AmTec Less Lethal Systems

AmTec Less Lethal Systems (ALS) specialises in a wide range of “less lethal” weapons and equipment designed for use by police, law enforcement, security, prison and military personnel. Amtec makes products in a factory and training centre based in Florida, and employs around 50 people. In October 2018 ALS was acquired by a company called PACEM Defence, which the company said would allow “PACEM to expand into emerging markets such as the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), the Middle East and Africa (ME&A), East Europe, and Asia.” PACEM Defence itself is a subsidiary of PACEM Solutions. At the same time as the acquisition, PACEM appointed a former president of Chemring – Michael Queensbury - as the President of ALS.

On its website, ALS advertises the sale of a wide range of products, including “hydro-kinetic impact bags”, “Hornets nest” rounds (“producing blunt trauma and pain compliance”), bean bag rounds, 37 and 40mm rubber bullets, hand deployed stun grenades, reloadable impact grenades, smoke grenades, stun grenades. They also offer a number of different launchers for 37 and 40mm rounds, including the patented ALSTAC-37 single shot launcher for firing “less-lethal” ammunition including bean bag rounds and CS rounds.

ALS also offers a wide range of training opportunities for law-enforcement agencies. The training centre includes buildings designed to train in forced entry, hostage rescue, prisons, and a number of firing ranges. The company advertises training designed “to help reduce your agency’s exposure to product liability lawsuits”.

In September 2018 two workers were killed at the companies plant in Florida. A former worker submitted a complaint to the Florida Commission on Human Rights, alleging that she had been fired after warning managers about the risks objecting to repeated sexual harassment by her supervisor. The whistleblower alleged that safety equipment was not being used, and that too many pounds of flash powder were being stored in the building.