DETROIT (WXYZ) — Detroit police are upgrading body cameras and adding more non-lethal weapons to give officers more choice during violent encounters with civilians.
Monday, Assistant Police Chief Eric Ewing spoke at a press conference introducing the Pepper Launcher and Defense Attack Launcher. Ewing says the Defense Attack Launcher can fire a foam round up to 50 feet, while the Pepper Launcher propels a chemical irritant with a 12-foot cloud up to 100 feet away.
Police say both are meant to disorient the person on the other end.
"There’s been several incidents that have occurred in the city where officers were physically attacked and if we were provided with different tools, maybe we would have had a different outcome," Ewing said.
The announcement comes after four officer involved shootings in the city, two of which resulted in the deaths of Porter Burks and Ki'Azia Miller, since Oct. 2. However, Ewing says the introduction of additional non-lethal weapons have been in the works for several months.
"This is not to say that we may not have to use deadly force, that’s just a part of what we do in policing. But we do not want to do that on a daily basis," Ewing said. "Each situation is different, but being able to have these on hand so we can go to something other than deadly force is going to be a tremendous help for us at the Detroit Police Department."
Police say they'll also be updating police body cameras to a model with better resolution. The new cameras will also have a backup battery that current body worn cameras do not. Police say the new equipment was paid for with general fund dollars.
"Any time you can spare a life and stop a crime, we’ve won," community activist Pastor Mo said.
Mo says this step is directly in line with what community activists like himself have been asking for. He says he’d also like to see more investment in the community and youth services and programs to prevent the incidents before they happen.
"We live in Detroit. Let’s be smart. We could not live here without police. It would be crazy. So since we have to have police, let’s have them as a partner. Let’s have them police with protection and service," Mo said.
Police say they’ll be considering more non lethal weapon options in the future. They say officers have already been trained on the new additions and they hope to deploy them at the top of the year.
