A kid I am sort of babysitting after school for a couple weeks is writing a story for her english class, and the teacher ‘values research’ so she just can’t decide on whim that something is illegal or legal within the story.
So, sprog is writing an urban adventure, full of parkour and the like, set in current Phoenix Arizona. Is it legal to top a wall with broken glass to keep people from climbing over it into your yard?
I tend to think it isn’t, but she is hoping it is legal so she can equip the protagonist with those spiffy chain mail gloves to prevent his hands from getting cut up.
Under common law, anyone who owns or controls property has a legal duty of care to protect people on the property from foreseeable harm. To an extent, this duty extends to people on the property without permission – including burglars and vandals. The duty can be discharged with a warning, such as “WARNING - This Wall is Topped With Sharp Glass Fragments and Razor Wire: Do Not Touch – Do Not Enter - Serious Injury May Result”.
A distinction is drawn between an undiscovered trespasser and one discovered - a discovered or anticipated trespasser must be warned of artificial conditions or active proceedings that may lead to serious injury or death.
From what I’ve read of Arizona law, the common law is still in place; one basis for Arizona law, Section 341 of the Restatement (Second) of Torts, indicates that
As for criminal penalties, it’s hard to say; “endangerment” is one possibility:
The question is whether dangerous wall, with proper warnings affixed and clearly visible, is “reckless.” I have no knowledge of court precedents in this matter.
The last time I checked, they were available primarily through industrial supply catalogs. Butchers and certain other workers are required to wear them. I could not afford a pair as they are $80 per glove. That’s right. It’s $160 for a pair of chainmail gloves.
Does it matter if it is legal or not? An urban adventure in real life is likely to encounter some things that are not quite legal, like graffiti, drugs, various criminal elements, gangs, etc.
I think the teacher is being a butthead … however when they were discussing the story outline the teacher made it clear that since this is a crime/police procedural, it has to be realistic. The house in question is in a reasonably decent area, owned by a normal law abiding citizen. So she has to write it as if the person owning the house had taken reasonable precautions against being burglarized. Personally I would go with broken glass, concertina and a nice tall fence …
But since it appears not legal, I am thinking nice decorative planters of some really nice prickly cactus may do the trick. How tall does ocotilla get? Maybe crown of thorns?
If the teacher values research, why doesn’t the young person pick up the phone and call the police to ask the question?
And I don’t think intentionally placed broken glass is necessary as an excuse for chainmail gloves. Rough stone and unintentionally broken glass is going to require some kind of glove to protect the hands, and I suppose someone could go with chainmail for the look of it.
Of course, I would also research whether chainmail gloves would hinder parkour.
The question is not whether it is legal but whether it is realistic. So… do people actually do this prevent people from climbing over their garden walls?
Also, could the legalities of such a practice not be incorporated into this “crime/police procedural”?
ETA, since tresspassing is obviously illegal, is this question not moot?
Here’s a picture from Cambodia. Could the homeowner in question be an immigrant who thinks the old ways are best? That would be realistic, and explain away the legality a bit.
I had a couple of those in my yard in Norfolk VA, they look really alien monsterish when the blossoms drop off the stalks =)
possible =) though there is something scarymaking about the huge thorns on the ocotilla!
I used to use the chain gove when working on a carcass when I worked in a restaurant, it isnt coarse like a coat of mail, it is actually very fine and flexible, and has a leather underglove, but I am just riffing on what she was thinking about fo rher story =) And I don’t think Pat would appreciate long distance charges on the home phone when internet is reasonably free … and she is a bit young to be able to wade through admin or criminal law websites =) She already has tried researching it online and ran into Arizona Revised Statutes, which is why she asked me for help.
she is in the research and figure out what the plot phase of writing … obviously she can work the legality of putting glass on the top of the wall to keep people out, but if she doesnt know if it is legal or not, how can she decide how to put it into the story?
But this is set in the US, in Arizona … Im sure that in Mogodishu you can have man eating hyenas in the yard to eat people who try to break in, but that isn’t going to wash in arizona :dubious:
but she was specifically interested in broken glass … a legal product is not as interesting =)
very true. i know that there are a lot of immigrants that ended up in arizona.
no, but the info is very useful =)
very true =)
She says thanks, and is now off scribbling pensively [or as scribbly as one can get on a computer. I sort of miss the yellow legal pad and pencil and eraser of my youth…]
Protecting the hands only covers part of the problem–I would guess the purpose of the character putting hands on top of the wall is to mantle up onto it. If so, he will be putting his torso and/or legs on the broken glass as well. That doesn’t mean that protecting the hands isn’t a good idea, it just means that it’s not enough protection from this particular threat. (Unless she pictures the character coming into contact with the glass in some other context.)
For what it’s worth, there are a lot of walls topped with broken glass in New Orleans, but I think they’re all quite old. I don’t believe anyone is being required to remove them, but building new ones like that may not be legal–and that’s New Orleans, a very different setting. The best way to find out for sure about Arizona would be to look up a police information number in Arizona and ask them directly.
