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From: davidsen@steinmetz.UUCP
Newsgroups: alt.cyberpunk,rec.arts.sf-lovers
Subject: Re: Future Police Speculations Needed
Message-ID: <7731@steinmetz.steinmetz.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 30-Oct-87 14:15:49 EST
Article-I.D.: steinmet.7731
Posted: Fri Oct 30 14:15:49 1987
Date-Received: Sat, 31-Oct-87 16:41:24 EST
References: <1463@haddock.ISC.COM> <1824@trex.rutgers.edu> <23473AE4@PSUVMA>
Reply-To: davidsen@crdos1.UUCP (bill davidsen)
Organization: General Electric CRD, Schenectady, NY
Lines: 75
Xref: hoptoad alt.cyberpunk:137 rec.arts.sf-lovers:8274

In article <23473AE4@PSUVMA> AE4@PSUVMA.BITNET (Jon Acheson) writes:
[ much previous discussion ]

|smaller than that.  The level of weaponry of the cops would, of course,
|vary as you go from the doughnut patrol to the state police, but some things
|you'd be sure to see include:
|     uzi- style assault rifles (already standard in Europe), with laser
|sights, would replace riot shotguns (equally effective, more selective)

One of the nice things about shotguns is that they (a) are short range
weapons and less likely to do major damage if a shot goes wild, and (b)
require a *lot* less aiming than a rifle. Part of the effect of the
weapon is the terror effect. A friend once described a sawed-off
shotgun: "It's a real crowd pleaser. You pull it out and they all go
'please, please!'".

|     Body armor for all officers, possibly reinforced with composite plates
|to stop _really_ nasty ammunition

While there's room for enhancement here, the laws of physics pretty much
prohibit a truly effective body armor which can be carried by a
reasonably mobile man.  A powerful projectile could be stopped, but the
energy would still have to go somewhere.  That somewhere would be into
the target.  It might not penetrate, but it would incapicitate for sure. 
I would expect the victim to be unable to take action for at least 4-5
sec, far too long in a fight.  There might be an upgrade of weapons,
though.  The same laws apply to firing a really highpower weapon, and
the launch platform would have to be heavier to lower the recoil. 

|     All ammunition would use caseless cartridges (solid propellant stuck on
|the back of the bullet instead of powder in a shell)

The technology is available today. Someone (Daisey?) made a 22 which
used no case, and ignited the propellant using air heated by
compression. Because propellants should not be exposed to heat, oil,
humidity, etc, you would have to use a disposable magazine instead. It a
neat idea, but not without drawbacks, and requires that the gun produce
a sealed chamber, rather than the casing. Anyone who's ever seen a
casing fail knows that a gun is not gas tight.

|     Laser guns only on large vehicles (they use up too much power!)

Postulate a capacitor, or group of capacitors. Instead of using a
bullet, you could discharge a cap to fire one "shot". Then you could
recharge instead of reload. For continuous fire, though, I agree.

|     S.W.A.T. teams going whole hog, becoming army units for all intents and
| purposes.

Doesn't *your* SWAT team have flamethrowers already?

|     Increased use of helicopters, possibly going over to VTOL aircraft, both
|to move units around in emergencies, and maybe replacing the patrol car.

How about hovercraft or other ground effects machines. They will travel
over much worse terrain than a conventional car. Even my 4X4 won't go on
TOP of a lake.

|     
|     Anti-terrorist techniques would also improve: in a hostage situation,
|fast-acting anesthetic gas would be shot into the room: before the thug can
|do anything, they are waking up in jail.

I'll leave it to a doctor to argue that one... I think that the speed of
action would be limited by the rate of delivery to the brain... neither
solution in blood, direct permeation of cells, or attack on nerve
channels would seem to work fast enough.

I think what you propose would only be accomplished by something direct
acting, like radiation or sonic stunning. How about something which
paralizes the voluntary muscles?
-- 
	bill davidsen		(wedu@ge-crd.arpa)
  {uunet | philabs | seismo}!steinmetz!crdos1!davidsen
"Stupidity, like virtue, is its own reward" -me