LA Prison to use Military Laser Weapon on Inmates

An advanced laser weapon that feels like a painful blast of hot air is to be used in a US prison to break up fights for the first time. The Assault Intervention Device fires a focused beam of energy at the target which authorities hope will stop prisoners fighting as they scramble to get out of the way. Prison officers have even tested the non-lethal weapon on themselves and say it is excruciatingly painful. Nonlethal weapons like ‘pain rays’ and Tasers are controversial and usually criticised by human rights groups who fear that they can be misused and could even be fatal if used on vulnerable people.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California criticized Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca’s decision to deploy the military weapon in a letter sent Thursday, saying that the technology amounts to a ray gun at a county jail. The 4-feet-tall weapon, which looks like a cross between a robot and a satellite radar, will be mounted on the ceiling and can swivel.

No related posts.