they would react because we tried the substance first of all on ourselves....We tried the substance on a large array of policemen....The use was approved by the chief medical officer of the Israel Police, after testing of all the parameters, the risks and the dangers anticipated during operational use on human beings." "The soldiers...didn't fire a single rubber bullet during the entire demonstration. After the first use, most of the demonstrators left the area....It created a safety zone between the policemen and the demonstrators."
2008-09-12 01:00:00
Full Article