FT259

Thus far used primarily against Somali pirates and Iraqi insurgents, the Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD) is described as both a long-range communications device and a tool capable of broadcasting “powerful deterrent tones”. Despite such euphemisms, to many the LRAD is a sonic weapon and it is frequently described as an acoustic or sound cannon. The LRAD saw its first documented tactical use in America on the streets of Pittsburgh, employed against demonstrators ‘unlawfully’ protesting the G20 summit. Although it had been deployed previously (most recently in San Diego at a town hall forum) it had remained unused.

However, on the evening of Thursday 24 September the LRAD was used to both broadcast orders demanding protest­ors clear the streets and as a noise generator blasting the assembly with a directed wave of squealing, high-pitched car alarm howl-and-flutter (the LRAD can exceed 150dB). According to a press release issued following the G20 by the American Technology Corporation, the LRAD was “succ­essfully deployed last week by Pittsburgh law enforcement agenc­ies to support their peacekeeping efforts”. The same press release suggested the device supported the “resolution of uncertain situations” and could potentially prevent “the use of deadly force”. Brief clips of the LRAD were broadcast on American television (and even appeared on satire programme The Daily Show) while unedited footage was posted on the file-sharing site YouTube by citizen journalists and activists (clips here and here). 

With demonstrations at every G20 and G8 summit viewed as a challenge for law enforcement, and following the nightmarish and disastrous practice of ‘kettling’, used by the British police to contain demonstrators in London, Pittsburgh became the showcase for demonstrating new crowd-control techniques. As city police bureau chief Nate Harper stated about the LRAD, “[O]ther law enforcement agencies will be watching to see how it was used. It served its purpose well.”

While many of the major news sources focused on the protests, arrests and the level of police response, at the time of writing little serious discussion about the use of the LRAD has appeared. The bigger issue, scarcely touched upon by the mainstream media, is that mobilisation of the LRAD could become standard practice. In its noise-generating capacity, it could cause hearing damage, with individuals all having different degrees of sensitivity and responding to extreme volume accordingly (the threshold of pain falls anywhere between 100 – 140dB depending on the subject). More perturbing are allegations that the device could cause an aneurysm, although, like similar concerns over other ‘non- lethals’, this appears unlikely to effect future deployment and usage.

What is certain is that sonic technologies are increasingly commonplace, and yet the possible physical side effects, alongside the ethical and social ramifications of using devices to ‘coerce’ a ‘disorderly’ populace into following orders, seem to have aroused little debate.