Riot ID
About
History
You can follow tear gas history back to the Battle of Frontiers in France, 1914. World War One had begun. German forces were in place behind barricades and within trenches along the county’s eastern border [1]. The chemical weapon built for war at the turn of the century has since become a common headline in the contemporary press.
For example, Hungarian law enforcement officials used chloropicrin to deter refugees traversing EU borders during September 2015 [2]. Whilst across the Atlantic, police agencies are the focus of a new Justice Department report that heavily criticises the inappropriate use of riot control agents in Ferguson [3].
RiotID
Riot Control Agents are allowed under the Chemical Weapons Convention for domestic law enforcement purposes and are used around the world.
Knowing how to identify riot control weapons can help you medically respond, monitor human rights violations, challenge use of force abuses, and identify manufacturer and country of origin of these devices.
The RiotID project consists of a series of guides to understanding different riot control weapons and their effects, as well as a board game about documenting evidence on use of force violations.
For support with identification send your images to @RiotID using the hashtag #RiotID.
Credits
RiotID is a project by the Civic Media Hub at Bournemouth University and Omega Research Foundation with graphic design by Open & Honest.
Talks
We deliver training, workshops and talks. To invite us to speak contact info@riotid.com.
Inspiration
This project was inspired by Bahrain Watch, Forensic Architecture, The Cruel Designs Exhibition at Dismaland and citizen journalists around the world.
Copyright
The content on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license.
Guides
Riot ID
Riot Control Agents are allowed under the Chemical Weapons Convention for domestic law enforcement purposes and are used around the world. With this RiotID guide you can begin to identify these weapons. Knowing how to identify riot control weapons can help you medically respond, monitor human rights violations, challenge use of force abuses, and identify the manufacturer and country of origin of these devices.
Download the guides
Download social media images
Guides
Tear Gas and Pepper Spray
From Brazil to Brussels, Thailand to the Occupied Territories of Palestine, tear gas and pepper spray are used on civilians. Banned from war but permitted for use by the police, these so-called ‘less lethal’ weapons are marketed as safe and humane. However, they have resulted in injury, death, and human rights violations. Anyone can be hurt by tear gas or pepper spray. People at greater risk include the young, old, asthmatics, epileptics, and those with a weak heart or lung complications.
Download the guides
Download social media images
Guides
Impact Munitions
From Northern Ireland to France, Venezuela to the Occupied Palestinian Territories, police use impact munitions against peaceful protesters. Today police officers and security forces all around the world use a variety of different types of impact munitions. These so-called ‘less lethal’ weapons are marketed as safe and humane. However, they can be fatal, and their use often violates human rights. Badly designed and poorly made impact munitions are extremely dangerous.
Download the guides
Download social media images
Guides
Dissemination
All of the guides are designed to be printed on A4 paper. To ensure correct orientation on both sides select ‘long edge binding’ in your print settings. Also, ensure that you print at 100% scale, do not ‘shrink to fit’. We like to print onto coloured paper to help them stand out.
The guides can easily be folded to comfortably fit into your pocket and open like a book.
Share this website on social networks to help us get RiotID in the hands of people who need it. Enhance your posts with one of our ‘social media images’, which can be downloaded from each of the guide sections above.
Board Game
Human rights violations are occuring around the world. You are part of a humanitarian team monitoring excessive use of force by police against protesters.
Your mission is to work as a team to expose useof force violations before your time is up.
Download available soon
