Maker of loud device used by Pittsburgh police during G20 disputes ACLU's hearing loss claims

JOE MANDAK

A company that makes the Long Range Acoustic Device that Pittsburgh police used to control protesters during the Group of 20 economic summit two years ago disputes the scientific claims contained in an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit filed last week.

San Diego, Calif.-based LRAD Corp. wasn’t named in the suit which claims a visiting college professor suffered hearing loss when the loud device was used to issue police commands and to amplify loud sounds meant to disperse protesters.

The company says the professor’s was far enough away that the noise level she was exposed to would have been less than sounds created by emergency sirens and custom car stereos and, therefore, not loud enough to have harmed her hearing and she and the ACLU claims.