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Stores hope ultrasonic hum will make nasty kids buzz off

By Bruce Constantineau, The Vancouver Sun (Vancouver, BC, Canada)
Published: August 8, 2007

Listen up, all young troublemakers under the age of 25.

Your loitering, graffiti-spraying, vandalism-prone ways are about to get zapped by the Mosquito.

That's the hope of a major Canadian convenience store chain as it installs three Mosquito sonic youth-deterrent devices in B.C. stores over the next week -- two in Richmond and one in Victoria.

The Mosquito emits an unpleasant ultrasonic high-pitched tone that can generally only be heard by people under 25. To them, it sounds like an annoying buzzing insect but older people hear nothing due to natural hearing loss.

The product was developed in the U.K. to disperse crowds of young people and Vancouver-based Dynatrac Systems Canada recently acquired the Canadian distribution rights.

The convenience store doesn't want to publicize its use of the device until it determines its effectiveness.

Dynatrac representative Michael Gibson said several small stores have expressed an interest, along with Granville Street nightclubs and school boards in Saskatchewan.

"Before we signed the distribution agreement, we made sure that it worked so we tested it out ourselves," he said. "Believe me, younger people do find it offensive. My installer puts it on in front of his daughter's room to wake her up in the morning."

Riverside elementary school in Maple Ridge installed a Mosquito near a school courtyard about a year ago and school district secretary-treasurer Don Woytowich said the results have been impressive.

"The courtyard had become a hangout -- with windows being broken and graffiti and partying going on," he said. "We simply haven't had any issues there since [the Mosquito] went up."

The school district bought the unit directly from the U.K. manufacturer last year. It's not activated during school hours and is generally in use between 10 p.m and 6 a.m.

Woytowich said the school district has taken an aggressive position on vandalism prevention and will consider buying other Mosquito units for other schools. He said it fits in well with other tools such as video surveillance and water sprinklers that douse potential vandals.

Gibson says the Mosquito would be a natural tool to disperse crowds of young people at certain public transit locations and he has contacted TransLink but hasn't yet heard back.

TransLink representative Drew Snider said security officials will consider the device. He said Surrey Central SkyTrain station might be considered a logical candidate for the Mosquito but he noted people older than 25 have been troublemakers there.

Snider said TransLink currently uses predatory bird sounds to effectively discourage sparrows and crows from lingering around Brentwood SkyTrain station.

Gibson said it costs about $3 a day to rent a Mosquito unit, which usually have to be replaced after two years as they require special speakers to handle the high-frequency sound.

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