Vancouver school district staff unplugged 33 ultrasonic sound devices last month that are intended to deter loitering on school board property at night.
Thirty-three Mosquito devices are installed at 19 sitessome sites have one, others have as many as three. Noise from the units, which cost $3,000 including installation, is intended to bother people 25 years of age and under. The devices range is 50 feet or less and they operated from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. Vandalism costs the district about $500,000 annually.
The now unplugged Mosquitos are installed at Britannia (1), Sir Guy Carleton (3), Captain James Cook (3), Champlain Heights (3), Sir Charles Dickens (2), Dickens annex (1), Grandview (1), John Henderson (2), Kerrisdale annex (2) Kerrisdale (1), the VSB workshop (1), Lord Nelson (2), Thunderbird (2), Tecumseh annex (1), Pierre Elliott Trudeau (2), Sir William Van Horne (1), Waverley (3), Waverley annex (1), and General Wolfe (1).
The first ones were put up in 2007 or 2008 at Thunderbird elementary, where a community centre is attached. Its unclear how they multiplied without the boards knowledge. Bacchus said a couple of people recently questioned her and the school district about the devices, which prompted senior staff to look into how many were in place. The decision to install them was made at an operations level, according to Bacchus. She was aware of a trial installation, but didnt realize the numbers had climbed dramatically.
Once it came to our attention we talked to staff [and] a decision was made to unplug them until weve had time to review and consult and look at it more from a policy perspective, she said, noting criticism over a lack of oversight on the issue is warranted.
I would think its fair criticism. It concerns me as board chair that I wasnt informed of something like thisthe board wasnt aware. But decisions get made out in operationsits a big and complex districtNormally, we would be informed of this and how it slipped through is a good question and its something we need to ask as part of the review.
Bacchus said shes concerned school neighbours may not be aware the devices were installed and that the noise might bother babies or children with autism, for instance, who have heightened sensitivity to sound. She said the board will examine how well the equipment has addressed district vandalism concerns and human rights issues associated with targeting a specific age group.
NPA trustee Ken Denike said he realized the Mosquitoes had been unplugged during a recent school visit. A staff person was worried about safety when working late because of loitering. Denike said the devices appeared to work. Now problems have returned. He appreciates concerns about the devices, but questions why the issue hasnt been discussed publicly. I dont think this is something you do behind closed doors, he said.
David Eby, executive director of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, argues they shouldnt have been installed. He questions their effectiveness and calls them a blunt tool.
This is so typical to roll out new technology simply because you can without having a discussion about the implications of the policy or the effect on the target audiences. It doesnt matter whether its the Mosquito or surveillance cameras or metal detectors or drug-sniffing dogs or whatever other initiative. Just because you can afford it doesnt mean you should implement it, he said. And when these technologies are implemented its too often put in place before the policy discussion happens and it needs to be completely the opposite.
Eby isnt satisfied by the decision to unplug them.
Im not particularly pleased [the VSB is] reserving the right to turn them back on. They should be taken off the wall entirely. These devices were put in without a proper public discussion about the policy impact on youth and whether or not its discriminatory. The school board would and should properly be embarrassed by the suggestion that their proper role is to limit the access of youth to school grounds, but not limit the access of any other groups. At the very least our school board should be striving for equality and the Mosquito does not represent equality, he said.
Twitter: @Naoibh
