Report on the Seventh International Law Enforcement Forum - Minimal Force Options and Less-Lethal Technologies

• NCJ Number: 235123
• Date Published: October 2009
• Length: 121 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2004-IJ-CX-K040
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Conference Material
• Award: Less-Lethal Weapon Technology Review and Operational Needs Assessment

Annotation

The Seventh International Law Enforcement Forum on Minimal Force Options was co-hosted by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) and the National Policing Improvement Agency (UK). The forum was organized and conducted by the Institute for Non-Lethal Defense Technologies (INLDT) of The Pennsylvania State University. The workshop was held in Bramshill, UK on October 13th and 14th, 2009.

Abstract

The Forum addressed issues related to best practices in technology support, crowd control and management, terrorist threats and media management related to large scale public event operations. Delegates from represented countries, disciplines and police departments also examined less-lethal weapons (LLW) and issues in part of a scenario-based review. There were four distinct workshop sessions in which the delegates participated: 1) Technology Support during Major Events; 2) Crowd Management Issues; 3) Less-Lethal Response to Terrorist Threats; and 4) Proactive Media Management for Major Events. The major recommendations centered on: 1) Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), 2) Exploiting Open Source Information, 3) New Communications Technologies, 4) Mutual Aid Agreements, 5) Operational Guidance, 6) Expanding LLW Technology Options, 7) Enhanced Policing Capability at Major Events, 8) Unanticipated Threat Scenarios, 9) LLW Responses to Terrorist Actions, 10) Communicating the Choice of Policing Model, 11) Community Consultative Groups, 12) A Joint and Crisis Communications Strategy, and 13) The Use of Common Terminology. The content of this report is not intended to represent any policy and/or official position of ILEF, police organizations, research agencies, The Pennsylvania State University, the governments of the delegates in attendance, or any of their affiliated agencies. Although the conclusions and recommendations are based upon a general consensus of the participants, they do not necessarily reflect the views of all of the participants and/or the agencies which they represent.