Police to test CS alternative tried by police

POLICE CHIEFS are investigating trials of a safer alternative to CS spray.

The decision by the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) follows pressure from the chief constables of Nottinghamshire, Northamptonshire and Sussex, who have refused to issue CS spray to their officers amid fears that it could cause lasting harm.

Acpo is planning to examine the effectiveness of pelargonic acid vanillylamide, an alternative incapacitant made up of a synthetic chemical related to pepper spray, which does not use the propellant MIBK.

A Home Office-commissioned report by scientists at Porton Down, leaked last year, warned that MIBK could be poisonous and carcinogenic.