Firm touts ‘safer’ laser dazzlers

A small technology firm is touting a new laser dazzler that temporarily blinds and disorients its target as the “ultimate in nonlethal technology,” but its efforts to sell the weapon to law enforcement agencies are likely to prove controversial.

The manufacturer says the weapon is ideal for riot and crowd control, for personal protection, and as an alternative to single-shot nonlethal weapons like the Taser high-voltage electric-dart gun. However, laser dazzlers used by the U.S. military in Afghanistan and Iraq have caused eye injuries to troops — including at least one case of blindness — in accidents or so-called “friendly fire” incidents. Some experts are concerned about the safety implications of putting the weapons in the hands of police officers.

Mercerville, N.J.-based Laser Energetics Inc. says its Dazer Laser weapons are designed to be “eye-safe,” according to founder and Chief Executive Robert Battis.

“We spent a lot of money to make it eye-safe. Safety is the most important thing to us,” Mr. Battis told The Washington Times. He said the device conforms to American National Standards Institute-approved benchmarks.

“The effects are temporary. … You have to be staring at it for a while to do any [permanent] damage.”

Laser dazzlers work by overloading the optical nerve, “like the flash from a camera,” Mr. Battis said, causing temporary blindness, disorientation and nausea.

He said the laser was a better option than other nonlethal weapons used for personal protection or crowd control by law enforcement.

“Unlike tear gas or water cannon, it is very precise” and can be used against particular individuals in a crowd, whereas “pepper spray, billy clubs or high-voltage darts only work at close ranges,” Mr. Battis said.

“The closer the range, the greater the danger” to the officer and the target because of the increased likelihood that lethal force might have to be used if nonlethal options fail, he said. “This will be a lifesaver … both for the threat and the enforcer.”

Mr. Battis said he expects to be able to announce “a very large order” for the Dazer Laser this month.

The U.S. military uses modified laser target designators as dazzlers in Iraq and Afghanistan - one of a number of alternatives to immediately shooting at individuals who may not be hostile.

Nonlethal weapons like dazzlers “give war fighters crucial escalation-of-force options between shouting and shooting,” for instance at a vehicle checkpoint, said Kelley Hughes, a spokeswoman for the Pentagon’s Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Directorate, based in Quantico, Va.

She said troops used the dazzlers to warn and/or incapacitate drivers who may not have seen or heard warning signals or shouts.

“They help minimize casualties and collateral damage across a full spectrum of military operations - everything from full-scale combat to humanitarian and disaster-relief missions,” Ms. Hughes said.

She said nonlethal weapons were especially useful in counterinsurgency campaigns such as those in Iraq and Afghanistan, “which brings combat into crowded urban areas and villages” where winning hearts and minds was crucial to military success.

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