The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) has acquired “several thousand” tinted strips for use on riot control helmet face shields, according to a November 25 2015 article in Police Oracle. If an officer is faced with a protester equipped with a laser pen, the officer can lower his or her head so they are looking through the “absorbing filter strip”, to reduce the glare and potential eye damage from the laser light.

The strip was developed by John Tyrer of Loughborough University, professor of optical instrumentation. He was commissioned by the Home Office and the PSNI who were concerned about increasing numbers of demonstrators aiming laser pens at police.

The light distracts officers and breaks their positions, according to Tyrer. The orange-tinted film is low-cost and simple to apply.

Tyrer demonstrates how light from a laser pen goes through the clear part of the face visor, causing glare and potential eye injury to an officer.


But if the officer tilts his or her head down so the laser goes through the strip, laser light is absorbed and does not present a hazard.

Testing by Public Health England, and real-life usage in Northern Ireland, showed the anti-laser strip to be “very effective”.

Tyrer has also suggested that the same film applied to glasses can protect pilots during takeoffs and landings from any laser activity that might be occurring.

From the Loughborough News Blog and Police Oracle

UPDATE JULY 27 2020: The visor strips are sold by Laser Optical Engineering Ltd. in the U.K. Pricing is £25 (USD $32) per strip in low quantities (<200). According to LOE, in field use it was found that direct attacks on police "stopped quickly" once protesters knew their lasers were ineffective and that laser attackers would be identified and arrested. LOE also sells anti-dazzle glasses. Pricing is £50 (USD $64) each in low quantities (<50).
     Additional information about laser use and mis-use at protests, and ways to protect eyes is on the Laser use during protests page.

Tags: UK, Northern Ireland, PHE, Police, Riot, Protester, Eye protection, John Tyrer, Photo

According to a January 8 2018 story in The Telegraph, “additional support will be offered to local authority port teams and border officials in order to help identify and confiscate the high powered lasers” that are said to be responsible for many of the over 1,200 incidents in 2017 when lasers were aimed at aircraft in Britain.

In addition, “new measures are also being introduced to tackle the sale of unsafe pointers, including more stringent testing.”

The move was supported by the British Air Line Pilots Association (BALPA).

It may help reduce the number of laser pen illuminations of trains (578 incidents were reported between April 2011 and November 2017) and eye injuries (more than 150 reported since 2013, mainly involving children).

Consumer Minister Margot James said the ministry is “going further than ever before” to police the sale of unsafe lasers.

The Argus quoted Professor John O’Hagan, of Public Health England’s laser and optical radiation dosimetry group.He said: “Over time we have become increasingly concerned about the dangers of growing numbers of unlabelled and incorrectly labelled high power laser pointers being bought by the public. It is tragic that we continue to see eye injuries, especially in children. Laser safety experts at Public Health England have worked closely with local authorities in stopping large numbers of these lasers reaching UK consumers. The extra protections proposed should help even further - if you have a laser and you don’t need it, remove the batteries and get rid of it.”

From The Telegraph and The Argus. The stories seem to be a result of the U.K. government publishing, on January 8 2018, a response to their fall 2017 Call for Evidence. The government response included the increased import enforcement actions.

See also the December 2017 news of a new U.K. law that provides stronger penalties for aiming at aircraft. The new import/consumer initiative seems to be part of the government thrust against illegal and overpowered laser pens.

Tags: UK, Import, Illegal sales, BALPA, PHE, Airplane, Train, Children

The U.K. government on August 12 2017 issued “a call for evidence into the regulation of laser pointers, including the potential value of retail licensing schemes, advertising restrictions, and potential restrictions on ownership in order to address serious public safety concerns.”

The government is concerned both with hazards from aiming laser pointers at pilots, drivers and train operators, and the potential for retinal damage among consumers when high-powered lasers are aimed into eyes.

They opened a consultation asking for suggestions for eight weeks, starting August 12 and closing at 11:45 pm on October 6 2017. A 23-page Call For Evidence PDF document is posted at the open consultation webpage. It includes background information on laser hazards and misuse.

There are 19 specific questions asked by the government, plus it is possible to respond with free-form text. Persons can respond via an online survey, by postal mail, or by sending an email.

The full text of the government’s press release is below.

From the UK government press release “Government crackdown on misuse of laser pointers”, the open consultation “Laser pointers: Call for evidence” webpage, and the call for evidence online survey webpage.
   Click to read more...

Tags: UK, Call for Evidence, BALPA, HPA, PHE