Bright idea makes police beam

It had to be powerfully bright, easy to operate and -- perhaps most importantly -- too small and light to be used as a dangerous weapon that could embarrass the Los Angeles Police Department and cost the city significant financial damages.

The result: The 7060 LED, what some consider to be the police world's most innovative -- and least harmful -- flashlight.

The product has drawn the interest of police agencies across the country, as some have inquired about buying the smaller flashlights -- for about $100 each -- for their officers.

And the flashlight's unveiling, which is scheduled today at police headquarters, is drawing top LAPD officials, including Chief William J. Bratton, as well as accolades from critics.

"It's a really important step in the right direction, and it's going to make a difference in how the Police Department deals with the community," said Ramona Ripston, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California. "We've always felt that a flashlight was not an instrument to beat people with. This new one will serve the purpose it was intended to."

More than two years in the making, the 7060 LED was born as a concept in the days after the high-profile beating of Stanley Miller by LAPD officers. The car-theft suspect had been chased to a Compton creek bed in June 2004. News footage that was shot from a helicopter and broadcast worldwide showed an officer striking Miller 11 times with his 2-pound, 2-foot-long flashlight.

Immediately after the beating, Bratton banned the large, metal flashlights, which until then had not been prohibited by the department as tactical weapons. Since 2002, at least 57 incidents in which police officers wielded flashlights as weapons against suspects had been reported.

But banning the flashlights created another problem: What would officers use on the street, where dime-store plastic torches normally tucked into nightstands in case of blackouts would be inadequate?

In November 2005, the LAPD asked manufacturers to create a flashlight like none other.

It could be no longer than 10 inches and could weigh no more than 12 ounces. It needed to provide the powerful illumination of a huge flashlight and be extra durable. And patrol officers wanted a special feature: a dual switch that would allow them to temporarily blind a suspect no matter how the flashlight was held.