Phoenix police officers are moving away from traditional pepper spray and carrying a newer water-based irritant designed to stop a threat without creating the same lingering chemical cloud that can affect officers, bystanders, vehicles and enclosed spaces long after the initial spray.
FOX 10 Phoenix reporter Brian Webb said the department is using a product called REPULS, which is made mostly of water and contains no pepper. The department began introducing it to patrol officers in 2023, and by the end of 2024, every new recruit going into the field was carrying it.
The change reflects a longstanding problem with conventional pepper spray: it may work against the intended target, but in a tight space it can also spread far beyond that person and leave everyone nearby coughing, burning and trying to get away from the contamination.
Traditional Pepper Spray Can Affect Everyone Nearby
Lt. Marcos Rosales of the Phoenix Police Department told Webb that the department wanted an option that would be easier to control in crowded or enclosed environments.
Traditional aerosol pepper spray can form a large cloud that remains in the air, meaning an officer who uses it in a room, vehicle or crowded public space may unintentionally expose other officers or members of the public.
“If it’s sprayed in a closed environment or around others, it could affect the public, it could affect other officers,” Rosales said, adding that this was not the outcome the department wanted.
That problem is not difficult to understand. A less-lethal tool may be intended to bring one person under control, but if several innocent people are also temporarily incapacitated, the tool can create a second problem while officers are still trying to resolve the first.
Phoenix police believe the newer spray reduces that risk because it behaves differently from the aerosolized pepper products officers have carried for decades.
REPULS Uses A Water-Based Formula
Webb reported that REPULS is approximately 70% water and does not contain pepper.
Mike Kleber, vice president of training for Crotega Safety Solutions, the company behind the product, said the formula is designed to avoid the cross-contamination associated with more traditional sprays.
“It’s not a pepper spray, so it doesn’t have any pepper in it,” Kleber said. “There’s no cross contamination.”
According to the manufacturer, the ingredients are drawn from the food and feed industry and are meant to cause severe irritation to the eyes without producing the same respiratory and skin effects associated with conventional pepper spray.
The idea is not to make the experience mild. The product is still supposed to hurt enough to interrupt aggressive behavior and give officers time to gain control, but the effect is intended to be more concentrated and much shorter-lived.
That balance is what makes the product interesting from a policing standpoint. A less-lethal tool is only useful if it can actually stop someone, but the fewer secondary effects it creates for everyone else, the easier it may be to use safely.
A Volunteer Described It As “Needles In The Eyeballs”
To demonstrate how the spray feels, Webb visited an Arizona Rangers training session in Scottsdale, where Master Sergeant Tony Alfonso volunteered to take a direct spray to the face.
His description made clear that the product is not comfortable.
“No respiratory issues,” Alfonso said. “It’s really just needles in the eyeballs when I open it.”
He compared the sensation to being tattooed in the eyes all at once, an unpleasant description that also highlighted one of the product’s intended differences: the pain was concentrated in the eyes rather than accompanied by the intense breathing problems often associated with conventional pepper spray.
The demonstration showed that REPULS can still create enough immediate discomfort to stop a confrontation, while avoiding the same broad respiratory reaction.
For officers, that could make a meaningful difference in situations where they need someone to stop fighting but do not want to fill a room, patrol car or crowded sidewalk with an irritant cloud.
Recovery Can Take Only Minutes
Kleber said the biggest advantage may come after the spray has already done its job.
Because the solution is mostly water, a quick rinse can remove much of the irritant, allowing the affected person to recover far more quickly than someone exposed to standard pepper spray.
“Within less than six minutes, he can be back in the police car,” Kleber said. “We can go to the police station, interview this person. We don’t have to go to the hospital.”
He added that officers also avoid contaminating the patrol vehicle during transport.
That is an important operational benefit because traditional pepper spray can follow a suspect everywhere after an arrest. Residue can remain on clothing and skin, spread into the back of a patrol car and continue affecting officers during transportation and booking.
A faster recovery period may also reduce the need for additional medical attention in cases where there are no other injuries or complications.
Phoenix Police Have Been Phasing It In For Years
Webb said Phoenix police began rolling out the new spray to patrol officers in 2023.
By the end of 2024, every newly trained officer heading onto the street had REPULS on the duty belt.
That gradual rollout suggests the department was not treating the product as a short-term experiment, but as a replacement for a tool that had been standard equipment for years.
Police departments routinely have to weigh effectiveness against unintended consequences when choosing less-lethal equipment, and pepper spray has always presented that tradeoff. It is compact, inexpensive and effective in many situations, but its tendency to spread can make it awkward in exactly the kinds of close environments where officers often work.
A water-based formula that causes intense but short-lived eye irritation could offer a practical middle ground if it performs consistently outside training demonstrations.
The Goal Is A Safer Way To Stop A Threat
Phoenix police said the purpose of the switch is not to make use-of-force encounters painless, but to reduce the unnecessary harm that can extend beyond the person officers are trying to control.
Traditional pepper spray can burn the skin and affect breathing for a long period, while REPULS is designed to create a sharp, immediate reaction that fades quickly after rinsing.
Webb’s report showed that the department sees the change as a safer way to handle dangerous situations without giving up the ability to stop someone who is actively resisting or threatening others.
That distinction matters because less-lethal tools are often judged not only by whether they work, but also by how much additional disruption they create afterward.
If officers can stop a fight, avoid exposing bystanders, transport someone without contaminating a vehicle and move on without a hospital visit, the practical advantages are easy to see.
For Phoenix police, the shift away from traditional pepper spray appears to be less about replacing one painful tool with another and more about narrowing the effect to the person officers are actually trying to stop, while reducing the fallout for everyone around them.
Raised in a small Arizona town, Kevin grew up surrounded by rugged desert landscapes and a family of hunters. His background in competitive shooting and firearms training has made him an authority on self-defense and gun safety. A certified firearms instructor, Kevin teaches others how to properly handle and maintain their weapons, whether for hunting, home defense, or survival situations. His writing focuses on responsible gun ownership, marksmanship, and the role of firearms in personal preparedness.
