Tear Gas and Law Enforcement

If you've ever needed to disburse a violent mob or flush out criminals or the criminally insane holed up in an abandoned building, then this is a film for you. This training film for police candidates provides a fascinating look at the use of what it calls "chemical munitions" over half a century ago. Produced by the Lake Erie Chemical Company, it demonstrates their various products, including basic tear gas grenades, jumper-repeater grenades that produce three bursts of gas from different locations and a variety of projectiles that can be fired up to 100 yards with a special gas gun. The company even makes its own gas masks to allow people to move freely through contaminated areas (one wonders if they made training films for people involved in political demonstrations). Made before the days of Vietnam War protests, the film provides a deadpan, positive view of crowd control back when such issues were treated in strict black and white terms, when the words "There is a Lake Erie grenade or shell for every problem" were considered comforting, at least for those who considered themselves always on the right side of the law.

By Frank Miller