tagged w/ Acoustic Weapons
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A Joint Investigative Report by East County Magazine and Liberty One Radio
By Miriam Raftery
September 11, 2009 (San Diego) – “Long-range acoustic devices [LRADs] for crowd control can be extremely dangerous. These are used in Iraq to control insurgents. They can cause serious and lasting harm to humans…We want to know WHY our Sheriff Dept has this weapon,” Sal Magallanez of San Diego-based Liberty One Radio said in an e-mail sent to East County Magazine, prompting a joint investigation.
The device was stationed by San Diego County Sheriff deputies at a recent town hall forum hosted by Congresswoman Susan Davis (D-San Diego) in Spring Valley and at a subsequent town hall with Congressman Darrell Issa (R-San Diego). The Davis Rally drew an estimated 1,300-1,500 people, including vocal conservative and liberal protest groups. (photo credit: Mike Russell)
A public records search conducted by East County Magazine has confirmed that the device is an LRAD 500-x manufactured by San Diego-based American Technology Corporation (ATC). Capable of use as an effective loudspeaker, the LRAD also has the ability to emit a deafening tone aimed at incapacitating and dispersing a crowd without use of lethal force.
“It’s very concerning,” Kevin Keenan, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, said. “ It is fine for the Sheriff’s Department to have new less-than-lethal weapons, but for their interactions with individuals these still-dangerous weapons need to be used only as substitutes for firearms. They can’t be used as just another tool on the tool belt. As we’ve seen with tasers and pepper spray, these types of weapons are being used to subdue people even though they pose the risk of serious physical harm.”
He added, “Even more concerning is having these weapons for public order policing. I can imagine no situation, or am not aware of any situation that’s ever happened in San Diego County or is likely to happen that would justify using these weapons for public order policing to control a crowd. The main effect of having those weapons at public events is to chill people and chill free speech and free association.”
LRADs were developed by ATC at the request of the U.S. Navy after the attack on the U.S.S. Cole as a means of dissuading hostile invaders. ATC founder Elwood "Woody" Norris is a pioneer in sound technology who has also been instrumental in development of ultra-sound and ground penetrating radar.
Cruise ship Captain Michael Groves successfully repelled pirates off the Somali coast using non-lethal weapons including an LRAD. Groves has since filed suit against Carnival Cruise Line, claiming he suffered permanent hearing loss as a result, the BBC has reported. Navy News describes the LRAD as "louder than a jet engine" and helpfully explains that it overwhelms its targets with "sound so loud they hear it inside their heads."
ATC initially sold LRADs primarily to the U.S. military, but has since sold products internationally and domestically. The company and its representatives have not limited sales to military, maritime and law enforcement personnel, however. Local lifeguards and even Liberty One Radio are among potential customers to whom ATC’s sales force has attempted to peddle LRADs.
Liberty One Radio host Mike Copass, a former Democratic Congressional candidate who ran against Davis, tried to interview the Sheriff’s officer who appeared to be in charge of the device, which was mounted on a Rhino all-terrain vehicle. But Magallanez said the official “acted as if he didn’t know what it was.”
East County Magazine contacted Lieutenant Anthony Ray at the Lemon Grove sheriff substation. “I was the incident commander,” said Ray, who confirmed that the device was an LRAD but was not sure of the model. “It’s a really loud speaker,” he said, adding that the device is used to assure that announcements can be heard over the din of a crowd. “We’ll often use a helicopter, but this is something portable, cont'A Joint Investigative Report by East County Magazine and Liberty One Radio
By Miriam... more
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mae37
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added this
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2 years ago
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SAN DIEGO -- The San Diego County Sheriff's Department Tuesday responded to 10News' report about a new sonic weapon known as a Long Range Acoustic Device, or LRAD.
The technology has been used in Iraq to control insurgents, and now it is in the sheriff's department's possession.
With some people concerned over whether the LRAD would be dangerous and if it would be used the way it is in war zones, 10News contacted the sheriff's department for their take.
The device was originally made to be used for war, and it emits high-pitched sounds as a form crowd control.
On Monday, members of the American Civil Liberties Union spoke with 10News, and they expressed outrage that local law enforcement had the device and that they had brought it to recent town hall meetings in case things got out of hand.
Kevin Keenan, of the ACLU, said, "We think that local law enforcement shouldn't be using military style weaponry like that."
On Tuesday, Ed Musgrove of the sheriff's department told 10News the device was only being used for good, like helping search-and-rescue teams and warning residents during fires or floods.
"So, it will never be used in San Diego as a weapon?" asked 10News' Ariana Duarte.
"No, not by the Sheriff's Department, no," said Musgrove.
"And that's a guarantee?"
"Yes."
San Diego County Sheriff Bill Gore was recently quoted saying the LRAD was purchased for events "should there be any problems." He also added, "We could use the LRAD in place of pepper spray."
Duarte asked the sheriff's department about the comment and they said it was probably a poor choice of words and insisted that the device was only here to help.
"If the issue was getting the message out to people that need to hear it, then this is the device to do it," said Musgrove.
"So, is it used to startle them?" asked Duarte.
"No."
"Then how is it comparable to pepper spray?"
"I don't know that I would make that comparison."
The LRAD cost the sheriff's department $27,000, and it was paid for with money from a 2007 Homeland Security grant.SAN DIEGO -- The San Diego County Sheriff's Department Tuesday responded to... more
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mae37
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2 years ago
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After the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, local governments across the country set aside concerns over privacy and installed surveillance cameras in public streets and plazas.
Now — even after a damning report by the head of London’s extensive surveillance network and with little evidence that the systems work — police in many cities are trying to add thousands more cameras to their networks.
“‘Cameras Everywhere’ continues to be the best description of the trend in the video surveillance market,” security market analysts J.P. Freeman Co. said in a report in 2006 that estimated that a quarter of major U.S. cities were investing in the technology.
Two years later, the trend shows no sign of slowing. Officials in many cities are eager to take advantage of money from state and federal security agencies to install the cameras on street corners and intersections, and in cities that already have dozens of cameras, officials are seeking real-time access to thousands more in schools, transit facilities and private businesses:
End of Excerpt
Source: MSNBCAfter the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, local governments across the country... more
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Is the door knob too high for you to reach? That is not your imagination playing tricks on you, probably it is!
Since 2001, The San Francisco MTA-Muni introduced the New fleet of Electric Buses on Union Street, San Francisco, California. Bus routes number 45 and 41. These buses in addition of being mechanically and technologically loud than the previous version, emits 3 types of offensive and intrusive noise signals trespassing inhabitants property lines. These signals are:
1. Beep signals that goes beyond property lines.
2. Voice signals that goes beyond property lines.
3. Sharp shooting whistles signals that goes beyond property lines.
-It is a mechanically acoustic cruel, mean and invasive system promoted by wrongful transportation lobbyists that transformed the interior of our living spaces in a bus stop, says many of San Franciscan's inhabitants, not releasing their names because of fear of retaliation.
-It seems that the City got out from one pollution mistake to fall into another one. You will going to hear and see attempts of lobbying and justification for this acoustic invasion, but none of them justify this unethical behavior or unlawful manners for acoustic pollution and trespassing of inhabitants property lines.
One of their justification is that the system is for orienting the blind and partially deaf in the City consequently assuming that everyone in the City is elderly, blind, partially blind or partially deaf.
- Nothing can justify acoustic trespassing even in the assumption that one possesses a physical disability, says an acoustic activist by the nickname "stopnoise." In the same token I might need money but I am not going to trespass and rob a bank to get it. I am also not going to brake into people house and steal their possessions and harm them physically in the process just because I am in need of it. Acoustic trespassing is not different from any other types and forms of trespassing in our society. Trespass is trespass no matter how you want to wrongfully justify it.
As Doctor Hagler, author of an acoustic publication in the Medical Journal, answering to a comment from a less acoustic concerned individual.
Dear Mr. Diaz:
I fear you have missed the point.
I am a retired physician with an interest in the public health effects of
noise pollution. Those of us in Noise Free America and other groups are not
opposed to people's choices in music. We are not concerned with rap or hip hop vs Vivaldi. We are opposed to the ceaseless and unwanted noise that washes over us at times, places and at volumes over which we have no control. We are opposed to noise over which others seem not to exercise control, restraint, or, consideration. We are opposed to noise because it is unhealthy. And this is not something to be sneezed at or trivialized.
There is now abundant (and continually growing) evidence that noise is not
merely an annoyance. It is not something that even grouchy old men like you
don't need to tolerate. Among its many adverse effects, noise damages
hearing, disturbs communication, disrupts sleep, impairs cardiovascular function, interferes with teaching and learning, reduces productivity, harms relationships, provokes unwanted behaviors, and increases accidents. It is a major source of recurring and often unrecognized stress, which, itself, degrades the quality of life and adversely affects health.
Pollution is pollution, irrespective of the source or the way it enters the
body. The ear is as important a portal for pollution as the lung, stomach,
or eye. It is the role of government to protect citizens from all forms of
pollution, including noise pollution. Polluters should be the target of swift, consistent, and meaningful penalties. From my perspective, a $200.00 fine and points on one's license are lenient.
Louis Hagler, MD
Oakland, CA
Is the door knob too high for you to reach? That is not your imagination playing... more
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This video showing off the latest iteration of Boston Dynamics BigDog quadruped robot. The robot is being design to help solders carry heavy loads into battle. Skip ahead to about 0:35 to see it recover from a pretty might kick to the midsection and 1:40 to see it recover from a slip on icy asphalt.
It's pretty impressive feature of engineering to say the least but I couldn't help but wonder, wouldn't it be easier to just use a real pack animal? This video showing off the latest iteration of Boston Dynamics BigDog quadruped robot.... more
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ctower
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4 years ago
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