Sheriff’s Cars to Carry New ‘Beanbag’ Guns : Law enforcement: The ammunition is designed to give a less lethal alternative to deputies facing dangerous suspects.

Sheriff Sherman Block announced Wednesday the immediate deployment in all sheriff’s patrol cars of new beanbag-type projectiles fired from shotguns, giving his deputies an intermediate-range, less lethal weapon that may enable them to avoid many deadly shootings.

Block said that the device--which will strike a target with the force of a baseball line drive from a usual range of 10 to 15 feet--might have been used in lieu of the bullets that killed a Glendale man who lunged at deputies with a broken crutch in December.

The beanbags, actually about one-tenth of a pound of small lead shot inside a canvas covering, strike with diffused force, although a deputy who demonstrated their use for reporters Wednesday cautioned that if one hits someone in the head or neck, it could be fatal.

The projectiles are supposed to be fired at a person’s torso, where, Block said, they may cause a bruise “and take a person down” but will not penetrate.

“We’re always looking for alternatives to deadly force,” the sheriff said at a news conference before the demonstration of the new weapon, which is supposed to fill a gap between the use of pepper spray at close quarters and rubber bullets fired at longer range.

Block said the projectiles will not be used in county jails to break up fights but will be used in other situations. He addedthat the less lethal weapons are vastly preferable to hand-to-hand combat, in which deputies are frequently injured.

The demonstration by Deputy Dale Thompson indicated that the new weapon can do a lot of damage. The blue cloth that covered the torso of a dummy targeted in the firings was not torn, but nonetheless showed signs of being struck.

Deputies will still carry shotguns loaded with regular ammunition in case they are needed, Block said. The beanbag projectiles will be in a second shotgun in each patrol car.

He said every patrol car on every shift--250 to 300 in all--will carry the projectiles.

Some of the most controversial deadly shootings of recent years have occurred when people under the influence of drugs, acting bizarre or coming at deputies with knives or clubs, were shot as an imminent menace. Now, the sheriff said, in similar cases the new projectiles will be used.

Each of the tiny beanbags costs about $5. The Sheriff’s Department got many of the additional shotguns in its recent merger with the county marshal’s office, Block said.

In another development, Block said two prisoners who remain at large after a recent jail escape in the Santa Clarita Valley have been seen in Costa Rica and Mexico City.

If they are apprehended, extradition will be sought, Block said.