A business in L.A.’s Westchester neighborhood is using a loud tactic to get transients out of the area, but it’s also driven out a nearby taco truck, according to a KTLA viewer.
The viewer reached out to KTLA on Monday afternoon alleging that the business, located in the 5200 block of 102nd Street, installed six loudspeakers to drive away people who live in RVs nearby. The area where the business is located is an industrial zone sandwiched between the eastern edge of LAX and the 405 Freeway.
“They are loud and running 24/7,” the viewer said.
The same viewer also said that a taco truck which normally parks nearby left the area because it lost so much business, as its clients didn’t want to eat with loud sounds playing nearby.
Video taken by KTLA photojournalist Dan Lunsford early Tuesday morning shows the speakers blaring various sounds, including white noise, crickets and what appears to be clamoring of random objects.
A homeless man who says he has been living in the area for around eight months reiterated what the KTLA viewer said: The noise is heard almost all day.
“The problem we are having is that [the business manager] doesn’t talk to us…and she has people take our personal items,” the man, who identified himself as Brooks, told KTLA. “She comes in the morning, turns it off while she’s here, then she leaves.”
“I don’t understand that; I mean, this is where I live,” Brooks continued. “We’re not infringing on anyone…the area is not dirty, but this is what she does, and all the businesses around here complain about it.”
Brooks, who revealed that he was recently discharged from the hospital after having some medical issues, further elaborated that he is unable to sleep due to the noise. Additionally, he says that he is on heavy medication, meaning he cannot go outside during the day, and he also says he can “barely walk” in the area surrounding the RV he lives in, which is parked legally.
“This is ridiculous,” he said. “And [the building manager] does this again and again, and she doesn’t care.”
KTLA has not yet been able to contact the business for comment on the matter.
The use of loudspeakers playing noises outside businesses is not a novel idea; KTLA has previously covered a story where a barbershop in downtown L.A. blasted “Baby Shark” on repeat to drive homeless people away from the area.
Another related story involved a Santa Monica man who was so fed up with the homeless problem in his neighborhood that he invented his own unique device to get them to leave the area. The Blue Chirper, named so because of its motion-activated blue strobe light and cricket-like sound it emits, has become so popular in Sean McMahon’s neighborhood that he has started selling the devices to local businesses.
Elsewhere in the city and across the country, some convenience stores blare classical music or other noises to keep homeless people from sleeping nearby.
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