Why is water such a effective method of crowd control?
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It’s a pretty passive, non-lethal way of pushing people backwards, water weighs a lot and is hard to fight against
Also, moral, when people are soaked they are immediately uncomfortable, definitely easier to disperse people when they already want to go home
It can physically push people back from longer range with a lowish chance of killing them.
Also when people are wet they’re more likely to want to just go home. I know I would.
Agree with all below, but it’s also readily available and doesn’t hurt you back.
Something like tear gas requires an armory, people to go and get it, bring it to the place and deploy it, and of course it can be used back on your own forces.
Water is pretty much guaranteed to be where ever you want it, just tap in to a fire hydrant with a hose and you have a weapon. Considering the force and velocity of it, it’s also less likely the water will “waft back” into your own forces.
I imagine it plays on psychology as well as physical force.
Instinctually we want to dry off the moment we are wet and standing in the air. It’s the first thing we do when we get out of a body of water or a tub of water or a shower.
All that conditioning is hard to resist.
It works, but it is not necessarily the most effective method. Shooting people is probably a considerably more effective method. You eliminate some of the unwanted people, and will generally scare off the rest. As a general rule people prefer to be alive than dead.
Killing your own people is generally frowned upon on the international stage–especially if conspicuously done. Water can cause injuries, but is generally non-fatal, so is a preferable method (albeit less effective) of crowd control.
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