Atlanta’s 11 Least Influential People: No. 10
November 8, 2008 at 8:57 pm by Andisheh Nouraee in NewsAtlanta’s 11 Least Influential People is Creative Loafing’s annual tribute to the Joe and Josephine Averages of the world who try, but don’t necessarily succeed.
Winners 11 through six will be revealed, one-per-day, until Wednesday, November 12, when the 11 Least Influential issue hits newsstands.
No. 10 — The Bum Bot
THE BUM BOT: Can't solve Atlanta's homelessness epidemic. (Photo by Joeff Davis)
Can’t solve Atlanta’s homelessness epidemic
The Bum Bot is a homelessness-fighting robot.
Its inventor, former military weapons engineer Rufus Terrill, built it by attaching a disused meat smoker to an electric wheelchair and armoring it with thick, black rubber.
Terrill steers the Bum Bot from inside his Midtown bar, O’Terrill’s, using a handheld remote control. He can see where the Bum Bot is going through a real-time video feed from a wireless camera mounted on its body.
He uses the Bum Bot, he says, to get rid of homeless people — to keep them from his bar or from camping on the property of a nearby day care center, of which he is on the board of directors.
The Bum Bot is armed with four weapons: a flashlight, a loudspeaker, the fact that it’s really creepy-looking, and a high-pressure water cannon.
As Terrill explains it, he, his patrons, and his neighbors are victims — not just of homeless criminals, but of a city that does not treat trespassing, theft, or vagrancy as serious problems.
The Bum Bot is Terrill’s attempt to address the problem on his own.
Does Terrill’s Bum Bot work?
Well, it’s really good at generating publicity for the bar. The Bum Bot has made Terrill a local media favorite, garnered him a sympathetic story in USA Today, and earned him a hilarious feature on The Colbert Report.
However, the Bum Bot is evidently lousy at tackling homelessness and the problems associated with it.
Walk or drive around O’Terrill’s at any time of day and you’re likely to see dozens of homeless men and women.
The Bum Bot’s fatal flaw is conceptual. Terrill is trying to attack homelessness by making homelessness unpleasant.
But being homeless was pretty damn unpleasant long before the Bum Bot came along. People don’t live on the street because it’s fun. They live on the street because they’re poor, running away from an abusive relationship, mentally-ill, or substance-addicted.
A steroidal Roomba might make someone get up and move from the spot where they were sleeping, but it’s not going to make anyone un-homeless.
See all of Atlanta’s 11 Least Influential People of 2008.
November 10th, 2008 at 2:52 pm
[...] Saturday morning on Fresh Loaf: No. 10 Bookmark [...]
November 12th, 2008 at 11:09 pm
With the city’s budget deficit, the Bum Bot might become one of the most influential things of 2009.
November 13th, 2008 at 10:56 am
He isn’t trying to “fix” homelessness or make it more unpleasant in general, he is trying to “fix” homelessness and make it more unpleasant around his place of business.
I live a few blocks away and it seems to have reduced the problem around his business. The fact that Peachtree Pine and Crackhead Park are within a block or so away means there will always be homeless in the area.
I guess he should sit back and rely on the city and homeless advocates to fix the problem, huh?
November 19th, 2008 at 7:38 pm
I go to O’Terrill’s all the time and have seen Rufus in action with the Bum Bot. He’s not trying to hurt homeless people; he’s trying to get the drug dealers and car thieves out of the neighborhood. We need more people like Rufus in our neighborhood to help clean up the crime the city won’t do anything about. Go Rufus!