With at least $1.1 billion of taxpayers' money being spent and intense scrutiny expected into security operations at the upcoming G20 summit in Toronto, Canadian police forces may have more problems controlling public opinion than unruly protesters.
But the Integrated Security Unit -- consisting of the RCMP, Toronto Police Service, Peel Regional Police, OPP and the Canadian Forces – had difficulty this week in delivering a cohesive message to the public.
On Thursday, as Toronto police were demonstrating to journalists how they were going to use their new and controversial long-range acoustic devices (LRAD) for the G20 summit, Canadians were reading in the Globe and Mail about how the RCMP was shunning the devices as a means of crowd control.
"The RCMP's use of long-range acoustic devices is limited to marine operations and, in this setting, has no concerns," Julie Gagnon, an RCMP spokesperson wrote in an e-mail to the newspaper.
Meanwhile, Toronto police spokesperson Const. Wendy Drummond was telling reporters the LRADs would only be used for two to five seconds at a time as a "communications device."
Queen's University sociology professor David Murakami Wood says the diverging response of the two police forces on the use of the so-called sonic cannons has to do with the RCMP's troubling experience with Tasers.
"The RCMP is trying to recover some credibility when it comes to things like this, because of their own use of other kinds of less lethal devices," he told CTV.ca. "They are very sensitive at the moment to any suggestion they might be increasing their weaponry."
"I don't think the Toronto police force is going to be particularly happy with the RCMP effectively telling them how things should be done," he added.
Murakami Wood says that in recent years, states and cities have used the summit meetings to test new security and surveillance tools. During last year's G8 meeting in Pittsburgh, police used non-lethal sonic weapons against protesters for the first time.
"It's not coincidental that this device was used in Pittsburgh is now being bought by several cities involved in these types of mega-events," Murakami Wood said.
"(Toronto police) would have seen the Pittsburgh use quite clearly as a successful use, otherwise they wouldn't be buying them."
However, critics say the devices can cause hearing loss and infringe on protester's rights.
The Council of Canadians has offered to distribute ear plugs to protesters, and has come out against the LRADs' use.
"Saying a sound cannon is a tool for communications is like saying waterboarding isn't torture, just a tool for encouraging dialogue," the group's Mark Calzavara said in a press release.
The hand-held devices can reach 135 decibels. The U.S. National Institute on Deafness says sustained noise above 85 decibels can cause hearing damage, which Toronto police have acknowledged.
Toronto police made assurances that they would follow strict protocol for using the devices but Murakami Wood says many military and police forces fall prey to "function creep" when using new technology.
"The problem once you get a new piece of technology like this and then say you not going to use, that almost never happens," he said. "We've seen that with Tasers, they've gone from being an occasional weapon to something that is being used quite conventionally."
The G20 summit runs June 26-27.
