Less-than-lethal options and riot control in maritime environment
only fired at center mass to stop a threat, fatalities were likely to occur. It is unfortunate that the event resulted in nine dead Turkish citizens and more than thirty injured.
What else could have been done? Did the Israeli naval commandos have other options? The short answer is that if they knew what they were to stand against they would have probably reacted differently, including larger forces of soldiers and most likely armed with various Less-than-Lethal force options. The situation would have been addressed as a crowd control situation rather than as a boarding mission.
There are many Less-than-Lethal options available in the market today. These are used extensively by law-enforcement agencies, as well as the Israeli military during riots in troubled areas. Here is a list of a few, including the drawbacks to using each:
Chemical munitions. These include Oleoresin Capsicum, otherwise known as OC or Pepper spray, tear gas, and combinations thereof.
These tools are very effective in stopping individuals due to irritation to the eyes and mucus membranes which cause tearing, coughing, nasal discharges, and even muscular failure. The impact is magnified by the psychological effect of these tools. The gas itself will evaporate and cause no sustained damage (although some individuals are more sensitive to the active ingredients than others), but many may feel as though they are in tremendous pain, suffocating, or otherwise not in control of their actions.
The two main drawbacks to using OC or CS, are:
- From a PR standpoint, seeing hundreds of individuals gassed and gagging, many of whom probably are innocent bystanders, has a terrible public acceptance
- The cross contamination of the soldiers may hinder the soldiers’ own performance, hence making any follow up actions difficult.
Since the events took place aboard a vessel in the middle of the sea, we can assume strong winds, which will make cross contamination even more of an issue, and will also render the gasses less effective.
Electric stunning devises. Here I am referring to Tasers and as such. These tools have great value in the law-enforcement community, where the goal is to apprehend a non-compliant individual. The key term here is “individual.” These tools work on one person at a time. They are designed to render a person incapable of action just long enough, typically in five second bursts, for the officer to place handcuffs on the subject.
It is obvious that such a tool will not be effective in a riot
