Federal judge bans one “less-lethal” launcher, LAPD finds another
When a court takes away one "tool," and the immediate response is to grab the next one off the shelf, we aren't looking at reform. We're seeing efficient inventory management.
No one loves the excessive use of force quite like Los Angeles’ finest. In addition to recently having been asked by the City Council to back off the riot gear and immediately threatening responses to crowds, the LAPD also got the news that a federal judge is banning their favorite less-than-lethal 40mm foam projectile launchers. LAPD’s response? They pulled out a different .68-caliber crowd-control weapon with a history of lethality.
The FN303 shoots high-speed .68 caliber projectiles containing small pieces of metal and sometimes chemical irritants or paint that cannot be washed off. The rounds are designed to cause a “dissuasive level of pain,” according to the weapons manufacturer, while the paint allows law enforcement to mark certain people for arrest or questioning later.
In 2004, a woman in Boston died after being shot with an FN303.
“Since we don’t have access to the [40mm launcher], the FN303 is an alternative option,” LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell admitted during a Board of Police Commissioners meeting last Tuesday. “[And] we’re looking at other options that are available as well on the field.”
At around 6 p.m.on Friday, January 30, heavily-armed Los Angeles police responded to a protest outside of the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC), in what was the first major test of the judge’s order banning the use of the 40mm launchers.
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Within minutes of authorizing the use of the FN303, a person was seriously injured.
When a court takes away one “tool,” and the immediate response is to grab the next one off the shelf, we aren’t looking at reform. We’re seeing efficient inventory management.