Court to decide training issue

A FEDERALAPPEALS panel is exploring whether cops’ lack of training on noise cannons used to disperse demonstrators can protect individual officers from lawsuits. Three judges from the Second Circuit Court of Appeals panel heard arguments Tuesday in a lawsuit over the NYPD’s use of Long Range Acoustic Devices (LRADs) during a December 2014 protest that erupted after a grand jury decided not to indict any cops in the death of Eric Garner, who was put in a fatal chokehold by a Staten Island officer. Five of the protesters later sued the city, NYPD and cops they said deployed an LRAD on them, alleging they suffered pain, migraines and nausea from the sound blast. The protesters’ Manhattan Federal Court complaint also claimed that the NYPD provided inadequate training over LRAD use — enabling alleged violations of Constitutional rights.