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Bean-bag shotguns prove to be useful Local cops use weapon for third time this year By MARK FREEMAN Small bags of beans fired from shotguns are becoming the new weapon of choice among Medford police officers hoping to subdue armed suspects without putting the suspects, or the officers, at greater risk of injury or death, authorities said. A Medford police sergeant early Sunday twice fired a shotgun fitted with thumb-sized bean-bag bullets to capture a knife-wielding man allegedly threatening neighbors in a south Grape Street neighborhood, police said. Sunday's bean bags stunned and knocked down Allen Franklin Chadic Jr., who also dropped the 16-inch carving knife he was wielding before officers pounced on Chadic and arrested him without further incident, police said. It was the third time since receiving the guns in December that Medford officers have used the bean-bag rounds on an armed suspect, and also the first where they worked effectively, Medford police Lt. Mike Moran said Monday. And likely not the last, say officers who see the new weapon as a good tool when swinging a baton is too dangerous to the officer and when deadly lead bullets are not necessary. "It offers another option before we go to deadly force," Moran said. "It gives us the effect of a baton but the distances for officer safety. "You'll be seeing more and more uses of it," Moran said. Continued use of the bean-bag rounds, and the ensuing publicity, could eventually serve as a deterrent, said Central Point police Sgt. Steve McGee, who fired bean-bag rounds in a recent incident. Armed suspects who see the bright orange bean-bag shotgun might think twice about ignoring commands to surrender, McGee said. "It may be a psychological factor, where they may say, `I don't want any piece of this. I'll give up,"' McGee said. "At least, that's what I hope for." Used for years in California, the bean-bag rounds are small stuffed bags fired from a standard Remington 870 shotgun painted bright orange. The bags are designed to strike and stun their victim so police can pounce on them, and they usually leave a welt or bruise on their victim. In classroom and field training, officers are taught to fire into a person's solar plexus, leg or arm, Moran said. They are considered accurate to about 30 feet -- far enough away that officers can use them without putting themselves in danger, Moran said. For instance, police are taught to stay 21 feet away from a knife-wielding suspect for safety, Moran said. That's too far for safely using a baton, he said. That was the case at 2:43 a.m. Sunday, when police were called to 133 S. Grape St. for reports of a man threatening neighbors with a carving knife. After finding Chadic with a knife in front of his house, police twice shot him with bean-bag rounds, ending their confrontation with Chadic's arrest on two counts of menacing, Moran said. "They had the desired effect this time," Moran said. Police were not that lucky in their previous two bean-bag shootings. Moran and McGee fired bean-bag rounds at Cole Younger Smith before officers shot and killed him Dec. 28 after a standoff in front of the Oregon State Police office in Central Point. On Feb. 21, Medford police Sgt. Gary Bates used bean-bag bullets and pepper spray in a failed attempt to subdue a knife-wielding man who broke into an East Medford house and was seen running through backyard fences. Medford has five such shotguns, and police hope its 85 sworn officers complete the training by May, Moran said. Bean-bag use falls under the different departments' use-of-force protocols as more serious than a baton, but less serious than a conventional firearm, Moran said. All 16 sworn officers in Central Point have been trained to use the bean-bag weapons, McGee said. The department has one bean shooter and two more on the way. Today's Edition : News | Sports | Business | Weather | Tempo | Classifieds Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA