The police in Toronto are stating that they intend to use the devices as a warning and do not plan to use the sonic gun function. Wood expects the protests in Toronto to be quite tame by international standards, with less violence and riot-like activities.

“I don’t think there is any expectation of the level of rioting that you see for example at the moment in Greece or in France a few years ago,” said Wood.

Unlike the many protests seen throughout Europe currently and in the past, North American protests are typically more civil.

“I think in many ways the Toronto police are massively over-exaggerating the possible threat that there will be from protestors. Essentially, this is a classic post-9/11 situation where the threat of terrorism is being allied with the threat of quite normal protest which therefore basically, potentially treats all protestors as criminals.” said Wood.

Crowd controls at protests are becoming more militarized. The “sound cannon” device can be used for military deployment in urban warfare and was built with intention to be used against pirates.

Police forces are learning from other cities and events, gradually adopting new methods and strategies to employ in their own crowd control methods.