The water cannon of the naughties
Suppose you were in charge of keeping order at a public event. Suppose a group of people fuelled by righteousness, alcohol, vigilante-ideals, anger or passion decide to take action. The power of mob mentality and the speed at which things can turn sour is frightening. I've seen to chaotic disturbance of group-think transform orderly people into destructive drones. What techniques might you employ to quell the outburst?
(photo credit: AP Photo/Jorge Sanchez)
Perhaps, instead of using the physical force of a water cannon to subdue people, there was a way to non-violently incapacitate people in a line of sight from your current position. Think that might be an option worth pursuing?
I think the Chinese might be on to it. They've just picked up a snazzy new LRAD - Long Range Acoustic Device, also known as a directed sound weapon. These devices are capable of aiming a non-lethal but awfully disruptive sound wave in a certain direction. Perhaps it is just coincidence that the Chinese are also hosts to a rather public event in a couple of months, but I suspect that in this decade we'll see the water cannon relegated to a position where it is considered particularly primitive.