Why Not Pepper Spray

Posted by laguardianangels on Nov 23, 2011 in Psychology, theory | 9 comments

We were preparing for a patrol in Hollywood one Saturday night, and we were assembled outside a convenience store getting our last chance at calorie intake or some coffee to keep us going.

We’re used to seeing police officers and sheriffs stop through and do the same thing, and they usually give us a wave and a quick “Have a good evening” as we cross paths. This time, one of the officers walked over to our group and started up a great conversation.

We discussed where the trouble spots we knew and they knew, the advantages and disadvantages of being on foot or in a car, etc. He reminded us that some victimless crimes were beyond the scope of the department to handle, and they (and we) were encouraged to focus their attention on more interpersonal crimes like assault, battery, robbery, etc. He was familiar with the Guardian Angels, and helped inform his partner about us, even asking for correction for any points he may have missed. It was a friendly conversation.

Cop Suggests We Carry Weapons?

At one point he asked, “So, what do you guys carry? I don’t see any guns obviously, but maybe pepper spray?”

Of course, we told him that, “No, as an organization on patrol we don’t carry ANY weapons at all.”

He chuckled and said, “Man, you gotta change that! At least carry pepper spray! Wow.”

It seems like every week, we walk by a club and find people outside crying and complaining from the effects of pepper spray. Bouncers know that they are usually too small a force to stop a growing fight inside their club, and a quick shot of pepper spray will disperse the group more often than not. Sure enough, it makes a big difference in a hurry most of the time. So is it a good idea for more people to carry it? Should we ever consider it on patrol in places it’s legal to carry?

Pepper Spray Might Make You Violent

It turns out that having a less-lethal “weapon” choice, like pepper spray, can make you MORE prone to use physical force than if you had been unarmed in the first place. According to an article in Wired.com magazine:

“In one analysis, criminologists found that police use of force rose by 33 percent in Concord, North Carolina following the approval of pepper spray as a law enforcement tool. After an arrestee died in custody after being sprayed, pepper spray use was restricted; use-of-force incidents then fell by 57 percent, even though arrest rates rose by almost 4 percent.”

What We Face on the Street

That’s totally inconsistent with the message we’re trying to send on patrol. We don’t want to make arrests and we don’t even want to use force. What we really want is to be visible deterrents to crime before it starts.

We’ve seen it often enough: two “tough guys” square off and start their predictable show-off dance … and then the Guardian Angels walk through, sending them in opposite directions. They both save face, continue to believe their fantasies about how tough they are and that they (of course) would have won the fight. That’s how 95% of the “action” happens.

This is How We Do It

But nobody gets hurt. We almost never strike at anyone at all, most of our “grappling” consists of guiding force on their elbows; we grab ‘em, spin ‘em and send ‘em packing. And they almost never resist to want to fight us.

I stop and think now, would it have been easier to break up those almost-fights by pepper spraying the participants? Yes. Of course it would be easier. Would it work just as well? Probably yes – I think it would stop them … but stop them from what? From not quite fighting? Do we really need to offer them 40 minutes of agony because they were average drunk young males trying to impress their friends with their machismo?

Are they our enemies that we must defeat? Of course not. They can’t be upset at us. In the morning they probably don’t even remember we were there. So, we can’t let our egos take charge and want to “win” or we’re doing exactly what we tried to stop them from doing. We now know that having the tools makes it MUCH more likely that we would use them, and I’m glad we don’t.

What do you think? Should everyone carry pepper spray in their daily lives? Do you think we should carry it on patrol? Why or why not?

http://www.guardianangels.org.nz Chieftain

Speaking personally, I am glad we do not carry weapons, and I would not belong to our organization if we did.

Being unarmed requires us to develop and use superb people skills — and we do. Using force is almost never necessary because excellent people skills trumps brute force just about every time. And, if brute force is actually required we are trained to do that decisively, whereas chances are our opponents aren’t.

New Zealand Police do not, as a rule, carry sidearms when they Patrol, either — as a result they enjoy a high level of cooperation and rapport with the community that other police forces in the world just don’t have. It would be highly unusual for a NZ Police officer not to receive physical support from the general public if push-came-to-shove: this is largely due to the fact that they are unarmed and rely on their people skills and public support to keep them safe — that, and good procedure. The hostility isn’t there because the weapons aren’t there, so there is no need for an arms-race-escalation between the Good Guys and the Bad Guys.

It’s the same with the Guardian Angels.
- laguardianangels
  
  Thanks, Chieftain. I’ve been on patrols with Keiji Oda and some great members of his crew in Japan, and their rapport with the community was so good that I felt in awe.
  
  You bring up a very important point: community back-up might or might not exist when it’s needed, but the odds go way down if the community doesn’t like you and your group.
  
  Are there particular things you do (or don’t do) to enhance your relationship with your community?
  - http://www.guardianangels.org.nz Chieftain
    
    None of The Lads look particularly threatening. We do not buy into the “paramilitary-look-and-feel” that some Chapters seem to have adopted: we don’t hold rank or appear to be anything other than what we are: unarmed civilians and not wannabe-cops. So the perception is set early that we are non-threatening.
    
    For example, many of The Lads choose to Patrol in bluejeans. So long as they are neat and tidy, I do not make an issue of that. I myself invariably Patrol in Parade Shorts: I have ugly legs with huge scars on the shins that I don’t mind showing off. Occasionally one of The Lads will wear BDUs, but that is an exception rather than The Rule. Like I said, we down-play the “paramilitary” perception to the max. We’re still a good, well-disciplined Patrol, but just not a paramilitary one.
    
    We juxtapose that with a willingness to engage and intervene: many potential troublemakers find direct opposition unsettling because it causes a cognitive dissonance. That works to our advantage, because the troublemakers are actually *relying* on people not to get involved, not to intervene, and to be afraid. It is unsettling to them to find us challenging this paradigm: it upsets the way they have imagined things are going to go.
    
    We use our female members alot, because they can (and do) de-escalate situations alot faster than men can: most guys still have a *thing* against hitting women, and so they will back down — whereas they might not if they are facing another guy who is telling them what to do.
    
    The three levels of escalation is absolutely golden: straight out of The Manual, it works a treat.
    
    Could this get us into trouble one day? I suppose it might. It hasn’t yet: we’ve responded to weapons incidents, mini-riots, methamphetamine scroats, drunk-and-disorderly hoons, domestic assaults. So far, not a scratch — and my handcuffs have stayed in their case, to be removed only for oiling and cuffing practise. Zero arrests so far, 6 years since our launch…
    
    (I’m kind of keen to keep it like that.)
- Shepherd
  
  Yes, I completely agree. We should not carry pepper spray. We are the Guardian Angels and not the Pepper Spray Angels. I believe there is no such thing as a completely defensive weapon. The lowest common denominator would be for us to use pepper spray to break up a confrontation. The use of pepper spray could be considered an offensive attack. Unless they are attacking you, you are attacking them. Any Judge or Jury would find it difficult to understand why you just sprayed one or two innocent people. Secondly, now you probably just engaged EMS; now you own the incident. In my humble opinion, that is not my idea of what Guardian Angels represent. We are there to help people and make sure they go home safe, not send them to the face of agony with using pepper spray. I will defend someone with my life but not arbitrarily attack. Our training dictates that we must use only the minimal amount of force to hold, secure, and detain, pepper spray is a force multiplier that be beyond minimal.
  - laguardianangels
    
    Awesome – well said.
http://guardianangels.org Eagle

I feel if Angels were allowed to use pepper spray, it would get the organization in trouble. It would create a bad reputation for the Angels since some Angels would use it excessively or use it at inappropriate times. Our training in communications to defuse situations is our weapon, along with our defense training. Pepper spray or a weapon of any kind is not necessary and could cause more problems (with the public) than it would help.
http://www.facebook.com/LAGuardianAngels Los Angeles Guardian Angels via Facebook

I thought those numbers were interesting, though not surprising, in retrospect.
Mak

No, because Pepper spray can also do what I call, “Blow back”. Even in a light breeze, it can blow right back in your face, and now you become the victim. And even if the spray itself doesn’t blow back, the Fumes most likely will. And lastly, some people are allergic to Peppers, and even more have Asthma that can be exacerbated(cause Asthma attacks) by Pepper Spray. So their are more draw backs with Pepper spray than benefits.
- Mark
  
  I don’t know if I agree. I will plan on making sure my daughters carry pepper spray so they have self defense weapons should they need it in case of an emergency. I think better training should be implemented on when and how to use it and to pay attention to downwind so they don’t get blow back. If it can save them from a potential rape or worse, I will make sure they have it.
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