Sheldon, Iowa — For years police officers had to depends upon lethal force weapons such as handguns and shotguns to help them keep the peace.
Less-lethal force weapons like batons, or nightsticks have been used for more than a century, but other less-lethal weapons came into vogue during the last few decades, led by pepper spray which is an aerosol irritant similar to tear gas. Then several years ago the Sheldon Police Department added tasers to their arsenal of less-lethal tools. However, the two things all of the less-lethal weapons have had in common is that the officer was required to be in fairly close proximity to the suspect in order to deploy the less-lethal tool, and they weren’t always effective.
Now Sheldon Police have added another less-lethal tool to their arsenal that doesn’t require an officer to be within reach of a suspect. Sheldon Police Chief Scott Burtch tells us more.
Chief Burtch says two of his department’s officers are scheduled to attend school later this year for yet another less-lethal option.
He says the pepper ball launchers are similar to paintball guns, but instead of paint balls they’ll fire pepper balls, which contain a tear gas-like irritant.
Burtch says the new less-lethal tools are designed to allow officers to take control of a situation without undo risk to the officer or the suspect.
