Pittsburgh police training to use beanbags instead of bullets

PITTSBURGH — In the last year, police departments' use of force has come under increased scrutiny. Now, Target 11 has learned that a new crime-fighting tool is being introduced in Pittsburgh with the goal of reducing deadly police-involved shootings.

Officers are being trained to use 12-gauge shotguns that fire beanbags instead of bullets. Soon, every police officer in Pittsburgh will have access to one. Only Target 11 got video of officers training with the weapons.

The beanbag is a small cloth pillow filled with lead shot and fired from a standard shotgun. It's accurate up to 75 feet. A handful of departments across the country are already using then to subdue suspects.

Pittsburgh Police Chief Cameron McLay says all 850 officers on the force will undergo training. Every patrol officer will have the beanbag shells on them, but they will only be used in specific situation.

"If they're dealing with a situation with a person with a knife or another non-firearm implement, we've got a mechanism for dealing with them effectively," McLay said.

Chief McLay compared the guns to Tasers, saying "it doesn't look pretty, but it's sure better than shooting people."

Tim Stevens, the chair of the Black Political Empowerment Project, said he met with McLay to discuss less-lethal force after the shooting death of Bruce Kelley Jr. in January 2016. Kelley was drinking on Port Authority property in Wilkinsburg, which led to a confrontation with police.

Surveillance video showed police with guns drawn following Kelley and ordering him to drop a knife. Officers even used a Taser on him, but it failed because of Kelley's heavy jacket. Police eventually shot and killed him after he stabbed a K-9 officer.

The beanbag guns "may not be appropriate in every situation but in certain situations, and I think the Wilkinsburg case was a classic case where that could have worked," Stevens said. "The man would have been alive. Mr. Kelley would have been alive and the K-9 would have been alive."

Target 11 reached out to the Fraternal Order of Police in Pittsburgh. They released a statement, calling the use of lethal force "a significant safety benefit to officers, citizens, and suspects".

Cox Media Group