LA cops fired 'less lethal projectiles' at suspects 133 times last year - and only subdued 37% of targets, report finds after probe after police used weapon in fatal shooting of bipolar man armed with plastic fork

A report into the LAPD and other police forces' use of non-lethal weapons has revealed that their pre-firearm usage is growing despite being only effective a third of the time.

The non-lethal weapons in question are 40-millimeter projectile launchers, which fire a foam shot the size of a coke can at 200mph. The LAPD fired them 133 times last year.

The report has come as a result of the killing of a bipolar man in a Skid Row warehouse in February where the launchers were used before a real gun was fired.

The launchers are under scrutiny due to the fact that some see their image as the non-lethal option being misleading as they can cause serious physical harm.

The non-lethal weapons in question are 40-millimeter projectile launchers, which fire a foam shot the size of a coke can at 200mph

The killing of Jason Maccani, 36, in Skid Row, seen here, prompted the report on the weapons 

The foam projectile is designed to cause enough pain to subdue the victim but not enough to inflict serious injury or kill them

The report was presented to the police commission on Tuesday and it found that the LAPD used the weapons 133 times last year.

Their pre-firearm usage by the LAPD has doubled since 2022. The launchers were used prior to a real police shooting nine times out of the 34 shootings in 2023 compared to just four times out of 31 shootings the year before.

This means the LAPD is putting in an increasing effort to avoid the use of a real firearm unless they have to.

However, out of the 133 rounds discharged only 49 were effective in subduing the subject. This means almost two thirds of the time the launchers didn't manage to do what they are designed to do. 

Therefore, supposing this percentage is consistent in the usages when a real gunshot was deemed necessary, one could estimate that around six of the nine cases they were used before a real shooting in 2023 were ineffective.

This would result in extra unnecessary pain for subjects that are ultimately going to be shot anyway.

Risk of serious injury can be minimized with accurate shot placement, and by incorporation of compliant or frangible materials, such as foam, into the projectile design that dissipate impact energy that would otherwise be delivered to the body.

The projectiles, despite being made out of foam, fire at such a speed they can cause damage

Normally, injuries from being hit by the projectile include bad bruises but can be more serious

However, they do still cause injury and even though it normally only leads to bad bruising, there have been more severe cases of fractures and broken bones.

Attorney Carl Douglas told the LA Times that officers have been known to both fire the devices indiscriminately into crowds during protests and to hesitate to use the devices in more routine encounters — creating scenarios where they resort to deadly force.

'Particularly in a mental health context and if the subject has a broom handle, for example — I have regrettably seen officers use deadly force in those occasions,' said Douglas, who has successfully sued local law enforcement agencies on behalf of people shot by 'less-lethal' munitions.

Other times, he said, groups of officers have simultaneously fired handguns and 'less-lethal' weapons — a trend confirmed by a Times review of nearly 50 LAPD shootings between January 2020 and April 2022.

Los Angeles has in recent years paid out millions of dollars in settlements to people who say they were seriously injured when LAPD officers fired 'less-lethal' rounds into crowds of protesters.

Houston is the only other police force that uses the weapons but they fired them far less in 2023 than the LAPD - only 21 times.

The killing that prompted the report was that of Jason Maccani, 36, who was gunned down in a Skid Row warehouse in February.

Police were called to the scene to a report of a man threatening people with a 'stick or pole.'

Authorities claimed Maccani 'charged' at them and officers fired the foam projectiles at him before then unloading a lethal round from areal firearm into his chest.