I think there is a second part to this conversation that may vary by culture. The author walked away from the exercise trying to empathize with future recipients. You could also walk away with the mentality of I survived this, so others should too, and you’re weak if you can’t.
I did consider that this mentality might be an outcome of the exercise too. I think that's partly inevitable and some will always fall on the other side but in some ways the mentality was also guided by the constant underlying principles being taught throughout the training.
So it works best in combination with culture and protocols that support the empathy line.
So maybe the title should be Pepper Spray Your Officers and Make Them to Consider the Suffering of Others. Empathy is the real key here, and valuing it.
They won't empathize though... or rather they will empathize, cruely. They will see the suffering they have created, know what they created, and still laugh about it back in the locker room.
We got gassed too, and indeed that was the reasoning on that exercise. I think it's a matter of the surrounding principles and teaching. With riot control weapons, it might have both effects.
Can't generalize my mentality and expect all to think the same way, but I'd be _more_ comfortable spraying in a situation that looks messy knowing that it likely won't kill, but I'm certainly _less_ comfortable literally spraying into the air because it saves time.
This is an important point. Furthermore, it might just make an officer anxious to use it on somebody else so they can be on the delivering end rather than the receiving end.
