Residents of St John’s Wood, a wealthy London area plagued by drug-related crime, expressed frustration over police advice to play classical music as a deterrent. One resident, who reported local crime, received an email suggesting they advocate for such music to discourage criminal behavior. Despite historical examples of music reducing crime rates, locals overwhelmingly prefer increased police presence. Critics argue that imposing music frequencies, regardless of preference, is ineffective and that residents would rather enjoy peace and quiet. The debate reveals a broader dissatisfaction with ambient noise in public spaces, highlighting the struggle between customer preferences in various environments.
Residents of St John’s Wood, a healthy area in north-west London that is home to some of the capital’s most expensive real estate, are among the most dissatisfied.
Their area is infested with drug lords, and their side job is destroying the cars of locals.
However, after one concerned resident sent photos of the criminal activity to police, he received an email in response suggesting, among other things, the following actions: “You can also contact your housing association or council and ask them to play classical music, which has been proven to deter and prevent crime.”
what? Was the city council expected to hire the London Symphony Orchestra to serenade gangs marauding neighborhoods?
That idea didn’t work.
“It’s stupid to tell him to play classical music,” one resident, who recently confronted a drug addict in his garden, told The Sun newspaper.
discourage
Police later issued a statement saying, “While clearly well-intentioned, the email advice sent to residents in this case does not reflect the policies of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.”
In reality, this advice was neither new nor frivolous—residents would much rather see their neighborhoods flooded with cops than men wearing bow ties playing violins (or recordings of them). Even if there was.
This idea dates back 40 years. In 1985, Montreal’s 7-Eleven convenience store asked a psychologist for advice on how to stop young wanderers who were constantly wandering outside, causing concern among shoppers.
One idea from this brainstorming, to quote from the book Music in Crime Prevention and Punishment in America, was to “play easy listening or classical music in the parking lot.”
St John’s Wood is infested with drug lords who make it their side job to destroy locals’ cars.
Was the city council expected to hire the London Symphony Orchestra (pictured in 2019) to serenade gangs looting neighborhoods?
It was thought that this type of music was not popular with teenagers and could discourage them from hanging out in stores. ”
It seemed to work, and other retailers followed up. And (eventually) a trial was held in England.
In 2003, classical music was used to fight crime at Elm Park station on London’s District Line. Apparently, the gang presence was so intimidating at the time that Transport for London staff were afraid to work there.
According to the Independent, “Within 18 months, robberies fell by 33 per cent, assaults on staff by 25 per cent and vandalism by 37 per cent, as Pavarotti’s voice made troublemakers more ferocious.”
It was as if beautiful music had the same effect on bad guys as sunlight does on Count Dracula in horror movies. This appears to be a kind of musical chairs game, simply transferring criminality to other areas.
A seemingly scientific explanation was given by the Seattle Times (the policy was introduced in American cities in 2009): “The reason certain types of music act as crime deterrents is explained by neurologists. According to the authors, it may lie in a neurobiological response to people not enjoying or finding something unfamiliar.
“When people listen to music they like, it stimulates the production of dopamine, making them feel good. However, when people dislike the music, their brains respond by suppressing the production of dopamine, making them feel worse. I start avoiding music.”
Well, the bleeding department is obvious. But this touches on an issue that affects many of us. I’m talking about people who actually love classical music and strongly dislike the imposition of pop and rock. The imposition of pop and rock music is an inevitable fate when going out to eat almost anywhere.
This is not just a British experience. Restaurants are getting louder, with London restaurants being the most deafening, according to a study by SoundPrint, a hospitality app created by hearing-impaired New Yorker Gregory Scott. Europe.
resound
The point is, people have to shout rather than speak in order to be heard by their dining companions, beyond the “boom-boom-boom-boom” of recorded music.
I have been campaigning against this, albeit in a small way. When I go to a restaurant and canned music is blaring, especially when there’s a persistent brain-rattling percussive beat, I ask a nearby staff member if they can turn me down.
When I go to a restaurant and canned music is blaring, I ask a nearby staff member if they can turn me down, writes Dominic Lawson (File image)
It’s interesting to see the wide range of reactions. I’m very grateful that you’re doing it, little by little every now and then.
However, in a quaint old Kentish pub (one would think there was no need to ‘improve’ it by importing artificial noise), the person in charge said that ‘other patrons would object’. So, he declined my polite request. .
“Why don’t we see if they complain?” I replied. It didn’t go particularly well.
My efforts are not limited to this country. Recently in Krakow, we found ourselves the only people dining at a restaurant with stunning rooftop views of Poland’s great city.
However, my request to turn down the awful muzak was clearly the most unwelcome – rather especially when I pointed out that there were no other customers to voice any objections.
A more interesting reaction (which may have been entirely true) was expressed to me by a charming waitress in a Prague hotel dining room that was as deserted as a Krakow dining room.
She told me that it is actually mandatory for hotels to provide muzak at all times in order to comply with the list of services required to obtain a certain rank by various licensing authorities .
I don’t think it’s just the (increasingly inevitable) noise issues that cause my dopamine levels to plummet. For example, if they played the kind of music I like, like Bach or Vivaldi, which was used to deter teenagers from wandering outside some stores in North America. – Then, as long as the volume is not so loud that it becomes difficult to have a conversation, I would definitely be satisfied.
Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega was forced out of his shelter inside the Vatican embassy in Panama City after US troops blasted the building while playing non-stop rock music.
silence
But the point is that restaurants want to attract as many customers as possible, and simply put, Radio 1 is much more popular than Radio 3. So those of us who infinitely prefer Radio 3 are the victims of a kind of mass-catering referendum. .
We, the minority, stand with the late Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega. He was forced from a shelter inside the Vatican embassy in Panama City in 1989 when the U.S. military blasted the building, playing nonstop rock music.
Noriega was one of the smartest drug traffickers and an opera lover. If the American military had played Puccini, the Panamanian strongman would never have given up.
But silencing the music is the best cure of all. This is a policy that worked when kids were young, before the advent of iPhones with dedicated ear attachments. They wanted pop on the car radio, but I wanted classical.
This debate always settled when I said that if Radio 3 were allowed to air a similar amount of time, they could air an hour of their music (though I didn’t use that word). . It was unbearable for them, so we completely disarmed them musically.
I realize that all of this is making me seem unbearable. This is a point my wife emphasizes every time I complain about Restaurant Muzaak. “Why can’t I just ignore it?”
If possible.
