SansPretense

Hat tip to Drudge for this story:

ATLANTA – Cars passing O’Terrill’s pub screech to a halt at the sight of a 300-pound, waist-high robot marked “SECURITY” rolling through downtown long after dark.

The regulars hardly glance outside. They’ve seen bar owner Rufus Terrill’s invention on patrol before — its bright red lights and even brighter spot light blazing, infrared video camera filming and water cannon at the ready in the spinning turret on top.

“You’re trespassing. That’s private property,” Terrill scolds an older man through the robot’s loudspeaker. The man is sitting at the edge of the driveway to a child care center down the street. “Go on.”

The man’s hands go up and he shuffles into the shadows. Almost immediately, a group of men behind him scatters too.

The Bum Bot’s reputation, it seems, has preceded it.

That kicks ass. I want one. So Terrill, the ex-Marine who built it, uses the robot to chase bums and people away from his bar and the child care center next door. Of course, people typically get intimidated by robots for some strange reason (“I’ll be back…”). So the usual suspects are all up in arms at this: (click for more)

The electronic vigilante — on the beat since September — has enraged neighborhood activists, who have threatened protests. Street people say it’s intimidating. And homeless advocates question the intentions of its inventor, who uses the Bum Bot as a marketing tool and a political prop.

…

Terrill bought the bar four years ago, plowing his profit from selling an apartment complex into the smoky dive. He named it O’Terrill’s, gave it an Irish theme and decorated it with knickknacks he and his wife, Linda, had lying around.

At first, he walked around, indoors and out, with an assault rifle on his shoulder to scare away vagrants, but police told him to put away the gun. Then he used a spotlight. But the bar was still being vandalized, and guns were stuck in his face several times.

…

Some who live on the streets say Terrill’s going too far.

“This is going to intimidate a lot of people,” says Rosetta Watkins, who used to live in a nearby shelter and has worked for Terrill. “You’re going to intimidate a lot more people than you’re going to help.”

Homeless advocates agree.

“It’s a play for public attention for Rufus. He’s certainly got a lot of attention — but not the kind we need for housing, living wages,” says Anita Beaty, director of Metro Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless. “This robot isn’t casting attention to the deep, deep poverty in Atlanta.”

So they question the guy’s intentions because they don’t like the fact that he chases homeless people away or because he uses a robot to do it? So what if he uses this as a publicity ploy? The problem with what the critics are saying is that they are ignoring this fact:

Terrill says he monitors only private property and never has blasted the cannon toward anyone. He also says he’s employed 70 people from the streets and shelters since he opened the bar and helped 18 move into other full-time gigs.

Beaty is unconvinced of his motives.

“I’m appalled by the whole idea. It’s a sham and a shame,” says Beaty. “Rufus is using this for his 15 minutes.”

Christensen at Georgia Tech is particularly concerned that the robot is a temporary — if entertaining — solution when Terrill could be helping find a permanent answer to vagrancy.

“He’s moving the problem elsewhere,” Christensen says. “And that works for him, but it’s really not solving anything.”

The man may be chasing the problem elsewhere, but it seems he’s still making an effort to help solve the problem by – Oh my God! – OFFERING JOBS. Sounds to me like he’s trying to protect his property AND help the needy. Employing 70 people off the streets and from shelters while helping 18 move in to permanent positions all within the 4 years he’s opened the bar is a pretty good record, I think…

But what do I know, I’m just an ignorant conservative…