Homemade Robot Patrols Atlanta Streets

Josh Fink brings news of an Atlanta resident who has created a remote control robot to scare off criminals during the night. Rufus Terrill, an engineer, uses it to patrol the streets and encourage drug dealers and other shady characters to move on. Local residents call it his "Robocop." From CNN: "It's a barbecue smoker mounted on a three-wheeled scooter, and armed with an infrared camera, spotlight, loudspeaker and aluminum water cannon that shoots a stream of icy water about 20 feet. Operated by remote control, the robot spotlights trespassers on property down the street from his bar, O'Terrill's. Using a walkie-talkie, Terrill belts out through the robot's loudspeaker, 'That's private property. You guys need to get out of here.'"

Comments

The trouble with lights...

[reality-bytes]

The problem with adding lights to the street is that it just allows the criminals to see what they are doing.

Or him...

[eln]

I read an article about it earlier where a homeless guy followed him back from the square and started joking with him about it. If this is a major money-making area for these drug dealers, it's only a matter of time before one of them follows him and shoots him. I like that he's trying to clean up the neighborhood, and the idea is novel, but I can certainly imagine someone getting a little stabby or shooty after getting sprayed with ice cold water while trying to conduct "business".

Oh no it's the pusher man

[randyest]

Meredith has a security guard at the center who leaves in the early evening. "They know when the guard leaves," she says. "They know when the cleaning crew leaves and then here comes the drug dealers to prey on the homeless people."

I think the issue is homeless people. They are being confused with the folks who prey on them and sell them drugs

Right. The homeless people are confused. They actually think they are applying for jobs and/or educational classes, but they somehow get drugs instead! They were confused! The dealers force them to buy drugs, with confusion techniques!

Drug pushers don't exist. No one has to push drugs -- they sell themselves.

Psychology & the Police

[davecrusoe]

It's quite neat that this guy has taken the time to build something to help keep the neighborhood "safer". But what's most interesting is that the "drug dealers" (etc) respond so strongly to the little, harmless robot; and that their response would probably be much more hostile toward police. In addition to a neat experiment in... safety... it's also a neat psychological study. --Dave

Re:Can you say "better than being tasered?"

[Cadallin]

God, I'm getting so tired of the Whiny anti-smoking bitching. Especially outside. Get the fuck over it. These two points really piss me off. You don't like someone smoking near you outside? Move your lazy ass! And two, unless you are operating the only bar in town, you should abso-fucking-lutely have the right to make it a smoking establishment. Anybody who doesn't like it can go somewhere else.

I don't even smoke, and that is not the point. I fervently believe people should have the right to smoke. It is 100% a personal liberty issue. Now, as for how it can be marketed and sold, I'm up for debate. I'd be fine with it being restricted to small scale growing for personal consumption, like marijuana is often produced in Medical Marijuana states, or Canada (Note that these places don't restrict it that way, its just most commonly produced that way.)

Re:Vigilante Justice is illegal for a reason

[YrWrstNtmr]

Saying "Get out of here, this is private property" is not harassment. Even if it is at a distance. The water cannon may be a bit over the line, but how do you get harassment out of the walkie-talkie part?

As far as 'legal measures', the police cannot be everywhere, 24/7. You think the residents haven't called them before?

Re:Vigilante Justice is illegal for a reason

[MobyDisk]

You know, I don't want things to become like the old west either, but this absurd over-pacifism is ridiculous. If someone comes on to my property to sell drugs, or some other illegal activity, and I yell at them - that's not illegal. If I shoot them with a water gun that isn't assault. It's that person being an ass, and me being an ass back. The difference is that their ass is on my property conducting an illegal activity, and they know it. So they leave because my charge of trespassing and drug sales is bigger than their charge of assault by a water pistol.

There's nothing wrong with citizens taking these types of minor things into their own hands. I don't want a world where every time I step on someone's grass they call the police. The reason we are moving in that direction, as a society, is because a small small small number of people are so trigger happy (with real live guns) that even the minor everyday cases of someone protecting themselves runs the risk of becoming a life or death situation. So we all live in fear.

The reality is that the police cannot be everywhere at once, and if someone has a safe way to protect themselves like this, then they should be allowed to do it. Yes, it is probably assault according to the letter of the law, but not according to the spirit of it.

Re:Vigilante Justice is illegal for a reason

[mrchaotica]

If the streets where he lives are so rampant with criminal activity I would suggest he follows legal measures to do remedy the situation.

I don't know where in Atlanta this guy lives, but the worst neighborhood in the city is English Avenue. I can't remember the statistics I read at the moment, but I think it had something on the order of 300 murders (let alone everything else) in 2006. In a single neighborhood.

Now, you know how many cops patrol that area? Two. Two! That's not even enough to have even any officers in the area all the time! When it's that bad, exactly what legal measures do you suggest he follow?!