i know it's onlt half the article but it's worth a read anyway

 http://www.janes.com/security/law_enforcement/news/pr/pr040206_1_n.shtml

Baton rounds could be replaced by exploding chemical pellets in Northern Ireland.

The Northern Ireland Office revealed that officials are considering replacing the baton round currently in use with either a safer type of the same less-lethal weapon or chemical projectiles.

Government research, which is outlined in the report A research programme into alternative policing approaches towards the management of conflict, said the 'discriminating irritant projectile' releases a localised cloud of sensory irritant chemical that temporarily incapacitates 'a violent individual'.

Irwin Montgomery, chairman of the Police Federation for Northern Ireland, said: 'We will not give up the baton round until there is a satisfactory alternative for crowd control.

'This has to be seen as quite distinct from one-to-one subduing of people. It is about keeping people 50ft back, so that our officers do not get lumps of concrete dropped on their feet.'

He added: 'Nobody has yet come up with an alternative to the plastic baton round. When they do, we will happily use it.'

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Bradford Non-Lethal Weapons Research Project (BNLWRP)
 http://www.bradford.ac.uk/acad/nlw/
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publication taster:
An Assessment of Non-Lethal Weapons Science and Technology (2003)
Naval Studies Board

 http://www.nap.edu/books/0309082889/html/
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Malodorants and irritants are two types of nonlethal weapons designed to temporarily mark, incapacitate, or drive away persons from an area. Environmental assessments have been performed on the malodorants Bathroom Malodor and Who-Me?, and the irritants Oleoresin Capsicum (OC), CS-Mace, and CN-Mace.

 http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/munitions/non-lethal.htm

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