Phasers on stun in the LA jail!

The LA Sheriff is testing a energy beam weapon to subdue unruly prisoners. If it works out it will be fielded to other jails. This is something useful and intelligent....naturally the ACLU is screaming bloody murder on it... 

Thanks to Darren at RotLC for the article

LA authorities plan to use heat-beam ray in jail - Yahoo! News

LOS ANGELES – A device designed to control unruly inmates by blasting them with a beam of intense energy that causes a burning sensation is drawing heat from civil rights groups who fear it could cause serious injury and is "tantamount to torture."


The mechanism, known as an "Assault Intervention Device," is a stripped-down version of a military gadget that sends highly focused beams of energy at people and makes them feel as though they are burning. The Los Angeles County sheriff's department plans to install the device by Labor Day, making it the first time in the world the technology has been deployed in such a capacity.


The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California criticized Sheriff Lee Baca's decision in a letter sent Thursday, saying that the technology amounts to a ray gun at a county jail. The 4-feet-tall weapon, which looks like a cross between a robot and a satellite radar, will be mounted on the ceiling and can swivel....


...The ACLU said the weapon was "tantamount to torture," noting that early military versions resulted in five airmen suffering lasting burns....


The sheriff unveiled the device last week and said it would be installed in the dorm of a jail in north Los Angeles County. It is far less powerful than the military version and has various safeguards in place, including a three-second limit to each beam of heat.


The natural response when blasted — to leap out the way — would be helpful in bringing difficult inmates under control and quelling riots, the sheriff said....


..."The neat thing with this device is you experience pain but you are not injured by it," Osborne said. "It doesn't injure your skin, the beam doesn't have the power to do that."


He said the device would be a more humane way of dealing with jail disturbances. Unlike hitting inmates with batons or deploying tear gas, a shot from the beam has no aftereffects, he said.

Again, it's will cause pain without a lasting effect (e.g. broken bones) that a baton can cause.  And guys, we're talking prison here...