Security decree, Ice model pops up: new non-lethal weapons for law enforcement agencies

There are four technological directions that the government is called upon to examine.

The first are the Co2 launchers for self-defence: compressed air guns that fire capsules containing irritating chilli mixtures, capable of causing immediate but temporary effects such as strong inflammation of the eyes and mucous membranes, coughing and tearing.

Then there are the controlled kinetic impact systems (Sicc), 40mm calibre launchers using programmed deformation Sponge Grenade projectiles, designed to create distance and contain those deemed most dangerous.

The third category is that of selective remote markers: compressed air systems that launch capsules with indelible paint or UV tracer to detect and stop the leaders of violent actions at a later stage, limiting the use of lightening charges.

Finally, there are active stroboscopic defence devices, i.e. high-intensity LED systems to be integrated on the shields to cause temporary disorientation of protesters ready to attack.

The text does not stop at the four main tools. The agenda also calls for the evaluation of lightweight exoskeletal protectors, designed to support joints, absorb shocks and reduce the physical load on operators.

Added to this is the extension of the tactical side-grip baton, tonfa-type, to departments engaged in territorial control and public order.

The last piece is political and operational at the same time: the establishment of a specific fund for specialised training.

This is where Lisei's text becomes most sensitive and most controversial. Because at least two of the four instruments mentioned in the agenda directly recall the arsenal used by US federal departments - Ice - in the protests that broke out in American cities against the Trump administration's deportation operations.

Pepper guns, technically pepper ball launchers, are the first element of contact. The second is the 40 millimetre calibre launchers with Sponge Grenade bullets, which in operational logic are the twin instrument of the Sicc described in Lisei's text.

These are anti-riot weapons conceived as non-lethal, designed to act at a distance and to stop, contain or disperse without resorting to firearms. And this is precisely the strongest political point of the agenda: to introduce also in Italia a model of public order management based on intermediate instruments, placed between the truncheon and the gun.