[washingtontimes.com] A
senior government official with the U.S. Department of Homeland
Security (DHS) has expressed great interest in a so-called safety
bracelet that would serve as a stun device, similar to that of a police
Taser®. According to this promotional video found at the Lamperd Less Lethal, Inc. website, the bracelet would be worn by all airline passengers (video also shown below).
This bracelet would:
• Take the place of an airline boarding pass
• Contain personal information about the traveler
• Be able to monitor the whereabouts of each passenger and his/her luggage
• Shock the wearer on command, completely immobilizing him/her for several minutes
The
Electronic ID Bracelet, as it’s referred to, would be worn by every
traveler “until they disembark the flight at their destination.” Yes,
you read that correctly. Every airline passenger would be tracked by a
government-funded GPS, containing personal, private and confidential
information, and would shock the customer worse than an electronic dog
collar if the passenger got out of line.
Clearly the Electronic
ID Bracelet is a euphemism for the EMD Safety Bracelet, or at least it
has a nefarious hidden ability (thus the term ID Bracelet is ambiguous
at best). EMD stands for Electro-Musclar Disruption. Again, according
to the promotional video, the bracelet can completely immobilize the
wearer for several minutes.
So is the government really that interested in this bracelet?
Apparently so.
According to this letter from DHS official, Paul S. Ruwaldt
of the Science and Technology Directorate, office of Research and
Development, which was written to the inventor whom he had previously
met with, Ruwaldt wrote, “To make it clear, we [the federal government]
are interested in . . . the immobilizing security bracelet, and look
forward to receiving a written proposal.”
The letterhead, in case you were wondering, is from a U.S. Department of Homeland Security office at the William J. Hughes Technical Center at the Atlantic City International Airport, or the Federal Aviation Administration headquarters.
In another part of the letter, Mr. Ruwaldt confirmed, “In addition, it is conceivable to envision a use to improve air security, on passenger planes.”
Would
every paying airline passenger flying on a commercial airplane be
mandated to wear one of these devices? I cringe at the thought. Not
only could it be used as a physical restraining device, but also as a
method of interrogation, according to the same aforementioned letter
from Mr. Ruwaldt.
Would you let them put one of those on your
wrist? Would you allow the airline employees, which would be mandated
by the government, to place such a bracelet on any member of your
family?
Why are tax dollars being spent on something like this?
Is this a police state or is this America?
UPDATE: Lamperd Less Lethal Inc., the Canadian company that designed the EMD Safety Bracelet, has responded to the controversy as follows:
We wish to clear up any misconceptions regarding the EMD Safety Bracelet for Airline Security.
The bracelets remain inactive until a hijacking situation has been
identified. At such time a designated crew member will activate the
bracelets making them capable of delivering the punitive measure – but
only to those that need to be restrained. We believe that all
passengers will welcome deliverance from a hijacking, as will the
families, carriers, insurance providers etc. The F-16 on the wing-tip
is not to reassure the passengers during a hijacking, but rather to
shoot them down. Besides activation using the grid screen, the steward
/ stewardess will have a laser activator that can activate any bracelet
as needed by simply pointing the laser at the bracelet – that laser dot
only needs to be within 10 inches of the bracelet to activate it.
* * * * *
UPDATE: From CheifBo in the comment section
I would like to inform all interested in the truth about Lamperd’s involvement in this project [EMD safety bracelet].
I have personnally been involved in the research and development of
state of the art training programs and weapon systems with Lapmerd Less
Lethal for the past eight years and have found them to be of the
highest of integrity and concern for human life and the preservation of
peace. Their mission is to develop and distribute the best products in
the world when it comes to Law Enforcement, Security and Military
applications within use of force. Having been a sworn law enforcement
officer for nearly 27 years and a police trainer in Use of Force
Management since 1993 I have observed alot of devices and gimmicks that
have come and gone as the catch all in securing America.Lamperd agreed in principal to assist in the development of this
product for the patent holder [inventor]. Once this is established,
then more research is placed on the actual application of the device.
We conduct our training hands on, we do not farm it out as others do.
So before we are ready to place a product on the market we know what it
is expected to do and how it is expected to perform. We also go through
great lengths to put in place a training program that will school even
the novice in safely using any product used in applying force in any
situation. I think alot of the readers have jumped the gun when it
comes to this issue and this certain product. Lamperd is a publicly
traded company that keeps its shareholders informed on its latest
products and projects. I admire them for this and so do thousands of
police, military and security personnel from all around the world that
we have trained. Please feel free to peruse their internet site for
continuing updates on products and its mission at
www.lamperdlesslethal.com and be safe out there.
