What’s an LRAD? Explaining the ‘sonic weapons’ police use for crowd control and communication

A Long-Range Acoustic Device (LRAD) was used by ACT officers in Canberra last week as part of the policing operation dealing with vaccine mandate protests, prompting a range of concerns and claims about the damage done by the device; composer, artist and sonic expert Lawrence English, a Research Fellow at Queensland’s Griffith University, explains the workings and limitations of LRADs.
At vaccine mandate protests in Canberra last week, police used powerful loud-hailing devices called Long-Range Acoustic Devices (LRADs) to address protesters.

While some protesters claimed they were injured by the ‘sonic weapon’, those reports are inconsistent with what an LRAD can really do. However, the claims highlight the importance of understanding new policing and crowd-control technologies such as LRADs, and how they are used.

The LRAD is a device that can put out a highly directional ‘beam’ of incredibly loud sound, up to 160 decibels (dB).

Lees verder via policinginsight.com