I have heard of light-ray weapons that cause permanent blindness. Likewise sound intensifiers and heat rays. The days of the mass urban riot will be replaced with guerrilla style hit and run attacks. Wonder if you could make a shield using some sort of mirror.

Yeah, various armies and AFs use blinding lasers and dazzlers, and so does certain MILSWAT police and jail corrections personnel. Civilian is for crowd control while military is to blind tanks, helos, aircraft, and enemy personnel. The V-RO is odd because it seems more of a military designed weapon than any tac gear accessory. Police all over the US are angry over Ferguson and other Black demonstrations, so this is part of their plan to take back control using high tech. The other weapons you mention Patrick are area denial weapons, sonic and microwave used in Somalia, both Gulf Wars, and in Afghanistan. It was the Italians who first used blinding lasers as "non-lethals" and experimental microwave weapons used over distance in Iraq may be part of what turned into Gulf War Sickness; either that, or burning Iraqi armor hit with DU rounds. Hard to say...

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/73/PHASR_Rifle.jpg/440px-PHASR_Rifle.jpg