AUGUSTA, Ga. () – Richmond County Sheriff Eugene Brantley says it’s his mission to continue prioritizing the safety of the public and his officers.

One of his goals is for his deputies to be able to handle encounters without lethal force—and resolving conflicts before they turn deadly.

That’s why the Sheriff’s office spent Wednesday morning getting a demonstration from a company that specializes in making non-lethal weapons for law enforcement.

The company, PepperBall, is a Chicago-based company that has been making non-lethal weapons for law enforcement for more than 20 years.

Regional Sales Director Jake Miller says their product stands out from the competition.

“A lot of law enforcement weapons are impact, and we are just area saturation based, with the option to directly impact somebody,” said Miller. “So, we give negotiation that a lot of places can’t offer, and plus our product is so non-lethal: families just drop their kids off to play paintball on a Saturday, and our product is almost identical to everything they’re using.”

The Richmond County Sheriff’s Office joined other local law enforcement agencies for a demonstration of how PepperBall’s various products are used.

The Cobb County Sheriff’s Office is one of 5,000 across the country that currently has the technology installed.

CEO Robert Plaschke says the results have been positive.

“Mesa (Arizona) is the same population size, same number of officers. By their account, they’ve had 10 times where they did not have to use their firearms. So, 10 officer-involved shootings have been avoided because they’ve been able to deescalate the situation using PepperBall,” said Plaschke.

According to the Sheriff’s Office, data shows police departments using this training see 30 to 50% fewer use-of-force complaints, and lower injury rates for civilians and officers. 

Sheriff Brantley says it’s an option worth looking into, as many deputies are encountering more situations involving people with mental illness.

“They don’t fully understand what they’re doing, because they don’t have the mental capacity to process what’s actually going on. So, this is one of the ways we could still accomplish our goal of bringing some sense of normalcy to the situation,” said Brantley.

“All it’s intended to do is to change their thinking so that they stop doing what they’re doing—and they start to listen to what the police officers ask them to do, which is to simply engage them,” Plaschke said.

Sheriff Brantley says they have not installed the system yet, but it’s an option they will consider following Wednesday’s demonstration. 

“This is just the beginning phase,” Brantley said. “We’re just looking at this as being something else that we can use as opposed to using a tazor or going hands-on.”