"Anti-Homeless Studs" in a London Doorway

[Starglider]

In this case the method is dangerously extreme.

I doubt it is 'extreme' so much as 'cheap and quick to install'. Drilling, tapping and screwing or just epoxying those in probably took an hour or so, using minimal tools and materials. Repaving or building any kind of brickwork takes considerably more time & materials.

[ThatOneCatC]

In this case the method is dangerously extreme.

I doubt it is 'extreme' so much as 'cheap and quick to install'. Drilling, tapping and screwing or just epoxying those in probably took an hour or so, using minimal tools and materials. Repaving or building any kind of brickwork takes considerably more time & materials.

It is both cheap and extreme. There are cement "bumps" that can be purchased that would suffice while being relatively inexpensive as well. This just seems mean.

[Nephtys]

This isn't anything new. I've seen lots of park benches with objects in the way to prevent one laying on them, or similar occasional bars/spikes/nubs to make laying on a low wall or similar public surface uncomfortable. Or the little spikes on the edges of railings so people won't want to lean or sit on them.

[Darth Tanner]

There are cement "bumps" that can be purchased that would suffice while being relatively inexpensive as well.

How would putting down some cardboard or a blanket not defeat concrete bumps?

I wonder if putting those spikes up is even legal. Is that a public street the entrance leads to?

They would almost certainly need permission from the council to install these as they would count under harmful to humans... It might be the case that they are not covered by existing planning legislation however as most of it relates to putting barb wire on your fences ect... Also there would be a legal requirement for a sign drawing attention to them.

I think this is trying to solve a justifiable problem of getting rid of homeless people sleeping by your door.... but it is doing so in the worst way possible. They will likely be removed the second someone steps on one of the spikes.

[Patroklos]

When I first moved into my condo building I would routinely find homeless people sleeping on a landing in our fire stair well. I used it to let the dog out in the morning and military hours being what they are I used them early enough to catch them before they left. I honestly didn't much of it as I am a guy in a uniform with a dog (a large one), I was not likely to run into any trouble and like some here I also thought whats the harm of letting someone use our stairwell (heated/AC) for shelter. In fact we are right next door to a very large old closed homeless shelter, and while they built a very nice replacement some distance away I am pretty sure the older homeless of those who might have been out of the area for awhile still come to the old location to find there is no help there.

Well that changed as soon as one of our female neighbors ran into one of them and honestly after the condo association reaction was over I realized I was being niave. It was ponted out that it wasn't so much that it was a homeless person, but that it was an unknown person that was in that stairwell. On top of that they needed to have at least two keys to get into that stairwell from the outside which meant they either picked the locks somehow of got keys from someone who obviously didn't see fit to inform their fellow owners. Those same keys would get them past the stairwell into the building proper should they want to (to my knowledge they never did, I think they were just looking for someplace dry and warm and were more than happy with the stairwell). And then of course there was a bit about me statistically not being a likely victim, unlike most of my neighbors.

There is a reason we secure buildings like that in the first place, if you want to help out a homeless person invite them into your home proper rather than take liberties with the common areas.

[Simon_Jester]

Well, in this case the alcove appears to be publicly accessible space, rather than the interior of a secure building.

[PhilosopherOfSorts]

This would be easily defeated with a piece of scrap plywood.

[Patroklos]

I doubt that is normal kit amongst the limited onhand baggage of a typical homeless person.

[Simon_Jester]

Yes, but it's well within the realm of what they could rummage up.

[Ziggy Stardust]

But it is not easy to transport, and it also attracts attention from the authorities, as a large piece of plywood being carried around by a homeless person is disproportionately likely to be stolen. There is a reason why you don't see homeless people carrying around large pieces of material, after all. With the exception of semi-permanent homeless "communities" like Skid Row in L.A. or the (now defunct) Mole People of New York (living in abandoned subway tunnels), homeless people just aren't likely to carry around anything that large. It just isn't an efficient use of time or energy for something that you are liable to be forced to drop as soon as a cop looks at you funny.

EDIT: Remember, just because something is theoretical possible, doesn't mean it is feasible.

[madd0ct0r]

Ziggy, it's not unusual for homeless people to have a shopping trolley's worth of stuff.

[Hillary]

Ziggy, it's not unusual for homeless people to have a shopping trolley's worth of stuff.

Yeah - I was thinking that too.

Heck, 4 or 5 cardboard boxes flattened out would do the same.

[Purple]

Things like this aren't meant to completely prevent them sleeping there just make it inconvenient enough that most won't bother.

[Zaune]

The Mayor of London weighs in.

[InsaneTD]

Those are luxury apartments? I'm surprised they don't have planters there.

[salm]

The area I live in is plastered with homeless people, random junkies and drunk tourists. It´s very common to see people sleeping in places like pictured in the op image or to get approached for money.

Still, I don´t know a single person, neither male nor female who would be scared of some poor fuck sleeping a corner like this.
Maybe it´s because there are so many around here and people got used to it so much that the homeless just fade out and turn into background noise.

[General Zod]

The area I live in is plastered with homeless people, random junkies and drunk tourists. It´s very common to see people sleeping in places like pictured in the op image or to get approached for money.

Still, I don´t know a single person, neither male nor female who would be scared of some poor fuck sleeping a corner like this.
Maybe it´s because there are so many around here and people got used to it so much that the homeless just fade out and turn into background noise.

Maybe it's different in Europe, but there's a lot of homeless here who are convicted felons that otherwise can't get into regular housing.

[Broomstick]

When I lived in Chicago I passed by homeless people all the time. In general, if they didn't bother me I didn't bother them. We had one sleeping under the fire escape of my building for a number of months and no one bothered him, he didn't bother anyone. Again, so common and ubiquitous that you stopped freaking out over them.

Probably the safest statement is that this varies by region and location.

[Simon_Jester]

I think it also has a lot to do with:

1) Whether you're wealthy enough to feel attractive to thieves; people with lots of stuff to steal are more likely to fear strangers near their homes, and have the clout to get them driven away.
2) Whether you're wealthy enough to have (potentially) friends and relations among the homeless. There may be an empathy factor going on here.

[Raw Shark]

Here in Denver, it's actually pretty safe to assume that any random homeless person you see on the street at night is completely sketchy, because we have really good (but not perfect) social services and a large, accommodating shelter with heat and food and stuff that has been in the same place for a long time and will take anybody who isn't obviously wasted or violent. They even let people sleep in the hallways if they run out of beds and it's cold out, which has got to be against some kind of regulation. If you can't get in there, you fucked up somehow.

[salm]

Here in Denver, it's actually pretty safe to assume that any random homeless person you see on the street at night is completely sketchy, because we have really good (but not perfect) social services and a large, accommodating shelter with heat and food and stuff that has been in the same place for a long time and will take anybody who isn't obviously wasted or violent. They even let people sleep in the hallways if they run out of beds and it's cold out, which has got to be against some kind of regulation. If you can't get in there, you fucked up somehow.

We have all that in Germany but it´s more complicated than that. Just because there are possibilities doesn´t mean that everyone wants to or can use them.

[Purple]

Here in Denver, it's actually pretty safe to assume that any random homeless person you see on the street at night is completely sketchy, because we have really good (but not perfect) social services and a large, accommodating shelter with heat and food and stuff that has been in the same place for a long time and will take anybody who isn't obviously wasted or violent. They even let people sleep in the hallways if they run out of beds and it's cold out, which has got to be against some kind of regulation. If you can't get in there, you fucked up somehow.

We have all that in Germany but it´s more complicated than that. Just because there are possibilities doesn´t mean that everyone wants to or can use them.

If people do not want to use them that by definition makes them sketchy in my book. As for can't, could you elaborate a bit on that?

[Eternal_Freedom]

I have to say that something I find more disturbing than people automatically assuming homeless people are possibly dangerous is what some in this thread have said, that they just fade int the background and you stop noticing them. That really isn't a good sign I think, that you stop noticing a problem and just mentally gloss over it.

[Ubiquitous]

I'd have no problem with an unknown homeless person sleeping outside of my front door if I was also home, but I would have a problem if there was an unknown homeless person sleeping outside my house with just my girlfriend home. The spikes seem very visually harsh but the reason behind their deployment is in my opinion understandable.

[Raw Shark]

I have to say that something I find more disturbing than people automatically assuming homeless people are possibly dangerous is what some in this thread have said, that they just fade int the background and you stop noticing them. That really isn't a good sign I think, that you stop noticing a problem and just mentally gloss over it.

Yeah, that's kind of a major mistake. Stay aware of the people in your periphery who have nothing to lose, because, if nothing else, you still have a mouth and ass that they might like to fuck after overpowering you, no matter who you are. And, y'know, don't forget about them emotionally, either, because Humanity, but, seriously: I have seen some fucked-up shit, and watch the fuck out.