THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS
By Tasha Tsiaperas
DALLAS — Some Dallas police officers will soon be toting “sponge guns,” weapons aimed at reducing the chances of a deadly officer-involved shooting.
Police booster group Safer Dallas Better Dallas announced Thursday that it plans to raise $250,000 to help pay for more than 100 launchers that shoot sponge pellets. The “less lethal” weapons are meant to disarm and incapacitate someone from up to 100 feet away, police officials said.
Being hit with one of the sponge-tipped bullets is much like being pinged with a baseball or hockey puck. The guns are designed to cause enough pain on impact to force a person to drop a weapon or to the ground without breaking the skin, making it safer for police officers to approach.
“If they get hit in a soft spot, they go down,” said Deputy Chief Jeff Cotner, who oversees the police academy.
The launchers, which will be bright yellow, would be dispersed among patrol officers throughout the city to help respond to incidents involving volatile or mentally ill people. The yellow coloring shows other officers and people in the community that police are trying to use less-lethal force.
The goal is to put as much space as possible between responding officers and a suspect who might be holding a weapon, such as a knife or screwdriver. Other less-lethal weapons, like Tasers, require that officers be within 21 feet of a person, making it more likely that an officer might have to use a gun.
