To prevent deadly officer-involved shootings, the Dallas Police Department has announced plans to begin using so-called “sponge guns” in lieu of more lethal weapons.

Dallas police Deputy Chief Jeff Cotner explained the program Thursday to reporters at Dallas police headquarters.

Police booster group Safer Dallas Better Dallas is said to be looking to raise some $250,000 to help officials pay for the single-shot gas launchers which shoot sponge pellets, according to the Dallas Morning News.

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The 14-inch barrel launchers cost around $800 a piece, and the foam rounds cost $25 a piece. The sponge guns have a range of more than 100 feet, and the rounds flatten at impact.

Hitting soft tissue is key to these launchers being useful. Getting hit with one of the pellets is not unlike getting beaned with a baseball or a hockey puck, the Morning News reports. The pellets don’t break the skin but they do pack a punch that will cause enough pain that a suspect might drop a weapon or cease any problematic activity.

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“If they get hit in a soft spot, they go down,” said Deputy Chief Jeff Cotner at the press conference.

The launchers could be in police hands by late summer, according to the outlet. Officers still need to be fully trained in how and when to use them.

The decision to use less-than-lethal force is increasingly becoming a topic of discussion for police forces around the country for instances that don’t call for deadly firearms or potentially deadly Tasers.

SWAT teams in Los Angeles County have purchased the sponge-pellet launchers.