Sumner police have begun deploying a new weapon into their armory. They are officially dubbed Kinetic Energy Projectiles, but they might be better recognized by their informal name: beanbag riot guns.
The weapons fall into the category of less-lethal armaments, a classification that includes stun guns and batons.
KEPs consist of standard 12-gauge shotguns. The difference is that they are loaded with a small fabric “pillow” filled with lead shot that, when fired,  spreads out to distribute force over a wider surface area when it impacts the target. The intent of the gun’s use is to incapacitate, not kill.
Sumner police have already completed training in the use of the guns, according to an information release from the department.
Riot guns are classified as less-lethal, and not non-lethal, because they still carry a risk of death if a suspect is shot in a vulnerable area like the head or neck. Even a shot to the torso area carries the risk of death by cracking the ribs into the heart or other organs, causing internal bleeding. Officers are trained to target a suspect’s limbs to minimize harm.
The advantage is that a riot gun allows police to use less-lethal force at a greater distance than a stun gun, pepper spray or baton would allow.
Riot guns are most frequently deployed in a situation where a suspect is a danger to himself or others, but not such a direct threat that lethal force is immediately necessary. A 2004 study of impact munitions by the National Institute of Justice found that in 90 percent of studied cases of impact munition use, lethal force did not need to be used.
Because the weapons are essentially standard shot guns with less-lethal ammunition, they are marked so that officers know they are handling the correct weapon. During the period of the 2004 NIJ study, two deaths occurred because officers unintentionally used lethal force shotguns.
City comment on the implementation of the KEP guns is forthcoming, but not available at this time.