We try to be inconspicuous when installing our noise capturing equipment. We're frequently questioned by cops but usually they're just curious after they establish we're not stealing traffic lights. One time, some bums asked us what we were doing, and after we told them we were collecting noise data, they started screaming into our noise recorders :(

"Booby traps for tourists. If we catch one you can have the money, but leave the body for us."

The data is collected with decibel recorders in each intersection. We wanted as many data points as possible so the devices could only last 3.5 days.

We were stopped by two sets of police, business owners, and local residences. But we explained that our goal was to educate new residents the impact of noise and most were excited about the project. We're looking into giving the SF gov't access to the data to work on improvements.

I can only imagine if you tried this in Boston ;)

Shouldn't be a problem. The Big Dig did extensive noise monitoring for almost 10 years and maybe had a couple of monitors messed with.

I think he meant this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Boston_bomb_scare