It’s hard not to get a chuckle from this:
The cheap signs smashed into lawns and along the corners of busy intersections are hard to miss. “We Buy Junk Cars!” ‘’Cash for Your House!” ‘’Computer Repair.” The eyesores have vexed Hollywood Mayor Peter Bober for the past few years as he wastes valuable resources plucking up the signs only to watch them pop up in even greater numbers.
While stopped at a red light a few months ago, Bober studied the unsightly signs and came to a realization that would help him fight their proliferation: The criminals had left their calling cards in the form of business phone numbers.
“These people want us to call them, so let’s call them so much their head spins,” said Bober, who bought a $300 software program in March that makes robocalls to the businesses. The volume of calls has reached as high as 20 calls each to 90 businesses in a day.
Not sure if it’s legal, but I like it if it is. I’ve had that thought before. It’s not like we don’t know who is putting up the signs. The companies in question can say “Hey, that must have been done by some overenthusiastic boy we hired, sorry or whatever” or something, but this gives a particular incentive for them to take it down. There’s little more obnoxious than repeated calls. And unlike tickets, you don’t end up losing money due to court costs (if the businesses are smart, they collect the fines and then go to court and demand a separate hearing on each ticket).
I hate to be the one to get all persnickety about due process, but I can’t say I’m enthusiastic about the government doing this.
Comment by Φ — May 15, 2012 @ 8:24 pm
Seems kind of like a denial of service attack, but sponsored by the government. Not super comfortable with that, but a bit amused, as well.
I did like Rob Cockerham’s approach, though. I would post a link, but cockeyed.com seems down right now.
A4
Comment by A4 — May 16, 2012 @ 8:37 am
Maybe y’all are right. Or at least, we should probably know more about what it takes to get the calls to stop. If they have something in place for that, though, then I’m not sure that I have a real problem with it. The only reservation, really, is someone putting up someone else’s number as a prank.
Comment by trumwill — May 16, 2012 @ 4:25 pm
Unless there are laws on sign placement which the companies are breaking, it sounds to me as if the city is deliberately interfering with legal businesses.
Comment by Peter — May 16, 2012 @ 8:10 pm
The article says that the posting of them is a crime. So you’re dealing with violators or a law or ordinance of some sort.
Comment by trumwill — May 16, 2012 @ 8:38 pm