Is the future bright? (Image: Olivier Laban-Mattei/AFP/Getty Images)
Should police and coastguards use laser dazzlers?
Devices that temporarily blind people can now be used by US police, but are they worth the risks?THE US police and coastguard may soon start using laser “dazzlers” like those the American and British militaries have employed for years at checkpoints in Iraq and Afghanistan.
At the SHOT Show last month in Las Vegas, Nevada, B.E. Meyers Electro-Optics of Redmond, Washington, unveiled the first laser dazzler that has been approved for non-military law enforcement by the US Food and Drug Administration. Though they are purportedly less harmful than other non-lethal weapons, such as tasers and rubber bullets, the International Committee of the Red Cross is concerned that not enough has been done to lessen the risk of people suffering permanent blindness.
Dazzlers are designed to warn people away by temporarily blinding them with pulses of green laser light. Unlike tasers or rubber bullets, there is no possibility that the lasers could kill a person, they just create a beam that is too intense to look at.
Most models that have been built for military use are designed to work at distances of 300 to 500 metres during the day and a kilometre or so at night. This makes them attractive for long-range use at sea to stop vessels suspected of drug trafficking, for example. At 40 metres, however, the intense beam of a 200-milliwatt laser can permanently damage eyes. Despite this, they have seen regular use in Iraq since 2006. More
