Mosquito Update
March 30th, 2007A few more pieces on the Mosquito “Teenage Deterrent” system. I first mentioned the system here.
Tuesday’s Donegal People’s Press had another article on the system, featuring a quote from Sarah Gahan, Communications Officer of the National Youth Council of Ireland. Here’s the quote:
“We have been contacted by young people in Donegal in relation to the system and we are talking to them at the moment. They feel they are being targeted. This is called discrimination on the basis of age. It does not specifically target those who are a nuisance, it banishes them all from an area. This is considered acceptable as they do not have a vote, if they had a vote they would vote the councillors out of office,” spokesperson for the National Youth Council of Ireland, Sarah Gahan said.
(Emphasis added)
I emailed Sarah on Tuesday afternoon (to the email address on the youth.ie website) to clarify her point regarding the Councillors. Here’s an excerpt:
Letterkenny Town Council is not installing these systems. We are not considering doing anything of the sort. This whole issue has come from a brief mention of the system at a recent police board meeting, and a request from the manufacturer to show the system to the policing committee to see how it works. This is being considered for information purposes- so that the Council and the Gardai know what is going on in the town. We can not, have not, and will not endorse any such system.
Personally, I don’t support this system and don’t believe it is fair in any way. I would assume that it’s legal, but only because they haven’t been around long enough for anyone to challenge them legally.
If you would like any information on the Council’s approach to this matter, or indeed any other, please feel free to contact me at any stage.
I haven’t heard back from Sarah; it’s possible she never received the email. I just wanted to clarify those points again.
In my first post on the Mosquito system, I mentioned that I would reserve judgement on the system until I got a chance to see it in operation. I got that chance this week, almost by accident.
On Wednesday evening, I stopped by McDonalds on my way home (I have a weakness for Crunchy McFlurrys). On my way into the store, I got a piercing pain in my left ear (but not my right ear). I looked up and saw the device in the photo above, below the Golden Arches.
Given all the controversy over the Mosquito system at the Four Lanterns, it was obvious straight away what the box was. When I entered McDonalds, I asked the girl behind the counter if they had a system installed, and she didn’t know. Her colleague told me that the system had just been installed that day, and was being tested. Apparently, when initiated it runs for twenty minutes and then stops. There’s no indication that the system is in place (no signs, lights, alarms etc), beyond the nondescript grey box.
There has been a number of incidents recently in this area, particularly on Friday and Saturday evenings after shows at the nearby cinema, where groups of teenagers are congregating and starting fights. This problem has been discussed extensively on Highland Radio, and would be expected to come up at Monday Night’s public meeting of the Joint Policing Committee. In response to this problem, McDonalds have now installed the Mosquito.
I understand that there is a real problem here with Anti Social Behaviour, and that the Four Lanterns feel they are experiencing similar problems at their Main Street branch. I won’t condemn these businesses for using them; it’s terrible that there is a need for such a system, and I’m sure the decisions weren’t taken lightly. But I can’t support their installation, even if they are used only in the most extreme situations.
These devices do not address any problem, they simply move it on. They don’t target those causing the problems, they hit everyone. For these businesses, who have a large customer base among youg people, this is a very drastic step to take and will no doubt lead to a reduction in business from this key market.
At it’s most basic level, this “Teenage Crowd Dispersal System” doesn’t work as advertised- younger kids can hear are, and I’m not a teenager anymore (24) and it will make me think twice before entering McDonalds again. When I was in the store on Wednesday, everybody else there was with a young child (or young children). While the device isn’t heard inside the story, only outside, it must have distressed them on their way in and out.
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4 Responses to “Mosquito Update”
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March 30th, 2007 at 1:55 pm
I can hear those frequencies and they are damned annoying. I wonder can one sue for assault on this matter?
March 30th, 2007 at 4:01 pm
It might be more effective to mount motion-sensitive highly luminous spotlights to accomplish the same deterrence. That way, everyone feels the same subtle effect.
March 30th, 2007 at 4:25 pm
Damien:
I was wondering about that as well. It would need to be tested, but it essence the operators of the system are causing you pain with the intention of moving you. They could not do this with any direct physical approach, so I would not think it’s legal to do it this way.
In particular, legal problems must arise where the system affects people in public areas (eg footpaths) rather than just on private ground.
I suppose you’re the legal student, Mr Mulley, not me!
Bernie:
The spotlight issue would have some strength at night (maybe together with CCTV), however the Four Lanterns generally experiences problems during school lunch breaks (it’s the town centre, near the two main secondary schools) which would limit the effect of a spotlight.
March 8th, 2008 at 11:34 pm
I can also hear this device and i am 25!!I am a sound engineer so i can usually tell the frequency from hearing it and it sounds like its above or around 17KHz which is very easy for someone in there early thirties to hear (depending on there exposer to loud music & anything that may damage your hearing etc) The human hearing spectrum is 20hz to 20KHz, so the possibility of only kids hearing it is small!! You lose a certain amount of your hearing every time you are exposed to loud noises, usually 10Hz per second above 93dB!!!The frequency at which the mosquito falls is what we call the feedback or trouble spectrum and they are frequencies that we try to get rid of during sound gigs because they are the most damaging frequencies to hearing at loud volumes! SO i guess what im really trying to say is its flawed, and im also wondering if it could be damaging young peoples hearing alright its not loud, but if its on for a long time it could have the same effect???