TigerLight Non-lethal Defense System

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By PMA Staff
Courtesy of Police Marksman

With all the new non-lethal and less lethal technologies in the law enforcement arena, the TigerLight® Non-lethal Defense System seems like a relatively simple tool. Yet, there are many who feel that this Light With A Bite™ could be the most used non-lethal weapon in law enforcement. Think about it-a light is in an officer's hand far more than any other police tool-and if that light is also a non-lethal weapon, it could well be true.

One thing is certainly true. An officer does not normally approach a vehicle on an unknown risk traffic stop with a Taser, PepperBall gun, bean bag gun, less lethal shotgun or even pepper spray in his hand. Not that they aren't all great tools. They are and have proven highly effective in thousands of situations. It just isn't considered appropriate in many such situations to brandish a weapon. However, when most incidents occur,(at night) it is entirely appropriate for an officer to approach these same subjects with what appears to be a flashlight in his hand.

Another important characteristic of this unit is derived from the method of transitioning from illuminating and visually impairing a subject to spraying the subject. It has proven to have several unique and significant advantages. When the officer drops the head of the Tigerlight down to spray, the subject is still illuminated from the light's reflection off the ground, if within pepper spray range. However, during the split second between the moment the light is rotated down and the moment the spray hits the subject, he is virtually blind as his night vision has been taken away by the sudden change from intense light to relative darkness. As a result, the subject doesn't see the spray coming toward his face.

Because of this, he is unlikely to duck, cover, or even close his eyes, greatly enhancing the effectiveness of the pepper spray. If the light were still pointed directly at the subject at the time the spray was deployed, he would likely be turning his head away and covering his eyes, greatly reducing the effectiveness of the spray. Instead, in case after case officers have reported that when the light is dropped down for that split second, the subject actually tries to reacquire visual on the officer, leaning into the light and opening his eyes. The pepper spray hits him squarely in the face with eyes wide open.

In training exercises, length of temporary blindness ranged from between 4-6 seconds, during which time the subject was unable to reacquire his sight. A separate test was per- formed in near total d a r k n e s s in a comp l e t e l y e n c l o s e d structure.

The subject was dressed in black from head to toe. He was positioned approx. 10-12 feet from the light and the light was pointed directly toward the ground. The light reflecting off the ground made the subject clearly visible-also, the officer did not have to give up his gun hand. Ordinarily, the officer would not only have to completely give up his lethal force option, he would have to further exacerbate the situation by taking precious time to retrieve his pepper spray from his duty belt with one hand and get it into spray position. In the process he would telegraph his intentions, while giving the subject time to duck, run or attack. Additionally, many trainers have pointed out the significant benefit of having to use large-motor-muscle movement to transition from illuminating a subject to spraying him, thus reducing the likelihood of accidental spraying in stressful situations. If an accidental spraying were to occur, the spray would shoot up into the air, missing the subject and officer.

Prior to the introduction of the TigerLight, there was a dangerous gap in the force continuum. This concern was expressed by Morton Feldman, a former Vice President of The International Association of Chiefs of Police when he said "…an officer may only have a second to decide whether to go for the mace or the gun, and if he makes the wrong decision, it may be his funeral."

Without the Tigerlight, an officer must choose between lethal and non-lethal force. He can't hold his flashlight, gun and OC in his hands all at once, unless he's using the Tigerlight. Although many departments train their officers in the use of a flashlight as an impact weapon, some have switched to smaller, less powerful and less durable lights to avoid potential lawsuits. The TigerLight virtually eliminates that risk by making a lower level of force more readily accessible. Constructed of aircraft aluminum with Type III Hard Coat Anodized finish, the Tigerlight is 11 inches long and 23 oz. It has a six-cell nickel metal hydride power pack with no memory, gold plated circuitry, lamp module and battery pack impact damper, a secure car-mountable snap-in charger, wall transformer and car adapter. The two-ounce drop-in pepper spray canisters are available in most major brands including Sabre, First Defense, Body Guard, Freeze+P, Punch II and Fox Labs. The lights are equipped for either cone sprays or stream sprays, but can easily be changed by switching the nozzle. Foam and other types of sprays can also be used. An eight-hour training certification course is also available.

It's not difficult to see why the Tigerlight may be the most used non-lethal weapon in law enforcement. The Tigerlight has proven itself to be the answer to a problem that likely occurs every day-that is deciding what level of force and having the ability to transition to that level in a split second. With the Tigerlight in hand, an officer can keep lethal and non-lethal force options at the ready.

Sidebar 1:

"A traffic stop went haywire as they often do. It was my first evening with the TigerLight flashlight. The driver was to be taken into custody on drug charges, but decided to flee. With the TigerLight in hand, I was able to spray him. After a short pursuit, he jumped out of the car and fired at my partner at point-blank range, but missed due to the effect of the pepper spray. He wildly fired seven shots. We returned fire and the subject was incapacitated and arrested. I would never have been able to spray him had I been using my regular duty flashlight. Not only was time an issue. I would have had to use my gun hand to spray him."

Officer Richard Braskett Portland, Oregon Police Dept.

3:00 AM - TRAFFIC STOP

The passenger, a convict, reportedly told the driver he was going to kill the two officers. Braskett spotted the passenger's weapon and yelled "gun!" while retreating to cover. The driver kicked his door open. Not knowing who had the gun, Sgt. Teig sprayed the driver with his TigerLight as he was exiting the vehicle. Running toward the back of the vehicle, he drew his sidearm while spraying over the top of the vehicle, incapacitating the passenger as he exited with his weapon in hand. It was later determined that the passenger had intent to kill the officers, while the driver wanted nothing to do with that and was only trying to exit the vehicle when the passenger reached for the gun. It was fortunate that Sgt. Teig had immediate access to non-lethal force and did not have to shoot the driver.

Officer Richard Braskett & Sgt. Randy Teig Portland, Oregon Police Dept.

Sidebar 2:

EXPERT OPINION OF THE TIGERLIGHT
"In my opinion as a former police officer, use-of-force trainer, use-of-force expert witness, and as a trial attorney who defends peace officers in use-of-force cases-the option of having a device available in one hand which serves the purpose of providing illumination and pepper spray without requiring officers to acquire (in split seconds) an additional alternative is likely to reduce the need for higher levels of force. Additionally, in the split seconds typically available to officers in confrontations, the fact is that maintaining a free hand for the potential use of their firearm is an added bonus as opposed to initially requiring them to make a split second decision to reach for OC instead of their gun in rapidly evolving circumstances. Finally, the TigerLight is also useful as an impact device when officers are assaulted and thus provides three levels of protection for the officers."

Mildred "Missy" O'Linn
Manning & Marder, Kass, Ellrod, Ramirez LLP

TigerLight Contact:

Michael Teig
www.tigerlight.net
435-657-9529
mteig@tigerlight.net