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"...research suggests that having pepper spray could lead to higher numbers of violent incidents." "About 45 percent of U.S. police agencies now allow pepper spray to be used in response to passive resistance...."

The police officer who casually maced a handful of Occupy Wall Street protesters at the University of California, Davis, is a retired Marine who has twice been lauded for his police work. His use of pepper spray earlier this week has brought into question how much force is too much force.

Conservatives Side With Pepper-Spraying Thugs

A police officer accidentally used pepper spray instead of a fire extinguisher on a man who set himself on fire Wednesday in downtown Portland, police said.

"Two studies conducted in the Netherlands showed that pepper spray was useful for subduing violent subjects, but actually caused non-violent situations to escalate into violence" ... "‘The use of spray may not necessarily be an alternative to force, but provides officers with options to use more force — perhaps unnecessarily. In other words, if it is there, they will use it.’"

"She did nothing to warrant him putting a gun -- a pepper-spray Taser gun -- to her forehead and pulling the trigger, causing her right eye to explode and causing severe nerve damage in her left eye to the extent that she's not been declared totally blind," Grimes said. Clark allegedly fired the spray from 12 inches away using a JPX device, which shoots spray at speeds of 400 miles per hour and is supposed to be used at a minimum distance of five feet. Clark's attorney Kasey Castillo released a statement to KTLA saying her client quote: "is remorseful but innocent."

The self-styled super hero ran in to break up a fight between a small group and a large group. He used pepper spray to fend off the fighters after he was attacked. He's been charged with four counts of assault.

Here's some choice quotes from the article:

Police spokesman Jamieson said Jones' actions were overkill. "If you see something that warrants calling 911, call 911. You don't need to dress up in a costume to do that."

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Phoenix Jones aka Benjamin Fodor aka mixed-martial arts fighter "Flatttop" arrested early Sunday for assault. The City Attorney's Office is reviewing the case. Police say Fodor, 23, used pepper spray on a group of men and women early Sunday near the Alaskan Way Viaduct. The incident was caught on video. A spokesman for Phoenix Jones, said it appears the officer who arrested Jones had an agenda, and that when Jones said he was assaulted the officer laughed at him. He also said police have refused to take statements two people who were following Jones.

When he left his home in Ohio to visit his brother in Fort Myers, Fla. in March 2009, Nick Christie was already breaking down, physically and mentally. His wife Joyce was concerned about his well-being. Rightly so. By the end of the month, the grandfather of two, whose only prior run-in with the law was a DUI in the 1980s, would be strapped to a restraining chair in the Lee County, Fla. jail, coated with a thick layer of pepper spray, smothered in a "spit hood," then finally taken to a Florida hospital where, two days later, he would die.