Capsicum spray used to subdue troublemakers can be lethal and can make a volatile situation worse, a leading law group says after a man doused with the spray died in police custody.
Hugh de Kretser of the Federation of Community Legal Centres says the spray can be useless against a person who is in a highly aggressive or agitated state as they do not feel the pain.
Instead of diffusing the situation, the spray then escalates the incident into a conflict and can lead to a higher risk of death, he says.
"People call it a non-lethal option, but that's completely inappropriate," Mr de Kretser said.
"We call it a less-than-lethal option because there is a risk of death."
He said capsicum spray was introduced as an alternative to lethal force, but reliance on the weapon has crept up to the degree where it figures in 73 per cent of documented scenarios where Victorian police use force.
His comments come as an investigation continues into the death of a 29-year-old man in police custody.
The man was found dead in the back of a police divisional van at Dandenong police station, in Melbourne's south, after he had been arrested and sprayed with the chemical device.
Victoria Police has released a statement saying the man was arrested after a report of a stabbing in which a victim was wounded in the arm.
Local police went to an address in Doonbrae Court in Noble Park.
They found a man nearby and arrested him after a brief confrontation in which officers used capsicum spray.
Ambulance crews checked the man and deemed he was fit to be transported by police, the statement said.
When they arrived at Dandenong Police Station the man was found to be not breathing.
Police tried rescue breathing and an ambulance was called, but the man could not be resuscitated.
The name of the man, from Noble Park, has not been released.
The cause of death is not known and an autopsy is expected to be carried out.
Detectives from the Homicide Squad are investigating the death with the investigation being overseen by the Ethical Standards Department.
