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I.Introduction
In2004,theNewYorkCityPoliceDepartment'sDisorderControlUnitpurchasedtwo(2)LRAD(LongRangeAcousticalDevice)model3300devicesfromtheAmericanTechnologyCorporationofSanDiegoCalifornia.TheNYPDpurchasedthedevicesinanticipationofusingthemattheRepublicanNationalConventioninNewYorkCityinAugust,2004'TheLRADisamachinethatusesinnovativetechnologytopropelsoundovergreatdistances.Althoughitcanbethoughtofasa loudspeaker ,
it
actuallyworksdifferentlyandmayalsobeusedasan areadenial deviceforcrowdmanagementpurposes.TheLRADisthesizeofalargetrucktire,butmuchthinner,wighsapproximately451bs,andcanbemountedonafreestandingtripoddeviceoronavehicle.Somenewermodelsareportableandcanbecarriedinonehand.TheLRADwascreatedpartiallyinresponsetothe2000terroristattackontheUSSCole,aU.S.NavydestroyerwhichwasattackedwhileinportinYemen.Theattackwasperpetratedbytheuseofasmallboat,ladenwithexplosives,whichrammedintotheUSSCole,killingseventeensailorsandinjuringdozensmore.Inadditiontohaving loudspeaker capabilities,thedevicecanalsobeused,inaspecialmode,topropelpiercingsoundathigherlevels(asmeasuredindecibels)thanareconsideredsafetohumanears.Inthisdangerousrange(above120decibels),thedevicecancausedamagetosomeone'shearingandmaybepainful.
It
isthistechnologythatdevicewasdesignedforaUSSColeattack-typescenario.IfmountedaboardaNavyship,thedevice'sloudspeakercouldbeusedto warnoff'boatsthatcometooclose.Ifthosewarningsareignored,thedevicecouldbeusedtosendoutsoundatadangerouslyhighlevelcausingattackerstotumaway,oratleast,tocausepain/hearingdamagetotrytorepeltheattack.-TheLRADdevicespurchasedbytheDisorderControlUnitweredeployedduringtheRepublicanNationalConventionin2004,foruseasloudspeakers.OnedevicewasmountedonamarkedNYPDHumveetruck,andtheotheronamarked3-wheeledscooter.
It
wasthoughtthatthescootercouldbeusedinsituationswhereit'smaneuverabilityintrafficandinparkswouldallowforuseofthedeviceinareastheHUMVEEcouldnotgetinto.Bothdeviceswereusedspor.adicallyinManhattanatprotestsoutsideoftheconventionsite(MadisonSquareGarden),includingthoseintheUnionSquarearea.Inallcases,thedevicewasusedasaloudspeakertomakeannouncementstothecrowdofprotesters,withmixedresults.NoinjuriesweresustainedasaresultoftheuseofeitherLRADattheconvention.LRADdevices(newerversions)wereusedsuccessfullybythePittsburgh,(Pennsylvania)PoliceDepartmentduringtheG-20SummitConferencein2009.
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II.Technology
Soundtravelsinwaves,andgenerallyspreadsinalldirectionsfromasource,intheformofawavefront.Asthewavestravelfartherfromtheirsources,theyspreadevenwider,effectivelyloweringthevolumeofthesound.TheLRADdeviceproducessoundthroughtheuseofpiezoelectrictransducers,ratherthanthetraditionaldiaphragmusedbyloudspeakers.Thisallowsagreatervolumeofsound.TheLRADalsouseddirectionalsound,inthatitfocusesthesoundwavesinaspecificdirection.WhilethesoundbeingemittedfrominfrontoftheLRADmaybeveryloud,itissubstantiallyquieteroutsidethe cone ofsoundproducedbythedevice.Infact,someonecouldstandnexttothedeviceorjustbehinditandhearthenoisebeingemittedatmuchlowerlevelsthansomeonestandingseveralhundredfeetaway,butwithinthe cone ofsoundbeingemitted.
Someexamplesofsoundlevelsforcomparison,indecibels(dB):
WhisperNormalspeechTelephoneDialToneVacuumCleaner
Sustainedexposuremaycausehearingloss
Subwayat200feetMotorcyclePowerSawSandblasting
Painmay
begin
Shotgun
Shorttermexposurecancausepermanentdamage
LRADsustainedatmaximumpower/audio
Eardrumbreaks
30dB60dB80dB85dB
90-95£IB
95dB105
110
115
120-125dH
120
140dH146dH160dB
Sources:www.osha.gQYwww.esoundproof.comwww.makeitlouder.comwww.gçaudio.co 11www/science.howstuffworks.com/lrad.htm
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