3) Documenting any technical features of the equipment, which may be available on the weapon or restraint itself or on the packaging—including, for example, details of the characteristics and composition and length of the electric shock produced, or the strength of the chemical irritant / tear gas, and details of chemicals (both active agents, such as CS, and chemicals used as solvents or carriers for the active agent). —may be helpful in discussions of proportionality and medical implications. Such factors are relevant for discussions of necessity and proportionality (for example, as noted above, is it strictly necessary to use, say, an unusually high strength chemical irritant spray, when weaker formulations may be effective and available), can help inform discussions around whether current policy and practice is appropriate and may also help in assessing medical implications, and in identifying less harmful options. 4) Investigating the regulations and policies surrounding the issue and use of equipment, and investigating whether, in practice, the equipment has actually been i) issued, and ii) used by officials. 5) In addition to following up with the prison authorities directly, additional ways of following up include: • Approaching the country of origin (including trade control departments) and the manufacturer directly. • Reading relevant procurement, tender and award documents for further details of the equipment in use, the manufacturer and supplier, the number of units ordered and the dates ordered and received. • Checking whether national or regional trade controls in the country of origin prohibit the export of this equipment, or require a license. • Using the further sources of information listed in the last section of this research to assist with researching particular topics. Section 3: Pocket book resource This Section provides a practical tool to assist monitors working in this area. It consists of a one page guide or aide-memoire, suitable to take into places of detention, with key observations and questions that can usefully be posed at different locations in the detention centre (e.g. when in the armoury, when on tour of the prison, when speaking to detainees and staff). This aims to relay, in a user-friendly format, some of the key questions and observations listed in Parts 1 and 2. However, given space limitations it does not include the full list of questions and observations detailed within, so should ideally be consulted together with the rest of this Practical Guide. 22