When we did it in September, we caught one suspect and nine motorcycles. The devices have turned out to be pretty labor intensive. Police have to corral the bikers, quickly lay down the contraptions and then chase the fleeing riders. And then there was the time the motorcyclists spotted the MAD plates and swerved at the last minute. Chalk it up as a great idea gone awry.
Paintballs are another.
Paintballs have been standard issue to officers in neighborhood police posts for several years. The cops are supposed to throw them at purse-snatchers or passing bosozoku. A search of newspaper reports reveals one incident this year in which a post office robber, holding a woman hostage at knife-point, was splattered when a security guard threw a paintball at his feet. An off-duty policeman later arrested the robber when he noticed the man's fluorescent red feet, the newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun reported. But such successes appear rare.