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Asked by howyilms1 to Adam, Catherine, Karen, Leila, Nazim on 16 Mar 2012.
Question: Why do some American police cary around "Pepper-spray" what significance does this have?
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Adam Stevens answered on 16 Mar 2012:
It’s meant to be a ‘non-lethal’ deterrent. So if people are doing something they don’t like they can pepper spray them to make them stop.
It’s been in the news quite a bit recently from police using it on (essentially) non violent protesters. Plus people can have a bad reaction to it (especially if it goes down their throat) and there have been fatalities.
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Catherine Rix answered on 16 Mar 2012:
Like Adam says it’s used to control people who are breaking the law, without badly hurting them. It can do a lot of damage though and it’s illegal in the UK. The active chemical in pepper spray is capsaicin, which is what makes chillis hot.
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Karen Masters answered on 18 Mar 2012:
Pepper is an irritant to people (ie. it hurts your eyes) so I think they use it to defend themselves against bad guys.
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Leila Battison answered on 19 Mar 2012:
Pepper spray contains the same substance that you find in peppers and chillis – ‘Capsicum’, and it’s what gives chillis their spiciness. It’s used in lots of different scenarios, where someone or something needs to be kept away or temporarily disabled without any permanent damage.
Have you ever accidentally got chilli in your eyes? It will make them burn, make you cry, and if its bad enough can even cause you to go temporarily blind. Pepper spray is exactly the same, only it’s in an aerosol can and you can use it like a weapon.
We have the same thing in the UK, but it is sometimes called Mace.
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Nazim Bharmal answered on 20 Mar 2012:
The pepper spray is designed to irritate your eyes, so that people stop being able to see (because you start crying) and the police can then control you more easily. It is generally used to stop people who won’t obey their instructions.
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