Apparently, Drugloos are already in use at prisons, secure hospitals, police stations and airports around the world. There are several different variations on the Drugloo theme, but get a load of the classic version pictured here. I don't know about you, but I would have trouble "performing" on this cold steel beast—but at least you are in control. Sooner or later, they are going to develop a toilet that sucks the evidence right out of you. Then you'll be sorry. [Drugloo via ChronicleHerald via Fark]

According to an account on Jeremy Bells' blog, he was hanging out at the office playing Call of Duty. Suddenly, the SWAT team was knocking on the door, and they sent more than just a few troops. Listen to this description of the event:

A co-worker said she saw at least 6 SWAT, 2 uniformed officers, 2 undercover and a chopper in the air. I've since been told that the surrounding streets were blocked off with five cop cars in total, two ambulances, and a dozen cops all taking positions of cover around the office.

In hindsight, the situation is pretty humorous. But if I were the police, and a someone sent in the highly convincing image above, I would probably panic too. I'm sure everyone left very happy that they didn't have to handle a serious situation.

As soon as the team found out the "weapon" was made out of Lego Bricks, everyone went home. All's well that ends well! As a bonus, the good people of Toronto can sleep well knowing that the SWAT team is very well prepared to handle this sort of situation. [CTV via Geekologie, Jeremy Bell. Thanks B3ND3R.]

The kid hung up mid-call, but officers went to his house and told him to listen to his parents. They didn't ask why the little shit was in trouble in the first place, but I'm pretty sure annoying emergency services won't get him back to MW2 any faster.

At least he didn't go crazy like that Japanese guy who doused himself with kerosene and torched his house after his mom threw away his Gundam action figures. [Chicago Tribune via Obscure Store]

Get this: the mother called police because her child was throwing a fit about showering before going to bed. When the officer arrived the girl was kicking and screaming on the floor and the mother suggested that she should be tasered. Instead of saying something like "I don't have time for this crap lady" and calling out child protective services, the officer picked up the girl and carried her into the living room. At that point the girl was reported to be "kicking violently" and one of those kicks struck the officer square in the balls. The officer then proceeded to taser the girl in the back, handcuff her and drag her off to the Western Arkansas Youth Shelter.

If that wasn't bad enough, Officer Bradshaw was suspended for a week without pay, not because he tased the girl, but because he failed to use the camera attachment to record the incident. The girl, on the other hand, will face disorderly conduct charges as a juvenile over the incident. Seriously, what is it going to take before law enforcement decides to rein in police abuse of tasers? Or can cops just go around tasering babies and puppies at will? [AP via True Crime Report via Digg Image via Flickr]

They'd taken a SCAR assault rifle, and put a "black box" inside the handgrip, networking it with the soldier ("with a kind of Bluetooth" according to the PR guy), and also to home base. The grip is a sealed, 10-year unit that logs the number of bullets fired and remaining ammo a la Aliens. They're also working on pairing to specific soldiers, perhaps using biometrics. Deactivating it if the Taliban get it, for instance? "In the near future," said PR man enigmatically.

The second part of the suite is the Moving Red Dot Fire Control Unit, which is a networked firing solution computer for the grenade launcher. You press a button next to the trigger to activate the laser rangefinder, then the computer calculates the solution, shows it to you in the LED display, then moves the red dot to aim it. That's right—laser-guided grenades. You are your own air support. [FN Herstal]

Apoorva Prasad is a freelance writer and photographer based in Paris, France, who covered the Milipol 2009 military-police expo for us. He has a thing for holo-scoped assault rifles, and sounds disappointed when admitting he's never been Tased.

To bypass the gallery format, click here. And no, this is not a holiday gift guide.

OSA PB2 "Less-Lethal" Multipurpose Pistol
Ever since I watched Rosa Klebb trying to kill Bond with her shoe-dagger, I considered the Russians the world experts in tiny hideaway weapons. The PB2 is an eeency-weeency little double-barreled "less-lethal" pistol weighing less than 7 ounces, firing anything from rubber bullets to flares to flashbangs. It's also got a safety and integral laser sights, which can be upgraded to near-Scott-Summers strength on order. Just don't practice on some poor country bumpkin like they did here. [OSA]

DrugWipe by Securetec
The DrugWipe is what makes the customs guys all-knowing. It's a tiny drugtest in a pocket. These plastic sticks can test up to four classes of illegal drugs in a single go. According to Securetec's PR guy, your saliva can give you away 12 hours after doing—or even just being near—cocaine, weed, opium, meth or whathaveyou. All the government grunts have to do is wipe your tongue. Won't open your mouth? They can also swipe your sweat and random stuff you're carrying. [Securetec]

Spy Watch
When I approached the director of a small security/protection company to ask about this normal looking watch, he wouldn't tell me a whole lot. What I managed to squeeze out of him is that although it's normal size, it also records audio and video. Near the 2 o'clock mark you can see a tiny lens, activated by buttons on the side. He wasn't the only cagey guy on the show floor—the guys in a nearby booth forbade me from taking pictures of their micro surveillance gear.

Trikke uPT
The Trikke uPT (ultralight personal transporter) was the funnest (and funniest) thing at the entire expo, and that's saying a lot when you're surrounded by a pirateload of guns. It's an idea so simple, the company's European director, the dark-suited Dutchman whizzing around on it, couldn't figure why his potential buyers would spend any money at all on the wayyyy more expensive Segways parked in the next booth. The uPT is a trike tricked out with a 250-watt electric motor and a 22-mile range lithium-ion battery; it weighs just over 37 pounds. And like that blasted Segway, there are plenty of models to choose from. [Trikke]

RiotBot by Technorobot
The RiotBot is billed by its makers as "the first robot for riot control." It uses a PS3-looking remote controller to zip this PepperBall-equipped metal beast at 12 miles/hour into all kinds of riots. The carbine fires at 700 rounds per minute and can be operated for 2 hours. [Technorobot]

MaxFit Gloves
It's usually next to impossible to do precise tasks with gloves on. Most of the time, your hands move around in the gloves, you can't feel what you're holding and you end up feeling as useless as a eunuch in a whorehouse. But the MaxFit workgloves are fanfriggintastic. They were the thinnest, grippiest workgloves I had ever worn. Their try-out test was having me grip an Armor-All lubed PVC tube, then try to twist it out of my hand—it didn't budge. Unfortunately, though the site advertises that it's good for construction, DIYers and "fall yardwork," I couldn't help but wonder what ulterior activities they were promoting it for at a security show. [MaxFit]

Piexon Guardian Angel
The Guardian Angel is a tiny plastic toy that looks like your niece's water pistol, but it's actually a lightweight, disposable two-shot explosive-propelled pepper-spray gun. The cartridges give it way more range than a spray can. Just don't carry it around in Scandinavia or other places where it's banned, or they'll arrest you for it (like they nearly did with me two months ago). By the way, it's interesting to note that the Piexon website names "liberal politics" as a chief reason for needing more protection these days. [Piexon]

Rimmex 288 Prototype Amphibot
The Rimmex 288 is a prototype amphibious robot that can roll straight into water—streams, rivers and lakes mostly, or just very muddy terrain—and then roll right back out again. Its single arm with 6 degrees of freedom can be swapped with whatever you like—from a gun to an x-ray, apparently, depending on your, uh, objectives. [ROV Developpement]

Apoorva Prasad is a freelance writer and photographer based in Paris, France, who recently covered the Milipol 2009 military-police expo for us. He has a thing for holo-scoped assault rifles, and sounds disappointed when admitting he's never been Tased.

Sure it's been the lead story on CNN and a big story on Gawker, but there just wasn't enough DIY mechanics or cellphone-related mayhem for us to pounce on this little gem. As a dad, I don't like seeing shit like this, but knowing there's a happy ending made it a bit easier to view. Oops, did I give too much away? [Gawker]

Hairband balladeers from the roaring '80s will be disappointed to learn that holes in the heart previously only able to be filled by some girl who is already dating some other guy can now be filled by a patch made of stem cells. As for the rest of us, we naturally assumed that if stem cells could give Christopher "Butthole" Reeve real Superman strength and build replica's of Shakey's Pizza, well, of course they can patch heart holes. [PopSci]

By March of next year, many British police officers will be handed a smartphone in order to maintain communication while increasing time in the field. It may work, assuming they block like a million distractions. Frankly, the only reason I wanted to even mention this in Remainders was to remind the world of that stroke of British police genius, Hot Fuzz, through Photoshop. It was that or an image of the gmilfy Prime Suspect herself, Helen Mirren. Did I choose wrong? [BBC via Engadget]

Science produces explanations great and small, and finally got around to one we've been waiting for since Heinrich "Coca" Cola invented the fizzy beverage: Why do we love the carbonation? Everyone used to think it was the exploding carbonation bubbles, but sure enough, it's the carbon dioxide itself—you listening, Al Gore???—that sends a message to open up the sour taste buds, delivering a genuine flavor change. Sure, it's not gadget news, but now, when you head out to the bars, you can order beer in the name of science. [Daily Mail UK]

As investigators searched the home for drugs, some drug task force members found other ways to occupy their time. Within 20 minutes of entering Difalco's house, some of the investigators found a Wii video bowling game and began bowling frame after frame.

While some detectives hauled out evidence such as flat screen televisions and shotguns, others threw strikes, gutter balls and worked on picking up spares.

Apparently, several members of the team played for around an hour during the raid—high-fiving, pumping fists and generally having a good time. Not surprisingly, some people have deemed this behavior "inappropriate." Maybe so, but the fact that they played the game does not invalidate the search and it doesn't seem to have wasted any taxpayer money. Hell, it's not like they were partaking in the dealer's inventory—these guys deserve a break now and then. [TBO via Fark]

The dispute was over Child Protective Services taking his daughter, and it wasn't until she was grabbed from him that witnesses say police jammed the Taser in his ribs. He fell out of the wheelchair, and in the scuffle his pants fell down. After being handcuffed, he was left exposed to the public for about 10 minutes. From all reports, there looks to be no suggestion of anything inappropriate going on with his daughter, so the hope is that the incident wasn't racially motivated.

But my question is: can police just Taser anyone they don't like now? The mounting police-brutality stories in our Taser archive suggest so. And that just sucks. [Merced Sun-Star via Daily Kos]

The idea is simple—police park this hulking monstrosity in pockets of high crime activity and just leave it there as a deterrent. It sticks out like a sore thumb, and if it's parked in front of your house the whole world knows your nasty business. Despite the fact that police don't spend much time reviewing surveillance footage, the truck has been remarkably successful. Law-abiding citizens have described the changes in their communities as like "night and day."

Law enforcement has been leaving empty cruisers around and setting up radar gun platforms for years now, and the Armadillo seems like the natural extension of the concept. Perhaps the fleet of Armadillos will expand and take on different, recognizable forms that tie into the offense—like parking an armored ice cream truck in front of the homes of known sexual offenders. [WSJ]

From the LA Times:

After repeatedly firing tear gas into the suspect's Volkswagen Beetle, officers pulled him out and placed him under arrest. His condition was not known.

Earlier post:
The standoff follows a "wild" freeway chase led by a young fellow who is wanted "as part of a federal inquiry into threats against the White House," which doesn't sound like the kind of thing you really want to be wanted for—hence, you know, the running from police.

Anyway: the bomb squad's robot has been conscripted to try to "coax the suspect out of the vehicle," possibly bringing him a cellphone and giving the police clues as to who might be in the car with him. This is pretty surreal, but I'd imagine this kind of thing—the use of robots in law enforcement, not dudes who don't like Barack Obama getting into protracted car chases—will be a common sight before too long. Good luck, fellas! (and you too, Johnny 5!)

UPDATE: Here's a live feed, from KTLA:
 
[KTLA]

The device is intended for roadside use by law enforcement agencies and includes a disposable plastic cartridge and a handheld analyzer. The cartridge has two components: a sample collector for gathering saliva and a measurement chamber containing magnetic nanoparticles. The particles are coated with ligands that bind to one of five different drug groups.

After 90 seconds, the device delivers its verdict on a color-coded readout. That's a lot of fancy technology to tell you that the naked, toothless guy trying to escape from the ghosts chasing him is probably high as a kite, but Philips, the company behind the tester, hopes to have the device in Europe by the end of the year. If it is successful, I would imagine that a US launch would not be far behind. [Technology Review via DVICE]

The plasticky firearms feature a laser sight but it doesn't seem much help, since those demonstrating the "color ball launchers" can't quite hit their slow-moving example targets. I mean, we've got non-lethal weapons in the States too, like beanbag launchers, rubber bullets and pellets, but they're called "non-lethal" because they'll only barely not kill you. These paintball guns would probably be approved by our FCC for use by children under the age of twelve. So you're welcome, criminals of Japan. Just wear an old shirt when you commit crimes and you'll have nothing to worry about. [Japan Probe]

And dear god, lady, have you not heard of Bittorrent? The cherry on top is that she was also charged with assault and battery. Pretty hard to put a fight up with that many movies in your panties, but I suppose it would nullify all hits below the belt. [newsok via Obscurestore]

In the case of one Ryan S. Smith, accused of shooting and a gas station robbery:

Smith was handcuffed and sitting on the floor of Niagara Falls Police Headquarters when he was zapped with the 50,000- volt electronic stun gun after he insisted he would not give a DNA sample.

He already had given a sample, a swab of the inside of his cheek, without protest the previous month. But police sent it to the wrong lab, where it was opened and spoiled. Prosecutors who had obtained a court order for the first sample went back to Sperrazza, who signed another order without consulting the defense.

To be fair, Sperrazza cited several precedents of her own to justify the ruling—including one case in Wyoming where it was deemed legal for the police to Taser a suspect to force him to open his hand for a search. The state's own Criminal Procedure Law also states that the use of reasonable force is legal to carry out a court order. Is refusing to give up a DNA sample on the same level as being violent? That is to say, should it be a Taserable offense? [Buffalo News via HardOCP Image via Flickr]

So this is what Lancaster residents can expect should they find themselves on the wrong side of the law. Watch your back Amish folks! Hit the following link for the full slideshow. [WGAL via Fark]

The judge himself wrote, "police are seemingly free to secretly track anyone's public movements with a GPS device." Unsurprisingly, police are calling the decision a landmark victory for public safety, while the ACLU is up in arms about the invasion of privacy rights. Essentially, the judge ruled that it's not a violation of the fourth amendment (search and seizure) because the information gained could have been collected in some other way (like surveillance).

The ACLU is expected to make a big stink, and the case in which the ruling came down (a stalking case) is expected to see appeal, but it'd be a pretty scary precedent to set if the ruling is upheld. [Chicago Tribune via Crunchgear]

The good news is that most of those found to be defective were older models—42, specifically, out of 50 found duds. But the majority of tasers in service in Canada and elsewhere likely have a few miles on them (I've seen the Wire, I know how police budgets work!), so this is still not good news.

The study is related to an ongoing investigation of the death of a man at a Vancouver airport in 2007, who was tased 5 times by police. Which has to be a rough way to go. So if you're in a situation where a tasing seems likely, make sure you check the model number in the cop's hand before you get hit with the juice! Yikes I say!

Last year, a different Canadian study found that one-third of those tased need medical attention afterwards. Coincidence? [Edmonton Journal via Fark, photo by Hermanturnip/Flickr]

It really is a glorious website—it's constantly updated, with a great design and meticulous, nicely presented statistics that makes the Smoking Gun look a decade behind the times. Seriously, I can find everyone who's committed a crime in the last 60 days in Hillsborough County under 5 feet tall in two clicks. Suspect your crazy uncle got booked for picking up Grettle, the neighborhood's call granny last week? Search by name and zip. Ridiculous, amazing, scary and marvelous all at once. Clicking on the scrolling list gives you a pop-up like this guy who obviously didn't get to fully enjoy his 4/20:
It's also got a semi-live feed of crime stories from the St. Petersburg Times, who runs the site using info pulled from the county sheriff's open website. Will the growth this kind of site put an end to police and sheriff's departments making their arrest stats and requisite mugshots so easy to mine and re-package? Or we are looking at a near-future where your drunken sprees be posted to your Facebook wall automatically by your friendly neighborhood police department? [Mugshots]

Two more cops arrived in an unmarked car, and moments later, Chad Hastings was freed. According to Hastings, the arresting officer muttered, "Get a new steering wheel lock, it looks like a bloody gun," and told him he was a "a lucky boy," since "any other cop would have had you at gunpoint."

I have to say, if there was a gun that looked just like the Club, it would probably be a space death ray gun, so I think I'd have probably done same thing. [Courier Mail via digg]