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Robots Are Being Used To Shoo Away Homeless People In San Francisco (qz.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Quartz: San Francisco's Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) has been ordered by the city to stop using a robot to patrol the sidewalks outside its office, the San Francisco Business Times reported Dec. 8. The robot, produced by Silicon Valley startup Knightscope, was used to ensure that homeless people didn't set up camps outside of the nonprofit's office. It autonomously patrols a set area using a combination of Lidar and other sensors, and can alert security services of potentially criminal activity.
In a particularly dystopian move, it seems that the San Francisco SPCA adorned the robot it was renting with stickers of cute kittens and puppies, according to Business Insider, as it was used to shoo away the homeless from near its office. San Francisco recently voted to cut down on the number of robots that roam the streets of the city, which has seen an influx of small delivery robots in recent years. The city said it would issue the SPCA a fine of $1,000 per day for illegally operating on a public right-of-way if it continued to use the security robot outside its premises, the San Francisco Business Times said.
In a particularly dystopian move, it seems that the San Francisco SPCA adorned the robot it was renting with stickers of cute kittens and puppies, according to Business Insider, as it was used to shoo away the homeless from near its office. San Francisco recently voted to cut down on the number of robots that roam the streets of the city, which has seen an influx of small delivery robots in recent years. The city said it would issue the SPCA a fine of $1,000 per day for illegally operating on a public right-of-way if it continued to use the security robot outside its premises, the San Francisco Business Times said.
EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!
I find it remarkably hypocritical that the SPCA of all organizations is chasing homeless people away from their local headquarters. Don't they realize that people are animals too, and deserving of at least the same caring and consideration that they'd give to homeless cats or dogs? Do they think that horses and cattle are deserving of their attentions but homeless humans aren't?
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This is probably just the beginning.
Next step is to create a robot to shew away robots...
Yes because none of them would suffer their whole lives from fetal alcohol syndrome or anything.
Then perhaps all those Republicans who are hellbent on outlawing abortion because it "kills a person" should enact laws to penalize pregnant women who smoke, do drugs, drink excessively or are obese. After all, shouldn't poisoning their "child" for nine straight months count as child endangerment?
In fact, if they're so concerned about the "child" then they should make it a requirement for women to have twice monthly visits to verify they aren't endangering their "child" through any of the above. You know, like a former convict has to report to a probation officer.
There. Problem solved. No more fetal alcohol syndrome. Just like outlawing abortions means no more women getting abortions.
San Francisco recently voted to cut down on the number of robots that roam the streets of the city, which has seen an influx of small delivery robots in recent years. The city said it would issue the SPCA a fine of $1,000 per day for illegally operating on a public right-of-way if it continued to use the security robot outside its premises
Maybe the city should hire the homeless people to shoo away the robots, and issue tickets.
Corruption is convincing someone that the selfless ideal is the same as their selfish ideal.
This is probably just the beginning.
Next step is to create a robot to shew away robots...
I bet you could hire a homeless person on the cheap.
Listen, buddy: If someone is legitimately breaking the law, then sure, let's arrest them and give them due process. But demonizing all of the homeless, because of some bad actors? That's just being a jerk. Are you aware that the majority of the homeless don't want to be? Or are suffering from mental illness of some sort? Or are drug addicts, and since there's no mechanism to get them off drugs, they're stuck in an endless downward spiral? What about honorably discharged veterens who are homeless? They served their country, now they're just scum so far as you or some others are concerned? What about homeless children? Should they just be 'shooed away' and forgotten, too?
Here's an idea that you'll probably like: why not just put them all up against a wall, men, women, children, all of them, and just shoot them dead? We'll make them dig their own graves first, even. Then no more homeless! You'll be happy then, right? </extreme_sarcasm>
For what is supposedly the greatest and most powerful nation on Earth, I think it's absolutely shameful that we have any homeless problem whatsoever. Instead of demonizing the homeless, we should be working to solve the problem -- and I don't mean "ship them off somewhere else", either. We treat ANIMALS better than we treat the homeless.
You're thinking of WWI. When we entered WWII nearly all of Europe was still in Nazi hands, as was North Africa. And we had been supplying the allies with weapons and machinery before that. The Japanese controlled nearly all of the Pacific west of Hawaii. The U.S was in the war for part of 1941, all of 1942, 1943, 1944, and part of 1945. At the end of the war we had 16 million men in uniform. So, no, it wasn't "basically" over when we got in.
Let's try to cut through the hyperventilating and click-bait headlines a bit, shall we?
First, keep in mind that the SPCA complex takes up an entire city block, and that they were having a real issue with safety and crime on their property. Prior to this, SPCA employees were literally not able to safely use some of the sidewalks due to discarded needles, obstructions, and so on.
Second, the robots are set to detect any illegal trespassing or activity, and simply report it to human security personnel. It's not like the robots have mounted tazers that drive the homeless out, running for their lives. In fact, people have vandalized the robots by tipping it over, covering its sensors with BBQ sauce or feces, etc. These robots are completely harmless, and in fact, are downright defenseless.
City Hall is great at lecturing others to be tolerant and risk their own safety while they can just nudge the police commissioner to quietly push homeless toward someplace where they don't have to look at them. I mean, we can't have homeless tents blocking off City Hall, right?
Irony: Agile development has too much intertia to be abandoned now.
Maybe, just maybe people are being diagnosed with a mental illness when previously the prevailing attitude was 'suck it up;. Previous veterans had to get on with their lives with their own resources, plenty of WW2 veterans topped themselves. Remember back in WW1 shell shock was initially attributed to LMF (lack of moral fibre). Attitudes have changed since then.
New Zealanders are well balanced with a chip on each shoulder. One represents Australia, the other the rest of the world
It's very strange that the SPCA of all organizations is acting like that rich tech bro a few years back who published a diatribe about how the homeless people on his building's street weren't being sufficiently controlled by the city.
My idea for fixing the problem is to re-open state mental hospitals. Almost all of the homeless problem is due to mental illness and drug addiction. Where I live, there are 5 massive, closed mental hospital complexes within 50 miles that housed thousands of patients each before the deinstitutionalization wave of the 70s and 80s. Why not reopen them as voluntary treatment centers again? Instead of beating and lobotomizing patients, give them the help they need to fix whatever problem is interfering with them having a normal existence.
So your response to Petty crimes is a death sentence? Has it occurred to you that maybe you're part of why society is so fucked up in the first place?
Actually, many of the homeless have varying degrees of mental illness. People on welfare often get stuck on it because they lose the benefits faster than earned income fills the gap.
People coming home from WWII got ticket tape parades and a booming economy. In an era where a high school diploma could net you a decent job, they had advanced training on top of that. As a society, it was understood that the women pressed into the work force by necessity would be vacating those jobs en-masse as soon as the troops came home. Even manual laborers made enough for a single income to modestly support a married couple.
Does any of that ring true for Vietnam?
Gulf veterans get respect, but no booming economy, no jobs being vacated, and everyone thinks you need a degree to pump gas (I'm only slightly exaggerating on the last one).
Nah, it's about poverty. If drug addiction lead to homelessness, Robert Downy Jr. and Lindsey Lohan would have moved into cardboard boxes decades ago.
Among extensive debates with a young-ish Japanese Senpai about WWII, we last concluded that even though I did not know a single person that suffers serious injury (mental and physical) that's supposed to have been ravaged by Japanese Army, sample of our experiences are inaccurate, as broken people are not likely to get married, reproduce, and generally savagely maimed victims don't survive for 4 decades for me to meet in my 1980s childhood. (He acknowledged that he himself had an uncle that was broken after returning from WII, and only faintly remembered said uncle as a NEET that was propped up by rich family, drink himself silly and do nothing but laze around in his home and lived just a little past 60 years.)
And that also sums up most people's experiences with their WWII veteran Dad and Granddad - people that's well adjusted enough to go back to live a happy/productive life or at least raise a family of course are not a fair sample to gauge PTSD. I don't know much about homeless vet situation in 1950s, but real broken ones probably landed up in a mental institution by 1950 or succumb to alchoholism and most probably die childless at their 50s/ 60s.
Talk to WWII veteran that still maintained vitality to talk about his experience at 93, Year 2017? Of course youngsters will have an impression that every single one of them WWII is tough as rock.