Grassroots "Keep the City Calm" Project Aims to Reduce Civil Unrest in Los Angeles Using Jazz
The Californer/10316784

LOS ANGELES - Californer -- Los Angeles, CA

A Los Angeles-based psychiatrist is calling on residents near areas of potential unrest to take part in a novel community experiment: playing calming midnight jazz from their windows, porches, or balconies to create a peaceful atmosphere during overnight hours.

The project, started by Dr. Jeremy Martinez, seeks to test whether ambient music—specifically jazz with its mellow, rhythmic qualities—can help reduce public tension and lower the number of police-involved incidents during periods of civil stress.

"This is not a research study with grants or approvals—it's a simple, community-led observation of how sound affects public mood," said Dr. Martinez. "Let's listen to Jazz, not police sirens."

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How it works:

1. Play Jazz from a speaker, in a window, from the roof, or even from your backpack.
2. Fill out a form (see below)

Residents with a speaker or smart device are asked to play a jazz playlist that is gently audible from the street for ten minutes or ten hours this weekend. Participants then fill out the Google Form to give their feedback on how it went. We will check the results against Public LAPD incident data to compare neighborhoods with and without the intervention.

The goal? To determine whether environmental soundscapes can reduce escalation, even temporarily, in neighborhoods experiencing unrest.

"This could be one of the most peaceful forms of community engagement imaginable," said Dr. Martinez. "No confrontation, no protest, just music in the night."

Participation is anonymous unless otherwise requested. The team hopes to publish findings as a case series or observational paper.

To volunteer or learn more, contact:
Dr. Jeremy Martinez
https://forms.gle/8kKucskKNiSKe8qL9
https://keepthecitycalm.com