How to Keep Order Without Killing

FOUR at Kent State. Then six in Augusta, Ga. and two in Jackson, Miss. All dead because of the indiscriminate --and unnecessary--use of mass firepower by armed officers and troops trying to control destructive, or disorderly crowds. In each case a basic tenet of all enforcement agencies was violated: apply the minimum amount of force required to accomplish the objective. In an age of mounting civil dissent, many more such situations seem inevitable, raising the question: How can mobs be controlled without killing anyone?

The avoidance of death in most cases is simple: hold fire. Except to stop snipers, shooting to kill can rarely be justified. Even then, the Army, National Guard units and police departments instruct their men to first locate the source of the sniper fire, and to return it only by the pinpoint, one-shot-at-a-time marksmanship of a trained rifleman. Laying down a fusillade, Army military police are told, "accomplishes nothing constructive and creates hostility among innocent bystanders," even if none are wounded or killed. A sniper can often be silenced by surrounding his position and forcing him out with tear gas.

One of the clearest general guides to handling civil disorders is that of the U.S. Army. It places "full firepower" at the end of six escalating levels of force to be employed in riot situations --and then only when failure to use it would lead to the "imminent overthrow of the Government, continued mass casualties, or similar grievous conditions." The first need, the Army emphasizes, is to present a strong "show of force." By that is meant the presence of enough soldiers to convince a crowd that it can be overpowered. Even then, progressive steps for displaying force are urged. They range from keeping rifles in their slings, to fixing sheathed bayonets, then removing the sheaths, to finally placing one round of ammunition in the chambers of the rifles.

The next level of force includes various riot formations, a general principle of which is to always leave a mob a clear exit as troops advance to clear an area. New York City's Tactical Patrol Force has effectively used wedge formations in which officers advance to divide a crowd with nightsticks held low.

Shoot to Wound. The U.S. Army advises use of fire hoses as a next step, if needed. Tear gas, now widely used as almost the first step by many agencies, is considered a fourth-level tactic by the Army. After that comes the use of fire by selected marksmen, shooting at well-defined targets, and finally volley fire. Even then, such fire should be aimed low to wound, rather than to kill.

After the race riots of 1967, the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders urged that a crash program of research be undertaken by the Federal Government to develop nonlethal weapons, which could more effectively bridge the gap between a strong show of force and the use of guns. It cited as one approach the practice of arming some Hong Kong police with guns that fire wooden pegs. Other possibilities would be the use of tranquilizer darts and the spraying of slippery foam. Nothing much has come of such research; yet the need for something more effective than tear gas and less deadly than bullets is increasingly an urgent necessity. Meanwhile, what seems to be needed most is better training, especially for young National Guardsmen, and more discipline among all lawmen who must contend with frightening and maddening confrontations in streets and on campuses. Many lives could be saved if armed officers were to follow conscientiously the general principles outlined in a booklet all Ohio National Guardsmen are expected to carry in their pockets when on riot duty. "The keynote of all operations aimed at the curtailment of civil disorder is restraint," it says. "The well-trained, disciplined soldier is capable of dealing successfully with civil disorder if he and his leaders use sound common sense."

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