A member of the St. Louis County Police Department points his weapon in the direction of a group of protesters in Ferguson, Mo. on Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2014.
Police in Ferguson are testing a new “less than lethal” handgun attachment that would envelop a discharged bullet and blunt the impact inside of an orange “ping-pong” size ball.
The attachment, made by the California-based Alternative Ballistics, is known as “The Alternative” and is currently being tested by the Ferguson Police Department. If approved, the department plans to use the attachment with its 55 police officers, according to the Washington Post.
The “less than lethal” alternative is said to be powerful enough to knock someone down or even break a bone, but not strong enough to kill someone “even up close,” according to Alternative Ballistics.
The device would not be applicable in cases where there is no time to assess and apply the attachment. But in a great many cases where police use lethal force, there is time for instructions and commands to be given, meaning that there is also time for this “Alternative” attachment to be employed.
Watch the video below, to see how the company proposes law enforcement or military employ the product in real world situations.
When the device is attached to the end of a pistol’s barrel, and a bullet is discharged, it is then captured within the ping-pong-like ball, and blunted.
Christian Ellis, the chief executive of Alternative Ballistics, said that the product is “an air bag for a bullet,” designed to send “a shock wave of pain through the suspect.”
“Hopefully we can get it on the streets soon,” Ferguson assistant police chief, Al Eickhoff said.
“Is it going to work every time? Probably not . . . it’s not a catch-all. Every situation is different. But it gives an officer, if time allows — and that’s important, if time allows — a chance to save a life instead of taking a life.”