South African ATMs Are Weaponized with Pepper Spray

Posted by Alex in Crime & Law, Money & Finance on July 17, 2009 at 2:08 am

South Africa is apparently one really dangerous place. Case in point: ATMs there are weaponized – yep, weaponized – with pepper spray. What could go wrong? Apparently, this:

The technology uses cameras to detect people tampering with the card slots. Another machine then ejects pepper spray to stun the culprit while police response teams race to the scene.

But the mechanism backfired in one incident last week when pepper spray was inadvertently inhaled by three technicians who required treatment from paramedics.

Patrick Wadula, spokesman for the Absa bank, which is piloting the scheme, told the Mail & Guardian Online: "During a routine maintenance check at an Absa ATM in Fish Hoek, the pepper spray device was accidentally activated.

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Canadian Man Got Pepper Sprayed in the Face for Asking US Border Agent to Say Please

Posted by Alex in Crime & Law on March 6, 2009 at 4:31 pm

Desiderio Fortunato is a stickler for courtesy and respect. But when the Canadian man asked a US Border agent to be polite and say "please," he got something unexpected: pepper spray to his face!

He said he was questioned by a border officer who demanded he turn off his car and, when asked to make the request more politely, threatened to spray him with his pepper gun if he did not comply.

“I just felt I should stand my ground about it. I should not be treated like that. No matter what kind of position you are in, if you want respect you have to show respect,” he said Tuesday. “I asked him three times and when I didn’t turn the car off, because he didn’t say please, he pepper sprayed me … It was terrible. For half an hour or so I couldn’t see anything.”

Link (Photo: Smaku [Flickr])

 
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