Beanbag shooting is the most requested training class of the National Tactical Officers Association, and hundreds of departments around the country have ordered them. They work like regular shotguns, with a two-inch-square beanbag instead of a bullet inside the shell. But some suspects have been accidentally injured; others have escaped. In Cincinnati this fall, police tried to subdue a suicidal man by firing beanbags at his chest. The bags bounced off and the suspect ran away; cops later caught him the old-fashioned way, by tackling him.
Some law-enforcement officials think beanbags should be used only by highly skilled officers, such as SWAT team members, who get extra instruction in marksmanship and are taught to analyze a situation before deciding which weapon to use. ““Training is everything,’’ says Steve Ijames, a Missouri police captain who has taught dozens of beanbag classes. Otherwise, beanbag guns are just another idea that misses the target.
