Right before Thanksgiving, Tom was invited to Chicago to present to the Illinois Tactical Officers Association (ITOA). He was asked to relate his experiences during the 1999 World Trade Organization(WTO) Conference riots in Seattle. Tom was heavily involved in the preparation and training in crowd control and less-lethal options. Based on that experience, CRT LL has developed testing protocols to scientifically evaluate different tools.
Toms Speaks in Illinois
Chicago will host both the upcoming G-8 and NATO conferences which are going to be held for the first time in the United States at the same location. The presentation focused on the three core objectives for crowd control: Life safety, incident stabilization, and property protection. He covered less lethal considerations from the physiological and psychological viewpoint, including tactics protestors are using against police officers.
The ultimate goal, of course, is to utilize tactics and tools with the greatest effectiveness while limiting injury and liability of all parties involved.