‘Mosquito’ teen repeller fails to stop vandals ::: Pink Tentacle

Description

A vandalized toilet at Kitashikahama Park in Tokyo’s Adachi ward is raising questions about the effectiveness of the park’s controversial new “Mosquito” alarm — a device designed to repel teenagers by emitting an obnoxious high-frequency tone that only they can hear.

The Mosquito, which was installed at the park on May 21 to discourage teens from hanging out there after hours, now operates every night from 11:00 PM to 4:00 AM. The device produces a high-pitched tone of around 17 kHz, which is unbearable to teen ears. The sound has no effect on older people, as the ability to hear high frequencies declines naturally with age.

The broken toilet, which was discovered on the morning of June 21, appears to have been smashed with a baseball bat. Spent bottle rockets were also found at the site.

Surveillance camera footage showed what appeared to be as many as seven teenagers hanging out in the park in the early morning hours of June 21, while the Mosquito was in operation. Authorities were unable to determine whether the teens in the video were responsible for the vandalism.

Original URL

http://www.pinktentacle.com/2009/06/mosquito-teen-repeller-fails-to-stop-vandals/

http://www.pinktentacle.com/2009/06/mosquito-teen-repeller-fails-to-stop-vandals/