Elena Cohen – Sonic Weapons and Policing: A New York City Case Study

Sonic Acts Podcast

NIGHT AIR: SHOCK WAVES Elena Cohen – Sonic Weapons and Policing: A New York City Case Study 5 November 2021 – OT301, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Sonic weapons like the Long-Range Acoustic Device (LRAD), ‘roof knocking’, or ‘music torture’ are frequently used as part of the arsenal of state violence. During Night Air: Shock Waves, Elena Cohen presented a series of case studies demonstrating how these tools are deployed in protest, detention, and warfare, causing a range of harm from disorientation and psychological distress to permanent internal damage. Elena L. Cohen is an attorney and professor. She is a founding partner of Cohen Green PLLC (‘Femme Law’), a small firm serving the needs of the New York City queer and activist communities. She teaches law classes to undergraduate students within the City University of New York system, and joined the faculty of Kline School of Law in 2022. She has litigated many high-profile cases, and is currently counsel for Sow v. City of New York, which challenges police practices related to the policing of Summer 2020 protests for Black Lives. She was lead counsel of Edrei v. City of N.Y. – a suit challenging the New York Police Department’s use of Long-Range Acoustic Devices (LRAD), which resulted in substantial policy reform. Her publications focus on sexuality, sound, and comparative constitutions. Shock Waves is an evening event that considered the materiality of sound as a powerful means of resistance and control. The programme included talks by María Edurne Zuazu, Elena Cohen, and Yann Leguay, films by Aura Satz, an installation by Paula Montecinos and Pedro Matias, along with a performance by White Rose, and DJ set by Noise Diva. More information about Shock Waves and its participants can be found at https://sonicacts.com/archive/night-air-shock-waves NIGHT AIR Night Air is a series of Sonic Acts events that aim to make pollution visible by bringing forth the various side-effects of modernity: from exploitation of people and resources to perpetual inequalities brought about by the destruction of the environment and common land – in other words, capitalist practices that shape both our environment and human-nonhuman relations. CREDITS Curation & production: Sonic Acts Design: Toni Brell https://tonibrell.de Video: Marie Debarbieux https://mariedebarbieux.wixsite.com Sound mastering: Poul Sven de Haan http://faboem.nl