High-Pitched Product Could Reduce Crime Involving Minors

A company is marketing a small box that repels children and young adults with the power of sound, and some police departments are using it to deter crime involving minors.

Eyewitness News turned on the Mosquito teen repellant in a classroom at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte with half a dozen high school students inside. The high-pitched tone was clearly annoying and even painful for some of the teens.

Thank you for participating. Does The Mosquito Violate Teens' Human Rights? Legislators in some countries argue the Mosquito violates teenagers' human rights. Do you agree or disagree? I agree I disagree Depends on the situation I'd have to look into it more before deciding “It's like a high-pitched squeal, and it hurts!” exclaimed student Julian Tucker.

“It's, like, one of the most annoying noises I've ever heard. It's not even a noise. It's like a pitch,” said student Samanda Emery.

But the adults in the same room said they didn’t hear a thing.

In fact, the British company that makes the Mosquito said most people over 25 can't even hear the tone that's so painfully obvious to teenagers.

“Generally, as we get older we lose some of our high frequency hearing,” explained audiologist Andrea Bailey.

Bailey said the frequency generated by the Mosquito is at the upper end of what of teenagers can hear and would rather not, which makes it the perfect tool, its literature states, to deal with what they call troublesome teenagers.

A video on the company's Web site shows what happened when the Mosquito was turned on outside a convenience store where children were hanging out. The teens took off.

Police in England and Europe have been using the Mosquito for a while now, and one of the first places to use it in the states is Columbia, S.C.

“We believe it works. We believe it works effectively,” said Lt. Chris Cowan of the Richland County Sheriff’s Office.

Cowan said the beauty of the Mosquito is that it breaks up a crowd of rowdy kids without anyone getting hurt.

“It's a non-intrusive, non-confrontational program we can utilize without having to apply personnel to go out and deal with issues,” he said.

It has worked so well that one of the local school districts bought into it.

Rick McGee, superintendent of Richland County School District No. 2, said his school security officers have used their mobile Mosquito to deal with kids who refuse to leave campus after football games.

“They don't even know what it is, I don't think. They're just trying to figure out what that irritation is and they go away, which is all we want,” McGee said.

Despite all the positive buzz about the Mosquito, not everyone is convinced it’s a great idea.

“You can't really control who's in the environment where the device is going to be, so you'd have to be careful,” Bailey, the audiologist, said.

That may be one reason why the management at Northlake Mall passed on the Mosquito as a way to deal with teenagers hanging out in their parking lot last year, and Charlotte-Mecklenburg police said they're not ready to buy in just yet.

“Well, I think we've heard about it. I'm sure we're looking at it, but I haven't heard anyone come up and say we're going to purchase one of those,” said Mark Newbold, attorney for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.

LINK: Mosquito Teen Deterrent