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6 J. Contemp. Crim. Just. 8 (1990)
The Quest for Alternatives to Lethal Force: A Heuristic View

handle is hein.journals/jccj6 and id is 9 raw text is: 8 The Quest for Alternatives to Lethal Force: A Heuristic View The Quest for Alternatives to Lethal Force: A Heuristic View by Ken Peak ABSTRACT The evolution of non-lethal weapons is traced, as developed for and used by law enforcement personnel from 1829 to present. This analysis is accomplished through an exam- ination of product advertisements and technical updates in police trade magazines as well as a review of related literature. Also discussed are differences in the philosophy toward and the application of force by American and Japanese police. Implications for future research and development are given as well. Who overcomes by force, hath overcome but half his foe. - John Milton, Paradise Lost. INTRODUCTION Since the dawn of time, man has sought to control and punish the behavior of his fellows. And, as Newman (1978) observed, Punishment, the bane of man's existence, becomes the natural food for the beautiful monster he has created: society (p. 25). Our recorded history is also replete with accounts of man's attempts to protect himself against his neighbors. All these actions-social control, punishment, protection-have historically had at their nexus the use of force, both of lethal and non-lethal means. Both lethal and non-lethal devices evolved from simple beginnings. Fire, stones, hemp, water, and subterranean excavations were used to punish people; such methods often permitted the opportunity to escape individual responsibility for the victim's death. For example, a stone-throwing crowd shared collective, not individual, responsibility for the killing. Society, in requiring that certain taboos and interdictions be obeyed, discovers that it must enforce these proscriptions. Its police servants (or engines of the law, as Daniel Defoe termed them), have obviously borne the responsibility and need for legitimization of that control. In the face of contemporary puissant weaponry, bombs, gasses, and other omnipotent tools which stand in

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