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Richmond Review

Excerpt from Richmond Review (Richmond, BC, Canada)
Published: August 10, 2007

A chain of convenience stores is using Richmond as a testing ground for a new device designed to drive "problem youth" away from storefronts.

The ultrasonic device, known as The Mosquito, emits an "unpleasant but benign high-pitched sound" that only young people can hear, according to Dynatrac Systems Canada Inc., which is marketing it in Canada.

Mounted at a storefront, it's aimed at shooing away loitering youth.

Frequencies the device uses are inaudible to most adults over the age of 25, due to normal gradual hearing loss.

Dynatrac spokesperson Michael Gibson wouldn't say which chain is installing the device in Richmond, but said two stores will be equipped with the specialized speaker and another one will be tested in Victoria.

Installation at the first Richmond store was finished Wednesday.

"The first five minutes we had it installed, they turned it on, and the kids that normally hang around there moved across the street in three minutes. We timed it," said Gibson.

The concept of inaudible noise isn't new to teens. Gibson said teenagers are downloading a ring tone for their cell phones that their teachers can't hear.

According to Dynatrac, "unwanted youth gatherings" cause businesses to lose "millions of dollars" in lost profits.

"Anti-social behaviour such as graffiti spraying and vandalism has become the biggest threat to private property in the country in the last decade," reads a press release.


The speaker, which can be rented for $3 per day, can be operated by a clerk via remote control or set on a timer.

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