By
Jose Ceja
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Injuries possible, but crowd suppression tactics still central, officer says
Even though many people who gathered along North Fourth Avenue after UA's basketball loss to Duke suffered minor injuries caused by non-lethal weapons, this arsenal was necessary to restore order to the riot-torn district, police said.
Sgt. David Azuelo, a member of the Tucson Police SWAT team, said non-lethal force provides an important alternative for law-enforcement officers.
The Tucson Police is reviewing police actions in the April 2 riot.
Police ordered the crowd of about 1,500 people in the area to disperse around 10 p.m. and then marched up the avenue after rioters overturned vehicles and set a Winnebago on fire.
Of the weapons fired, the least deadly, Azuelo said, is the Flex Baton 12-gauge shotgun, which fires, among other things, "socks," or "bean bags," which are filled with lead pellets smaller than the BBs fired from air rifles.
Although UA freshman Jeff Knepper lost an eye after reportedly being hit in the face with a bean bag, Azuelo said injuries of this kind are rare and the weapon itself is very effective in dispersing crowds.
The Flex Baton, which is used within a range of five to 30 feet and fires projectiles at a speed of about 250 feet per second, is mainly used as a crowd dispersal weapon.
"It is a very basic, less lethal weapon," Azuelo said.
Another commonly used non-lethal weapon, Azuelo said, is the 37 Smith and Wesson Gas Gun, which is used mainly to fire tear-gas cartridges.
This weapon, however, also fires rubber balls and wooden bullets, which police use to disperse crowds.
Rubber balls, which are fired several at a time in cartridges, measure .32- or .60-caliber, and give a sting to those they hit.
"It's like a pebble being fired from a sling shot," he said. "They don't have the mass (to cause injuries)."
Rubber bullets are also used inside what is known as a number-15 stingball grenade, which delivers a loud noise and sprays several .32-caliber rubber balls.
"(Rubber balls) are intended to cause pain," he said. "An unintended consequence is injury."
The wooden bullets - which are sometimes replaced with foam bullets - fired from the Gas Gun are more dangerous than rubber bullets and are meant to skip off the ground and hit people in the legs, Azuelo said.
Perhaps the most powerful weapon of the non-lethal arsenal is the Sage SL6, which Azuelo described as "nothing more than a large pistol."
The SL6 is similar to the Gas Gun but can hold up to six rounds and functions similarly to a revolver, Azuelo said.
The SL6, which has a grooved barrel for increased aerodynamics and is accurate up to 100 yards, is used to fire a rubber bullet.
Azuelo compared the force of the rubber bullet fired by the SL6 to being struck by a baseball hit by a college baseball player.
Although being hit by a baseball may sound painful enough, Azuelo stressed the importance of the alternative these non-lethal weapons provide.
"If these type of tools were unavailable, I think you would see more injuries," Azuelo said.
All such munitions were fired from the Flex Baton, Gas Gun and SL6 the night of the riots, Azuelo added.
Sgt. Marco Borboa, a spokesman for the Tucson Police Department, said some non-lethal weapons are used for much more than breaking up disgruntled basketball fans.
The Flex Baton, for example, is useful when dealing with suicidal subjects whose goal it is to be killed, Borboa said.
"Certainly, (non-lethal weapons) are very effective and have been," Borboa said.
Training to use these weapons is very comprehensive and ensures all law-enforcement officials who use them are well-prepared, Azuelo said.
"(Law enforcement officials) are proficient once they finish the training," Azuelo said.
When injuries do occur, Azuelo said, it is important to recognize that these weapons are used on people who put themselves in dangerous, often unlawful positions.
"Ultimately, the responsibility falls on them," he said. "Injuries are unfortunate but are a reality during events like this."
