Bureau of Sabotage
What Is the LRAD Sound Cannon?
The LRAD corporation says that anyone within a 100 meters of the device’s sound path will experience extreme pain. The version generally utilized by police department (the LRAD 500X) is designed to communicate at up to 2000 meters during ideal conditions. In a typical outdoor environment, the device can be heard for 650 meters. The 500x is also capable of short bursts of directed sound that cause severe headaches in anyone within a 300-meter range. Anyone within 15 meters of the device’s audio path can experience permanent hearing loss. LRAD claims the device is not a weapon, but a “directed-sound communication device.”
This Is the Sound Cannon Used Against Protesters in Ferguson
The LRAD 500X-RE, the model that appears to have been present at the Ferguson demonstration, “achieves maximum sound projection and penetration beyond 2,000 meters” and can reach 149 decibels. The 500X-RE gives law enforcement “the ability to issue clear, authoritative verbal commands, followed with powerful deterrent tones.” And according to a report by the Economist in 2004, those deterrent tones cause immediate headaches and pain. Since LRADs can blast above a person’s 120-decibel discomfort mark, and their 130-decibel threshold for potential hearing loss, there’s no telling what the consequences of encountering a LRAD may be for protesters. One woman sued the city of Pittsburgh for permanent damage caused by an LRAD.