Sonic Controls

Radar Gun, ca. 1980–1990
Galt Museum & Archives, P20120014000

Sound has played an important role in the way our community has changed over the years. As technology has evolved, sounds have shifted in different ways within our society to shape the way our daily actions unfold. The Lethbridge Police Service in particular has used sound in many ways over the years to influence the behaviour of citizens.

Today police officers have so much high-tech gear available, it seems almost quaint to imagine how a whistle would be a standard piece of gear. But back in the 1960s, it was standard issue for all patrol officers to carry this simple device. While no longer in daily use, it was common for Lethbridge police officers to use whistles as part of their daily patrols.

As a beat patrol officer on Lethbridge streets between 1963 and 1971, retired officer Bill Plomp recalled using this piece of equipment, saying:

“It was used mostly when you were on point patrol at 4 Avenue and 6 Street South which was a busy intersection then. For a while we had a ‘scramble’ crossing where the lights would go and you could cross in any direction, so you used your whistle there for the changing of the lights.”

Another important sonic device for Lethbridge Police has been the sound systems mounted within patrol vehicles. Plomp described the old-style system, saying:

“The older electronic sirens that whirred way up and whirred way down, some were fender-mounted and some were under the hood. You could switch between radio or megaphone use and then you used it like a loudspeaker.”

Police Whistle, ca. 1930–1950
Galt Museum & Archives, P19950038013

While sound-making devices have been important for police, listening has also been a critical tool for police officers—with the radar gun being one of the most common. Instead of “seeing” vehicles breaking the speed limit, radar uses radio sound to enforce the law. Radar guns send out a fixed-frequency radio wave and then listen for the echo to judge how fast a car is travelling—similar to how bats use echolocation.

To make sure these readings are accurate, a set of tuning forks are used to calibrate the radar gun in the same way a piano is tuned. Former Lethbridge Police Services officer Tim Stobbs describes using the Speed Gun 8, which was the first portable model:

“If you think of radar as hearing a train coming towards you, you hear it coming, it gets loud and then it goes away and it changes tone. Radar gives us the same thing.”

Learn more about the important role sound plays in society by visiting our newest temporary exhibition, The Politics of Sound, on display until May 7, 2023 at the Galt Museum & Archives.