Noise May Help Fight Crime
Ultra-powerful loudspeakers designed for the military could help police officers faced with rock-throwing rioters or an armed suspect refusing to leave a house. The Long Range Acoustic Device, which was designed by San Diego-based American Technology, was created to allow soldiers and sailors to hail approaching vehicles or ships while still hundreds of yards away.
The circular loudspeakers, which are about three feet in diameter and eight inches thick, can also emit a powerful, nerve-jarring tone that can be used break up a mob or force drug dealers from their hideout. A laser projector can be placed on top of the loudspeakers to flash in the eyes of a driver or a boatman who does not stop when hailed.
The system can also work with another company’s digital decoder that can translate commands such as “Put down your weapons” into 50 languages.
Police in Santa Ana, Calif., have seen what the system can do in action, having used a unit on loan in June to order people out of a house for which they had a search warrant. When the occupants of the house did not come out, officers turned on the LRAD’s alert tone–an excruciating, high-pitched warble–and panned the narrow sound beam back and forth across the house. “It drove 10 suspects out of the location,” said Ryk Williams, American Technology’s project manager.
Abstracted by the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center(NLECTC) from the Daily News of Los Angeles (09/02/05) P. AV1; Bostwick, Charles F.
