The most fascinating thing about the announcement by the Gardai yesterday that they have acquired 20,000 units of pepper spray to aid in the policing of future riots is – from where I’m sitting at least – the pointed declaration that the version of the substance that they will be using is “double strength”:
Gardaí order 20,000 units of double-strength pepper spray after Dublin riots sparked by far right
Frontline uniform gardaí patrolling streets expected to have stronger incapacitant spray before end of next monthhttps://t.co/WYnCRZpUhF
— Conor Lally (@conormlally) December 19, 2023
As a matter of pure science, there is of course no such thing as “double strength” pepper spray. As the most basic research will tell you:
The US federal government uses CRC (capsaicin and related capsaicinoids) content for regulation. CRC is the pain-producing component of the OC that produces the burning sensation. Personal pepper sprays can range from a low of 0.18% to a high of 3%. Most law enforcement pepper sprays use between 1.3% and 2%. The federal government of the United States has determined that bear attack deterrent sprays must contain at least 1.0% and not more than 2% CRC.
There is also, functionally, little to no difference between the effects of pepper spray on a person at 1.3% concentration or 2% concentration: Whichever it is, if you are hit clean in the face with it, you will be temporarily unable to open your eyes and you will feel like your face and lungs are on fire. A cynic might therefore suggest that the phrase “double strength” is a little bit of “we mean business, boyos” public relations language directed at two targets: On the one hand, the “far right” themselves, and on the other hand the assorted list of establishment commentators whose dearest wish it is to see the ”far right” getting liberally pepper sprayed.
In practical terms, though, one wonders what difference this acquisition will make to policing. It is, after all, the classic case of horses and stable doors. The Gardai were not prepared for the last riot, but, by jove, they’ll be ready for the next one. The Irish state will brook no competition, when it comes to effectively fighting the last war.
Anyway, Pepper Spray is one thing: But what follows is objectively much more concerning:
The committee heard the measures include arming public order gardaí with tasers, a less-than-lethal weapon that is currently only issued to specialist armed units. Initially 200 tasers will be procured.
There’s an obvious difference between the procurement of Pepper Spray, which is an obvious case of fighting the last war, and plans to equip public order Gardai with Tasers, which is a relatively obvious case of serious over-reaction. Tasers are currently only issued to specialist armed units for a reason: They are deployed as the second-to-last resort in dealing with somebody who poses an obvious and immediate physical threat to the safety of themselves or others. They are not a weapon to be deployed – or a weapon that to this writer’s knowledge is deployed anywhere else in the democratic world – for the purpose of “crowd control”.
Bear in mind that there is a difference between Pepper Spray and Tasers: Pepper Spray is marketed, correctly, to police forces as “less than lethal”. This is because Pepper Spray by itself is incapable of causing death – though deaths have occurred in the United States after its use, mainly through the improper use of choke holds and other policing errors.
Tasers, by contrast, are officially regard as not “less than lethal”, but “less lethal”. In 2018 alone in the United States, 49 people died after being shot with a Taser, because the electrical currents from the weapon disrupted their heart rhythm and introduced cardiac arrest. Deploying 200 of these weapons for the purpose of crowd control to the Gardai is a recipe for a disaster. We can be absolutely certain that if the PR reason for acquiring these weapons was to deploy them against literally anybody other than the hated and mostly imaginary “far right”, Ireland’s left leaning politicians would be in uproar.
But the state’s blood is up: It is likely that these weapons will never actually be used in an operational setting, but the point here is to send a message. Drew Harris and the gang are fed up, and they’re not going to take it anymore.
Of course, that just puts them on a par with the very rioters they are acquiring these weapons to suppress. It would probably be more in the country’s interest if the Government could address the underlying reasons for public discontent, rather than equipping the police force with Tasers to deal with public order issues. Alas, there’s no sign of common sense on the horizon, any time soon.