7-Eleven Blasts Classical Music To Discouraging Panhandlers In Modesto

Want to get rid of teenage loiterers? Blast some Beethoven!

By Marilyn Nelson on May 1, 2018
(Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

The owner of a 7-Eleven in Modesto says blaring classical music on the speaker outside his store is helping keep away the panhandlers and stops people from loitering.

“This is a win-win situation,” Sandhu said. “I’m hearing nothing but positives,” store owner Sukhi Sandhu told the Modesto Bee“Once the music started, the riffraff left.”

He said that since the music started it has created an environment where his customers feel safer. This tactic is part of a 7-Eleven program that encourages non-confrontational methods to reduce loitering.

In addition, Sandhu uses a method he calls a mosquito device at stores he owns stores in Ceres and Stockton. The device creates a high-pitched sound similar to an annoying mosquito. Clerks can turn if on and off when necessary. It works, but not as well as blasting classical music.

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