(FORTUNE Magazine) – Law enforcement agencies will have greater access to cutting-edge military technology as the Defense Department, other agencies, and various government contractors turn over some of their previously top-secret weaponry. The goo gun in the photo, for example, which fires a foam that gets sticky when it hits the air and traps its target in a taffylike substance, was designed to protect nuclear arsenals from intruders. Now police departments are looking at it as an alternative to using lethal force on somebody armed with a knife, say. Another such gun, designed for indoor use, would disorient violent suspects by flooding the area with soap suds. These Tom Clancylike gadgets, many on display at the Washington Hilton in late June, may be showing up at a police department near you within the next couple of years. Other such devices: -- A so-called remote consultation information system. Originally designed for military combat, it has a minicamera that could be worn by a beat cop to transmit crime scenes back to headquarters and a strap-on monitor to alert medics if the wearer is injured. -- From the Drug Enforcement Agency comes an automated system that logs in an arrested person's mug shot, fingerprints, and record, reducing booking time by 80%. -- An acoustical system that pinpoints the source of gunfire, a product of Alliant Techsystems. -- Westinghouse is marketing a substance detector that picks up traces of illegal drugs in seconds, eliminating days of waiting for lab results. -- An airbag, developed by the Energy Department's Idaho National Engineering Lab, inflates in the back seat of a car to restrain the passenger. This device will doubtless catch the attention of parents. --J.M.G.