Pepper Spray Is Approved for Harbor Patrol
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The Ventura Port District Commission has authorized Ventura Harbor Patrol officers to use pepper spray against attackers.
Harbor officials said oleoresin capsicum, known as OC or pepper spray, would be used by harbor deputies as a last resort to defend themselves.
The patrol’s 11 deputy harbor masters who have been trained to use the spray are otherwise unarmed. Harbor officials said violent confrontations at Ventura Harbor are rare, but deputies sometimes come across angry boaters and fishermen.
When the spray was tested in August, harbor deputies found that it was effective, but in one instance, there was a 30-second delay before the pepper began to take effect.
Pepper spray is becoming popular with police departments across the nation because, unlike Mace, it is effective in subduing people who may be oblivious to pain from other sources.
Earlier this year, police in Oxnard, Ventura and Simi Valley, along with the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department, adopted the use of the spray.
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