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Other nonlethal weapons are on the way—for example, a net, spring-loaded into a tube, that can be shot over a fleeing man at close range. Also being developed are high-powered water pistols that fire chemical vomit-inducers and a liquid pepper irritant. Unfortunately, such gadgets lack the incapacitating speed of a bullet and cannot be fired over any distance, particularly in a wind. There is talk of a tranquilizer dart, but no safe tranquilizer acts on humans instantly.
To spur development of a workable dart and any other useful nonlethal weapon, New York's Representative James Scheuer and Massachusetts' Senator Edward Kennedy have introduced a federal anti-crime bill in Congress that would, among other things, foster and finance research in the field. "Within ten years," predicts Arnold Sagalyn, director of the Treasury Department's office of law-enforcement coordination, "we ought to have something equal to, if not superior to, the handgun."
Though harmless weapons for man-to-man use are still scarce, those for controlling crowds show what imagination can do. Now available is a dye spray that can ineradicably mark fleeing rioters or looters for 30 days. The color is visible only through special lenses and enables police to make arrests weeks later. Even handier for breaking up crowds is a spray containing a powerful stench. Perhaps the best crowd chaser is a machine that generates 10,000 cu. ft. of detergent-based foam in less than eight minutes. The foam can form a ten-foot wall to head off a mob or fill a street, covering everyone. Light enough to permit breathing, the foam is heavy enough to imprison each rioter and send him skidding to his knees. The only problem is cleaning up the street afterward.