When was riot gear invented

Others show unarmed protesters with their hands up as officers appear to strike with shields and batons. Brace testified before a US congressional committee in late June. Video footage also shows a Utah police officer holding a Scorpion shield as he appears to shoot a protester in Salt Lake City with a smoke grenade at close range.

Roxeanne Vainuku of the West Valley City police department, said the protester was holding a bat not visible in the video. All use of force complaints are being investigated by our internal affairs unit. These officers are highly trained and skilled in peaceful crowd control and dispersal.

Asked about its involvement in policing Washington demonstrations, a Secret Service spokesperson said it had no comment. British MPs have questioned the sale of anti-riot equipment to the US. A police officer charges forward holding a British-made riot shield. Nearly all Black Lives Matter protests are peaceful despite Trump narrative, report finds.

Read more. Second, there are street marches that refuse to accept, or stick to, agreed itineraries. Groups break away and attack buildings or shops or cars or the police. This was the pattern of the most violent yellow vest demonstrations, which began as a peaceful protest by the provincial working and lower-middle class against fuel taxes and the urban elite. The present tactical doctrine of the French riot police, of all stripes and helmet colors, is to stand back and protect the biggest public buildings.

Tear gas, rubber bullets, and stun grenades are to be used to keep the crowds at bay—and on their declared routes. Riot police are trained to act only in groups and only on direct orders. They have, in theory, no right of individual action or initiative. They are supposed to aim their nonlethal weapons below the waist and not use stun grenades in densely packed crowds.

After that, the police tactics became more aggressive—sometimes overaggressive. For weeks, the different police and gendarmerie units shifted between defensive and aggressive tactics without finding the right balance. In my experience, police attacks on peaceful demonstrators were rare to nonexistent, but less violent yellow vest demonstrators often found themselves injured in the crossfire.

What the French police rarely did—unlike their German, Dutch, and British counterparts—was to find ways of defusing the tension or anger. Some of the yellow jacket protesters, it is true, had no interest in talking. But French police hardly attempted de-escalation.

In neighboring Germany and the Netherlands, police have developed noncoercive crowd control ideas, such as giant screens to keep protesters informed of police intentions. France has specialized in crowd control tactics that are nonlethal, but it would be a mistake to think of them as nonviolent. France, for all its experience, is ultimately not an ideal model for the United States to follow. More importantly, there are serious social differences between Europe and the United States that make an American gendarmerie difficult to imagine.

America is a heavily armed country. France is not—which is why, perhaps in part, its police forces feel they can focus their attention on nonlethal tactics. But the new wave of police violence and racial injustice may be drying up the reserves.

Shusha was the key to the recent war between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Now Baku wants to turn the fabled fortress town into a resort. Argument An expert's point of view on a current event.

By John Lichfield. French gendarmes stand guard in front of the Arc de Triomphe before an anti-government demonstration called by the "yellow vest" movement in Paris on Sept.

June 9, , AM. The shots killed three people on the spot, and two later died of wounds. Although the British soldiers were later charged, the point remains that even non-violent protests were commonly met with deadly force. Other than a Billy Club, police rarely were equipped with equipment that could provide bodily protection and aid in effective crowd control. The French were among the first to assemble a police force specially trained and equipped to handle aggressive crowds early in the 20th Century.

Called the National Gendarmerie , these French law enforcement groups evolved into mounted platoons that could be mobilized to nip rising violence before it escalated. During the s, Polish riot police were equipped with protective body armor, helmets, and shields. Although this equipment was bulky and impeded their agility, it was helpful against hard impacts from flying objects. However, numerous other 20th Century technological advancements delivered improved crowd control innovation.

The advent of tear gas , rubber bullets, pepper spray , water cannons, and tasers, among others, provided enough non-lethal deterrents to remove traditional firearms from critical crowd control situations.

This type of riot gear delivered potentially life-saving benefits when disgruntled citizens made the turn to an angry, violent mob.

Although clashes between law enforcement and protesters appear unsettling in the media, everyday people may want to consider that police officers are using the best non-lethal equipment and strategies available.