law enforcement "laser" designed to daze and stun

[drlava]

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/cri...er.king?hpt=C2
Look out for copy-cats

[ElektroFreak]

The US military has been using laser "dazzlers" for some time.. I guess it was only a matter of time until the police started using them too.

[buffo]

I wonder how effective they are... Can't be much worse than a bright spotlight would be, right? Unless they're really exceeding the MPE by several orders of magnitude, that is. But then how are they selling them? (Special CDRH exemption for law enforcement, maybe?)

Bah, I say it's probably not worth the effort. To be bright enough to literally stop someone in their tracks, it would have to be bright enough to cause real damage to the eye. I see that as a lawsuit just waiting to happen. (Because even the crooks can, and do, sue the police.)

Adam

[Stuka]

I wonder how effective they are... Can't be much worse than a bright spotlight would be, right? Unless they're really exceeding the MPE by several orders of magnitude, that is. But then how are they selling them? (Special CDRH exemption for law enforcement, maybe?)

Bah, I say it's probably not worth the effort. To be bright enough to literally stop someone in their tracks, it would have to be bright enough to cause real damage to the eye. I see that as a lawsuit just waiting to happen. (Because even the crooks can, and do, sue the police.)

Adam

From some "military insider info" a year or so ago -

My understanding is they work using a modulated source that flashes at the perfect frequency to induce nausea and temporary blindness.

Non-lethal, no permanent damage, less dangerous than a taser, but better stand-off range.

I've seen photos of big remote units mounted on Humvee's.

I want one....

[mixedgas]

quote
My understanding is they work using a modulated source that flashes at the perfect frequency to induce nausea and temporary blindness.
End quote

I cant go into details, but lets just say the 18 hertz vomit ray thing is highly over rated.

The painfully ruin your night vision and force you to look away part works great however.

Steve

[buffo]

Yeah, I've read a little bit about the high-intensity pulsed light source "vomit ray", and the results were pretty sketchy. Some people react rather violently to it, but many don't. (Just like some people have seizures when they view rapid flashing lights, but not everyone does.)

Even the brightness aversion response has got to be fairly tame though - especially when you're dealing with an aggressive target. I wonder if it is enough of a deterrent?

Adam

[mixedgas]

quote

Even the brightness aversion response has got to be fairly tame though - especially when you're dealing with an aggressive target. I wonder if it is enough of a deterrent?

Adam[/QUOTE]

It is when the ^%$# 532 nm thing is bright enough to go through your eyelids.
Videos of it show people turning their heads and shielding their eyes or turning and running away.

Steve

[buffo]

Wow - that is pretty bright. Guess they're definitely exceeding the MPE then!

Adam

[haymaker]

So, will the police have to ban laser goggles? I can just see all the trendy criminals sporting them.

[mixedgas]

Ok, these things are starting to be in the less then lethal category, the NOHD distances are huge. Since most domestic LE shootings are at 3-6 meters, most of these are longer range devices. I cant see much domestic use other then crowd control if the NOHD is in the tens of meters range.

Half watt and NOHD of 20+ meters without diffuser, 5 meters with diffuser, for this one:

http://www.laserdazzler.net/

125 mW for the baseline model here:

http://www.bemeyers.com/index.php?op...d=12&Itemid=53


600 mW:

http://www.jetlasers.net/laser-dazzler.html

12 meter NOHD:

http://www.ecmaj.ca/cgi/content/full/180/11/1099

http://wapedia.mobi/en/Dazzler_%28weapon%29

And the predictable results from lack of training/common sense/field tests:

http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2009...nt-lase-me-br/

HORRIBLE fact checking on the above.

Steve