A California homeowner had enough and developed a “diversion device” to prevent homeless people from camping in the carports of his building.
Stephen McMahon, 76, a resident of Santa Monica, invented the motion-activated device Blue Chirper, which emits blue strobes and chirping sounds to deter homeless people from feeling uneasy.
Security footage has captured the device successfully deterring people trying to sleep in the carports when the alarm system goes off.
“I call it diversionary security, which is we direct them somewhere else, away from our 20-block radius,” McMahon said. KTLA.
Santa Monica resident Stephen McMahon (pictured) has invented a device that emits blue strobe lights and the sound of crickets to deter homeless people from camping
Security footage captured the device successfully chasing people out of his carport
McMahon says he is frustrated by the number of homeless people seeking shelter in his carport.
He created the device after someone stole more than $20,000 worth of items from a locked storage unit in his building’s garage, the Santa Monica Daily Press.
“I’ve lived here for over 30 years and I’ve seen this neighborhood, which used to be a paradise and beautiful, deteriorate over the last five or six years,” he said.
“I want to get these people out of here and make Santa Monica the way it was.”
The Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count found that 774 people were homeless in Santa Monica in January, with 479 people reported living outside.
According to research, blue light prevents people from falling asleep because it tricks the brain into thinking it is daytime. Harvard Health.
The handmade device is called the Blue Chirper
McMahon’s neighbors bought their own Blue Chirpers from him and installed them in their carports (pictured)
Cameras placed on the carports of McMahon’s community have repeatedly captured people getting ready to sleep or do drugs, the motion sensors going off and eventually they leaving.
McMahon said he consulted with an attorney to make sure his device is legal to use. Many of his neighbors, including local businesses, have asked if they could get their own device.
“Look, as long as it’s a sound that you hear in nature and it’s not louder than a real cricket, then it’s fine,” he said. “Nobody can complain about it.”
Neighbors reported feeling safer in their neighborhoods now that they have an effective way to keep their cars safe.
“It’s nothing short of a total renewal of our lives in that building, just by doing something as simple as being able to park and walk to our car without fear,” said neighbor Cory Greenwell. told KCAL.
McMahon said demand has increased near his home (pictured) because neighboring Reed Park is part of the county’s needle distribution program and drug use is on the rise
Blue light prevents people from falling asleep because it tricks the brain into thinking it is daytime.
McMahon currently sells the devices for about $500 each, but he hopes to lower the price as demand increases.
He told the Santa Monica Daily Press That demand is growing because nearby Reed Park is part of the region’s needle distribution program and drug use is on the rise.
“I can’t make them fast enough,” he said. “My wife and I are going on vacation next week and I have a landlord who wants four of them.”
‘Otherwise her tenants will leave, she says, it’s that bad. [The landlord] was in tears. Normally it would take me a few months to build four, but she practically begged me to.’