COLUMBUS – Columbus police on Monday gave a demonstration of a new to in their kit for handling a variety of challenges, from hostage negotiations to dispersing protesters.
WARNING: Video features loud, high-pitched tones which may be upsetting or even harmful to some viewers.
The “long range acoustic device,” described as being the audio equivalent of a water cannon, emits a piercing, high-pitched tone that serves to dispel crowds and also broadcasts messages, warnings, notifications and instructions that can be heard up to 1.86 miles away, division spokesman Sgt. Rich Weiner said.
Department officials showed off the new device, known as LRAD, which was mounted atop an armored vehicle behind the Columbus SWAT building on McKinley Avenue.
READ MORE: In The Columbus Dispatch
Crowd control has a renewed focus by law enforcement following mass protests related to officer-involved shootings and the election of Donald Trump to the White House.
The typical police department arsenal includes tear gas, wooden bullets, canine and horse patrols and sometimes water cannons.
In Columbus, some people who have been subjected to tear gas in crowds have complained that they didn’t hear police warnings to disperse, said Lt. Paul Ohl, who heads the city’s SWAT unit. But the LRAD is like an extra-loud loudspeaker that can be aimed at crowds. And it can play as many as three recorded messages in various languages or be used live.
“It’s very clear, so there’s no excuse for people saying, ‘I can’t hear you,'” Ohl said.
Bought with money from a Homeland Security Grant, the LRAD can be used to broadcast information or evacuate neighborhoods during emergencies and disasters, communicate with barricaded individuals, and to deliver message to large crowds during parades, festivals, sporting events and protests.