Aug 25, 2010, By Russell Nichols, Staff Writer
Govtech.com
If a fight breaks out at one Los Angeles County jail, inmates might get shot -- not with bullets, but a millimeter wave from a military-based device that penetrates the skin to heat up nerves.
Dubbed the Assault Intervention Device (AID), the 7½-foot-tall nonlethal weapon transmits a focused, invisible beam at a specified target, causing an unbearable burning sensation that forces individuals to recoil. The L.A. County Sheriff's Department unveiled the device this month at the Pitchess Detention Center for the launch of a six-month operational evaluation to see if the tool will help stop or lessen the severity of inmate assaults.
"We believe that technology can help solve problems facing the corrections community, including addressing issues of inmate violence," Sheriff Lee Baca said in a statement. "This device will allow us to quickly intervene without having to enter the area and without incapacitating or injuring either combatant."
The technology, developed by Raytheon Co., stems from a family of bigger, more powerful military solutions created for the battlefield. These larger versions work the same way, but on a grander operational scale, such as creating a protective zone to safeguard aircraft or using lasers to disrupt shoulder-fired missiles from combat helicopters. In L.A. County, the device will be installed near the ceiling in a dormitory that houses about 65 inmates at the Pitchess Detention Center's North County Correctional Facility (NCCF).
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