PLASTIC BULLETS vs RUBBER PROJECTILES

I wrote this article many years ago for a police magazine.

Two of the countries in the world that use plastic bullets to quell riots are; Northern Ireland and Israel, and in those two countries, these bullets are predominately fired in Belfast and the Occupied West Bank respectively.

The authorities in those two countries claim that such bullets are less likely to kill anyone than regular bullets but of course that isn't always true. Anyone shot at close range in the head with one of these plastic bullets, will undoubtedly be killed outright. The police in those countries claim that they don't aim for the head. Perhaps not, but people are shot in the head nevertheless. If the victims with the head wounds aren't killed outright, they certainly will suffer brain damage or possible blindness.

Take the case of Mohammed Hamdan Kassem, who at the age of eight months, was shot (unintentionally) by Israeli soldiers in the Tulkarem refugee camp in June 1989. The plastic bullet entered his head and as a result, he continues to suffer brain damage and paralysis on his right side.

He wasn't the first to suffer from the effects of being shot by plastic bullets. In September, 1988, two Arabs who were stone throwers in the Occupied West Bank became the first to die from plastic bullets fired by Israeli troops.

The police and troops don't have to necessarily aim directly at stone throwers. They can fire these bullets towards the pavement or against walls and the bullets will ricochet into crowds and once they ricochet, there is nothing that will stop the bullet from unintentionally smashing into someone's skull a city block away or more.

It is this kind of aimless shooting that can cause serious injuries and death to innocent bystanders standing nearby and even to innocent children peering out of their windows.

The Metropolitan Toronto Police Emergency Task Force has plans of adding to their arsenal of non-lethal weaponry, Arwen 37 guns which fire Baton Round projectiles.

"We're looking at a very slow travelling projectile that will wind somebody--not wound them." said Jim Cassells, Team Leader of the Special Weapons Team of the Emergency Task Force. "The idea is that it's blunt and it won't penetrate the body." he said.

The 37-millimetre diameter projectiles would not replace conventional firearms carried by the Emergency Task Force, but it would give the 60-man tactical unit another option before using lethal bullets.

Unlike the 'plastic bullets' used by other countries which invariably wound, maim and kill the people who are shot with them, the rubber-type Batton Round projectiles would not be fired from conventional rifles but rather from the specially designed Arwen 37 guns. These guns which are also used to launch canisters of tear gas, have a wide barrel that is wide enough to place three fingers down the barrel--side by side. The cost of each gun is $3000 but Jim Cassells says, "They are well worth the expense."

Considering how expensive some hearings, commissions and trials can be when a suspect dies from a police shooting with conventional firepower, not to mention the loss of a human being when a suspect is shot to death, the statement of Jim Cassells makes a lot of sense.

But obviously, the use of this new weapon would be limited and would be circumscribed by the gravity of the situation. Sgt. Peter Button of Special Weapons Team of the Emergency Task Force probably says it best when he said in an interview with this writer; "If some guy comes out of a bank with a shotgun and a hostage--it's not a situation where the 'Arwen' would be used."

When asked what would the ETF do if faced with a man approaching a dwelling with a shotgun, Sgt. Button said; "Years ago, we had a situation like that where a man had threatened to shoot his girlfriend and he showed up in front of her home with a shotgun. Our people arrived minutes before he did. We'll repel lethal force with lethal force but if there's any possibility of using a lower level of force like tear gas or the Baton Round projectile, then we will. Unfortunately in this incident, we didn't have the Arwen 37 as part of our equipment. If we had, and he didn't put the gun down, we could have fired a projectile at him. Fortunately for all concerned, he was persuaded to surrender and he put the gun on the ground."

He added; "If the suspect is further than 30 meters away, we will use a high intensity round that is good up to about 100 meters. However, if the suspect is only between 15 and 20 meters away, we will use a low intensity round."

As to what part of the body a suspect would be shot with a Baton Round projectile, he replied; "We never aim for the head as there is too great a danger of killing him or causing severe brain damage. We would aim for the abdomen. The whole purpose of firing such a projectile at him is to only stun him long enough for our team to reach him and immobilize him."

When asked when the ETF is prepared to arm their tactical units with the Arwen 37's in Metropolitan Toronto, he said; "We have two Arwen 37's in our arsenal at present but unfortunately we don't have the amunition for them. The amunition (Baton Round) is $30 to $50 a piece and we have 60 members of our task force to train on the use of these guns. You can't train them with one round each. That's why we have an outstanding order for much more.

"Our current problem of supply is due to the fact that the Batton Round projectiles have to be imported from a firm in England and because of the heavy demands being put on that firm by police forces around the world, we have to wait our turn. Until then, we will continue to use our conventional equipment and our ability to defuse situations before they get out of hand." Sgt. Peter Button said.

The police force in Montreal already have the Arwen 37's and the Batton Round projectiles on hand for their emergencies. There are situations where the firing of a rubber projectile from a Arwen 37 would be most appropriate---such as domestic situations where the suspect is holding a knife, or a teenage robber who really doesn't want to shoot anyone but refuses to put his gun down. Sgt. Button assured this writer that the Emergency Task Force will not use the Arwen 37's in riots because of the danger of seriously injuring people unintentially.

Fortunately for both the innocent citizens and suspects in Metropolitan Toronto, the Emergency Task Force of the Metropolitan Toronto Police Force have been successful in resolving almost all of their emergency situations that confront them without having to use force. The non-lethal 'weapon' they generally use is the art of 'persuasion'.

However, before we condemn those countries that fire plastic bullets into crowds of stone throwers and other rioters, we must remember that our police forces in Canada are not risking their lives by being stoned to death by rioters. Perhaps if Canada was experiencing stone throwing as a way of life, the plastic bullets might then become accepted as the norm because in the final analysis, the stone throwers would still have a better chance of living past their crimes after being shot by plastic bullets than if they were shot by conventional lead and steel jacketed bullets.