Originally published at: Atlanta's anonymous Boot Girls will remove the boot on your car wheel for $50 | Boing Boing
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They should start franchising in other cities.
Carbrain is astonishing sometimes
It looks like it could be defeated with any standard circle pin key?
Those videos were awesome, I’m considering installing TikTok just for those.
I found various tubular lock picks online for around the same price as I charge for a Bic pen. Another good business model ruined.
Seems like it would be trivial for law enforcement to catch them in the act using plain clothes officers. Install the boot, make the call, wait for them to commit the crime, arrest. What am I missing?
That sounds like entrapment.
Once the police recover the boots, the owners of the cars that were booted would be in a whole lot of trouble. I can see a few rolling over on the company.
Chicago ace locks are vulnerable to the pen trick if all their springs are the same strength. Otherwise, the tubular lock picks do require some skill to use.
I’m sure that LockPickingLawyer can open these bootlocks with the power of his disdain.
#bootgirlsforever
The part where it’s not a crime?
From the linked NPR story:
While “it is not illegal to own a boot key,” the Atlanta Police wrote, the use of a boot key to modify, tamper or disengage a booting device from a vehicle could result in a variety of charges, such as criminal trespass, theft of services, theft by taking or second-degree property damage.
Wetherington “strongly disagrees” with the Atlanta Police on the criminality of boot removals by everyday people.
"This is a private dispute between private citizens, and it is civil in nature and should never be considered criminal. At most, this is an instance of trespass.
It is not entrapment. Entrapment is when the police encourage a person to commit a crime they had no intention to commit otherwise. Clearly these people are already doing it.
How much do they charge to remove illegally parked cars? Just park legally, thanks.
Sometimes you don’t even need tools or even 50 bucks.
The women, who previously worked as beauticians
So it wasn’t a big pivot to become booticians.
I think of this clip every time I see anything related to these boots. Every, single, time
Meanwhile, in Scotland
Or for a more heroic rescue!