Brian Drohan

Baton rounds originated in the British Empire; wooden rounds were prepared for use in Hong Kong in the 1960s. With the #NorthernIreland Troubles, officials looked for a “non-lethal” weapon with more deterrent effect (i.e. more dangerous) than tear gas. 2/

But they thought wooden rounds were too dangerous for use against fellow white people, so they developed rubber rounds designed for “precision” use against riot leaders/instigators. Problem was, rubber billets weren’t accurate enough for this. 3/

So British security forces started frequently firing them generally in the direction of crowds. Such indiscriminate use led to serious injuries and deaths. A supposedly more accurate plastic round was introduced in the early 1970s. 4/

But to improve accuracy required increasing the round’s velocity. Faster round = harder hit. So still very dangerous. Again, indiscriminate use of these rounds continued to inflame tensions between civilians and security forces. 5/

So “non-lethal” riot control weapons tend to have counterproductive effects in terms of community-police relations. One big difference btwn Northern Ireland and current US protests? There WAS an armed, separatist insurgency in NI—there isn’t one here! END.

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