Los Angeles has adopted a new weapon to drive homeless people out of its subway system and reduce crime – deafening classical music piped in through the public address system.
Los Angeles has adopted a new weapon to drive homeless people out of a subway station and reduce crime – deafening classical music piped in through the public-address system.
LA Metro spokesperson Dave Sotero told the paper that “the music is not loud” at MacArthur Park, saying in an email that the classical compositions were being played at 72 decibels. The music is piped through the public address system at the the Westlake/MacArthur Park Metro station.“The idea is to create an atmosphere that is comfortable for spending short amounts of time transiting through our station, but not conducive to hours-long loitering,” Metro says.According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, decibel levels between 80 and 85 are on par with gas-powered lawnmowers and leaf blowers. Heating damage is possible after two hours of exposure, it says.
Musicologist Lily Hirsch, author of “Music in American Crime Prevention and Punishment,” told the LA Times: “You’re trying to attract and make certain people feel comfortable based on the associations with classical music. “It’s like a bird marking its territory where you hear the signal and you go, ‘OK, this is not for me. This is for the older money crowd,’” she told the LA Times.
“You can’t close your eyes and expect people to go away,” said Hamid Kahn, an organizer with the Stop LAPD Spying Coalition.The musicologist said “you’re creating hierarchies of sound” by making it clear that certain people are welcome and others are not.On a recent day, several homeless people were seen at the station while classical music blared — including “Immaterial,” by contemporary composer Adrián Berenguer, who did not respond to requests for comment by the paper.
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