KTLA News: "Police officers demonstrate alternatives to lethal force" (1980)

[Tom Bradley:] We have an entirely different situation today with PCP suspects, impervious to pain, with others who are violent and cannot be placed under control in any other fashion. It's almost commonplace today. That was not routine when I was on the Department. So the men and women today are faced with entirely different situations, so I would not want to compare. [Man:] ...beside. You decide. And he also has the capability to block a low attack if the suspect were to attempt to kick the officer, he has capability of blocking that att-... [outcry] [Woman in video:] In that attack, what would you do? [chain noises and camera noises] [Man:] That's the punch fall. We can control... [chain noises] [Man, quietly:] This is the [...] [chain noises] [chain noises] [Man #2:] ...might be of use to us. They are taser which is an electronic... equalizer guns... rubber bullets - grab the officer. You can apply plane to the wrist and then go into the rear wrist lock and again cuff the suspect. This versatility is one of the advantages of this particular baton. [Man #2:] ...were used in Ireland. Beanbag guns. Loop-come-alongs. The Leg Grabber. But not... Of those 13, five are considered to have a high potential for use in Los Angeles. We're going to demonstrate those five for you now today. Officer Mayer from... [Man #3:] Hold's the projectiles which come out of the taser gun. And you can see those small dartlets in my hand, which is the projectile. It's attached to a long 15 foot wire. Now when... ...penetrate a person's skin for the taser to work. It's only necessary that it attaches onto the clothing. If it does penetrate the skin, which is certainly of concern to us all, the only thing that's going to penetrate is the quarter-inch barb on the tip. Here. At this time I'd like to ask the people... [impact then taser noise] [Man #3:] As long as I keep the - my finger depressed... [taser noise] for the benefit of the photographers, [taser noise] the electricity will be emanated. In field situations, since we've properly modified the device to do the job for us, and in, in test situations with live human volunteers, we have found that a three second charge [taser noise] is all it takes to bring someone to the ground and stun for a few - enough seconds to get up there and safely handcuff them. [taser noise] Fire it one more time. [Impact] ...on a violent mental case who had armed himself with a shovel and had chased people out of his house and with the... ...taser just like I did at another person and taking him down. You could see that in less than three seconds, he's on the ground. He has just turned the power off. The gentlemen is stunned there for a minute, but he's recovering rapidly enough that - here comes the sound. [applause from video] [Woman on video:] This is trying to carry chemical shield weapon or tear gas. You'll notice the effects of both... [Man, quietly:] in our pain compliance area of course. The conventional batons, straight stick is designed to use in a striking manner and currently our use of force authorizes our officers to use that in response to a bodily attack on an officer. So he's somewhat limited in what he can use with the baton on and the straight stick. This baton affords the officer an opportunity to use this baton in pain compliance techniques, when you have an officer or a suspect that is not cooperative. This baton can be used to apply a painful localized arm area and gain compliance from a suspect. What I'd like to do now is show the capability of this particular baton. And as you can see, the control of the baton is very, very good. Officer has a handle to hold on to. We found this to be much more versatile, much more useful. He can block an oncoming assault by a stick or a club that a suspect may attempt to strike an officer with. You also - he's under control. Also, we have - suspect attempted to reach out. [Reporter:] Mr. Mayor, you've seen a lot of demonstrations of new weapons today that have practical value. What do you think about them? [Bradley:] Rather than call them weapons, they are devices that, I think, are excellent alternatives to the use of the ultimate force, the gun. I'm very pleased that the Department is seriously undertaking and testing and making use of these devices. And it's interesting that in one case, they've actually developed the leg grabber on their own. [Reporter #2:] As an ex-police officer, how practical do you think some of these methods really are? [Bradley:] By the demonstration today, I think that they've indicated a great effectiveness and I think that as the training goes forward and more men are qualified to use them, I think we're gonna see a great deal of use of them. [Reporter #2:] But do you remember incidents yourself where these options could have been utilized instead of say, lethal force?