LAKE FOREST, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--United Tactical Systems, developer of the world’s leading non-lethal professional and personal defense products, today announced that it will demonstrate its innovative, effective PepperBall® launcher defense system at the Texas School Safety Conference, June 10-14, at the Omni Bayfront Hotel in Corpus Christi, Texas.
In use for more than two decades by more than 5,000 law enforcement agencies, PepperBall® is now being deployed in schools, offering students, faculty, and administrators the same level of protection as professional law enforcement.
PepperBall® Protect squarely addresses a number of existing protection limitations, providing schools with a new way forward. These launching devices use compressed air cartridges to accurately propel small, non-lethal plastic projectiles up to a distance of 150 feet at a velocity of 350 feet per second. On impact, these projectiles burst open to create 12-inch diameter clouds of potent, debilitating pepper powder that incapacitates assailants. The powder painfully disrupts normal function of the eyes, nose, lungs, and central nervous system, halting the immediate assault but without causing permanent bodily damage. PepperBall® need not hit the body to be effective; the projectile can strike proximately and still overwhelm the assailant. The technology can also impact assailants even when they are not in the direct line of sight.
It is widely acknowledged that in the United States the risks to school safety have reached crisis levels. While everyone agrees there is an urgent need to protect students and faculty from violent attacks, the policies and procedures meant to ensure that protection are disparate, unorganized, expensive, and of questionable effectiveness. Elaborate high-cost surveillance, alert, and lockout systems are a part of the puzzle, but they fail to address the question of how to stop an assailant once he or she has entered a school environment. (Also, some school settings are outdoors, further complicating the lockout defense.) And arming personnel with lethal firearms presents a wide range of training, safety, usability and effectiveness concerns.
The PepperBall® Protect program places this technology directly into the hands of school security resources and in classrooms where it can be safely housed and is instantly available. The program combines the PepperBall® technology and training from company and local law enforcement officials, empowering users to operate this life-saving defense technology knowledgably and confidently. The program can be tailored to fit existing emergency and lockdown protocols.
“With everything we had planned and invested in for school security, we were lacking something that would give us the time and distance to be able to engage a threat at a longer range while we’re trying to evacuate and keep people safe,” said Michael Muldrow, Chief of School Police York, Pennsylvania. “With a firearm there is no room for error, and no second chances. Thankfully we came across PepperBall®, and the more we saw of the device the more it became clear that that’s what we needed to keep our community safe. It has all of the stopping power that you need without being lethal.”
Dr. Andrea J. Berry, York School District Superintendent, commented, “School safety is a top priority, and while we can’t discount safety, we have constraints and must make sure that we we’re fiscally responsible when looking for safety options. The PepperBall® Protect Program is effective and affordable. A big part of our decision-making process was the thorough training that the company provided, which made everyone feel comfortable using this life-saving device. When we deployed these in our schools, our safety officers breathed a big sigh of relief.”
According to Monte Scott, Director of Training at PepperBall®, “We believe the PepperBall® Protect program is a new way forward for schools. Our customers have been extremely enthusiastic about the technology’s effectiveness, cost, and ease of use. Because school staff, faculty, and security resources have such a high level of confidence with this technology, it can transform how schools protect themselves.”
A demonstration of the product will be held at the PepperBall® booth, and additional information including videos are available at the PepperBall® Protect Program website: pepperballprotect.com. Look for PepperBall® at school safety shows across the country in June and July, including Innovative Schools Summit, June 20-23 in Atlanta; 28th Annual National School Safety Conference, June 24-26 in Reno; Innovative Schools Summit, July 10-13 in Las Vegas; and 14th Annual National School Safety Conference & Exposition, July 23-27 in Championsgate, FL.
About PepperBall® The PepperBall® system originates in a 1996 DARPA program. PepperBall® projectiles are precision-manufactured with a proprietary outer shell and live active irritant compound engineered to burst on impact into a temporarily incapacitating cloud with no harmful impacts. PepperBall® products are used by thousands of agencies across the U.S. and around the world, and offer a true non-lethal alternative with an unsurpassed safety record over thousands of incidents spanning 20 years. The company delivers professional certified training for users, instructors and armorers. PepperBall® engages with military agencies, law enforcement, and Tier One industry defense and security partners to continue evolving safe, versatile, effective variants for non-lethal solutions and missions. PepperBall® is a registered trademark of United Tactical Systems LLC, exclusive manufacturer and worldwide supplier of genuine PepperBall® products. For more information about PepperBall® and its products, please visit www.pepperball.com.
