In 2012 Christopher Howell, the police chief of the St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, was wounded in a gun battle with theft suspects.

Howell says one of the effects of that gunfight changed into that he became "a professional surgery patient." And whilst getting better from the 9 surgeries that had been required to deal with his injuries, Howell began inventing something that he believes has the ability to change law enforcement low-light operations and make officers more secure.

Howell's invention is the Tactical Throw light, a product to be able to quickly be to be had from his company Synergy light. The Tactical Throw light is a 3.5-inch-square, half-inch-tall, high-tech lighting system that Howell, a former DEA "door kicker," envisions being a crucial new tool in a diffusion of law enforcement programs.

The Tactical Throw Light is designed for use in the manner that the name implies. Officers can literally throw it right into a room before making entry to light up the whole room. Howell says the effect is very much like someone turned on a 60-watt light bulb. Also, he knows using the Tactical Throw Light will make it hard for criminals to target law enforcement by shooting at their flashlights.

And it doesn't matter how the light lands after it's been thrown because the device literally has a brain. "The Tactical Throw Light analyzes its positioning 50 times a second and figures out the best way to illuminate a room based on it's position," Howell says. He adds that the light can be programmed to activate on impact or as it is thrown. It also cannot be turned off without the proper sequence of button pushes, so the bad guys can't just pick it up and turn it off.

Howell says programmability is one of the key features of the tool because it permits Synergy light to personalize the Tactical Throw Light to satisfy the task needs of different customers. "We knew while it got into the field and officials began to train with it they might come up with thoughts on how to use it. It truly is why we placed a gaggle of hardware underneath the hood so we may want to write new code and drop it in there for them," Howell says.

Howell says officers have informed him they plan to apply the light for access illumination, constructing searches, roadway marking, helicopter landing, crime scene lighting, and officer identity via infrared LEDs in night operations. Some other fundamental use for the Tactical Throw Light is room clearing. Howell says operators can use the throw light to light up rooms when clearing and keeping them lit to designate that they've been cleared. "That way you're not walking back into a dark room," Howell says.

Officials are quick to grasp the flexibility of the Tactical Throw light, Howell says. "They see that it is a game-changer. It won't replace the flashlight. It's every other type of lighting that officers can carry, and it could potentially save their lives," he says.

The Tactical Throw light is expected to ship by means of the stop of January at a recommended retail charge of around $two hundred. Howell says he was adamant approximately keeping the rate within the same range as a very good tactical flashlight. "I failed to need to price man or woman officials out of the usage of this," he says.