New report slams Britain's spray happy police

POLICE OFFICERS are using CS spray at point blank range despite the damage it can cause, says a new report by the Police Complaints Authority (PCA). Some 425 people complained to the PCA about CS spray in the year to March 1999. One in three people reported CS spray being used at an unsafe distance of one metre.

The PCA says, "If CS spray is used at close range it may cause burns to the eyes and face." Every force in England and Wales except three uses CS spray.

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