Meet Atlanta’s most unlikely heroes, the Boot Girls. Masked vigilantes by day, sugar babies by night, the Boot Girls zip around town armed with plastic ghost keys, taking parking boots off your car for a small fee. A welcome service for a parking enforcement industry that’s been described as “predatory” by residents, city officials, and even state senators.
Here’s how it works: private companies patrol garages, booting cars for what-at times-seems like minor infractions. Parking anywhere can feel like a game of financial roulette, since boot companies charge $75 to unlock your car, and that doubles each subsequent day.
In this VICE profile, we embed with the Boot Girls, documenting their rise from hustlers to patron saints of Atlanta's parking lots.
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If you see these girls on the streets of ATL... no, you didn't.
Who? 🤔
Idk what u talking bout 😂
girl who are u even talkin about 🤨
Hmm? I was talking? Damn ya’ll, I got amnesia. 🤷🏾♀️
I be giving them a big ol tip !!! To the boot girls that is!!! 😅😂
Not all heroes wear capes, but at least one wears a fuzzy, bright pink shiesty mask.
😂
😂😂
It's called a balaclava, just letting you know what it's called 😊
It’s not a shiesty tho
😂
The fact the manager only takes 15% percent and gives ppl keys for cheap is very cool of him he is very just
the manager, the lawyer, they have a great team for sure.
Protect these women at all costs
12:28 They don't do it for free and their motives aren't altruistic. That said, it should be a civil matter and not a criminal one. They should not face charges.
Why they are just charging ppl for the same thing the state does
@@arthurneddysmith if they’re spending their time doing it, why should they do it for free?? it’s still way cheaper than what those companies are charging them. They are helping people regardless.
What if they're also booting cars tho..
Yo don't let vice fool you the man tommy g had a video with them months ago
I got booted in Atlanta one time and the boot guy was sitting in the parking lot and his vehicle waiting on everybody to park and walk off. Well I filmed him after we paid him to get the boot off and Atlanta law requires the booting company to have a sign on their vehicle of who they are making themselves known and he did not well when I sent the video to his company and threaten the lawsuit. They sent me my money back.
Should’ve went with the lawsuit, that’s would’ve been an easy suit in your favor especially considering EVERYONE hates car boots
I wish I had time to fight predatory parking, but they literally always get me when I work in the morning lol
that’s what’s up
I would get booted constantly while I was in college (paying ~$20k/yr to go to school there but still had to pay for parking 🙃). I was working full time and going to school full time and the parking tickets nearly made me fucking homeless. It’s a racket. These women are truly heaven sent
That’s fucking terrible man. 😢
they don’t really do this at the college i went to but at UCLA the students have a very strong culture of passing around parking passes because you’re absolutely right, it’s a racket. was visiting my sister a few times and she told me to not pay for parking and to see if there were any left over parking slips at the pass booth. i was walking over, asian kid walks up says do you want my pass ? 😂 i said yup thank you. then when i left i passed on his pass. and next time i went i just walked straight up to the pass booth and grabbed a left behind pass for the day, there were 2 others chillin there too.
It's still your fault for getting those parking tickets in the first place 🙃
@@howlingbeats2544 lick the boot of the fucking meter maids a little harder for me 😭 poor kids that have to keep their cars on campus so they can run to work immediately after a full day of class bc there’s no reliable public transportation should have to pay extra money on top of tuition, books, room and board for the privilege of being reliant on a car to survive? And then be penalized when they either can’t afford a parking pass or don’t hit the parking lottery that is only afforded to upperclassmen, so all of the underclassmen have to park miles away off campus? Does that sound like a reasonable business model or a productive use of time on behalf of the meter maids? Truly doing gods work by stopping the horrendous crime of overstaying by 10 minutes in a parking spot. We can all sleep a little safer bc of them 🙏🏼
@@howlingbeats2544 Taking an Uber, bus or train to avoid parking also costs money, effort and often more time. Why be rude to someone being honest?
I’ve seen how predatory booting and tow companies can be in Florida, and it’s worse in Georgia. I don’t endorse criminal behavior, but it’s weird to see people getting upset at the girls for this when boot companies walk the line of legality every day to extort people.
I live in Florida and I've seen at times when property managers would call the tow company they were friends with to have the car towed!! Tow truck driver splits the impound fees with the person that called them. It happens all the time.
Fuckin' Florida! The bath salt state..every time..
i became disabled and use a wheelchair now and lost all my cloae friends, seeing them be such good friends AND be doing this amazing grass roots movement that helps a ton of people, it just makes me happy and makes me miss female friendship so much
You’ll find your right ones, and your own movement. You’ll be given ‘em hell babe before you know it. And I can’t wait until you do. Keep going ❤️
I heard gangs are a good place for people who look like Lego set 11031
Same girl same ❤ I feel that too. I hope we both get to find great new friendships that bring real love. What gets taken away will come back better. ♾️🩷
@@Jonathantmoore29392 hey Jonathan. You had no reason to go and say something like that other than to try and make people feel bad. And I hope whatever hurt in your heart, maybe your parents left you because you were a terrible child (personally don’t blame them) maybe you’ve just gotten divorced because your wife couldn’t stand the sight of you and cheated on you and took the kids etc (wouldn’t blame her either you seem like a real peach) but whatever that hurt is, I hope it heals for you so you don’t feel the need to leave pointless unintelligent comments to make other people feel as bad as you do. I hope you find your friends too and they heal the ugliness in you. ❤️❤️❤️ #StayBlessed
@@Jonathantmoore29392thanks Jonathan There was zero need for your unfunny unintelligent comment. Whatever has gone on in your life to make you so gross on the inside I hope it gets better for you. Leaving that comment just cause your unhappy and sad on the inside and want everyone to feel that way is so not needed in 2024. If you don’t have anything nice to say don’t say anything at all. Didn’t your momma teach you that or did she leave you and that’s why you’re like this. #StayBlessed
I can’t hate this.
Finally a vice special that’s entertaining
But you want to. Or hows thats even on your mind? Spread love not hate
@@mikaellindqvist5599real shiii
That’s okay, I can.
I can
The private security at a client's apartment building did this to us. We told them were doing the repairs, and he wouldn't budge. So we paid to have it removed, and a week later, came back and booted HIS car. The next day, a homeless guy came with a key to the boot and said, "I'll remove it for $30."
I paid for parking in Buckhead, near the wework using spot hero. I came back and my car was booted. Not only did they boot my car, but they scratched up my rim. The booter took 2 hours to come despite telling me he is 20 mins away. He threw a I'm sorry with noo care in the world and refused to take accountability for the rim damage.
You’re complaining about someone who risked their freedom to help you out? Get a job bum
They’re local legends! I got booted once at the Courts one time when I was paying a traffic ticket… wish I had them back then
To what end? To pay them $50 instead of the boot-company $75? The solution isn't to pay someone else slightly less, it's to demand the scumbag city stop the robbery altogether.
@@I.____.....__...__ you don’t understand the boot ticket said $75 on it, the guy scratched it out with his pen and put $90. They can decide to charge you more money at any point. I could’ve used that extra $15 i was broke af. But yeah of course nobody wants boots if we’re being ideal 🤷♂️
@@I.____.....__...__ i mean they did say that the price increases per day the car is parked. sure it's $75 on the first day but if you leave it for a couple days you're looking at hundreds. $50 is nothing compared to that.
@@I.____.....__...__How's that boot taste?
The fact courts charge for parking is criminal. WE fund those courts
Superglue the locks like the French did, force the private companies to cut their own wheel clamps (boots) off themselves, they don't even exist over there anymore 😂
Smart
This is the way. It costs them way more money, and that's the only way to get them to really stop.
Upvote this 👍
That would make it illegal by damages done to the boot. It's a good idea ,but they are trying to be legitimate and not get into legal troubles.
@@ArtBellJrwho's to say it was the girls that did it and not some random vigilante with CA glue?
I would worry that someone booting these cars is going to make a fake call just to start a confrontation
Their friendship sounds so wonderful and genuine!! Im so happy they have each other!! 💜💖💜
A bic pen, and a bic lighter, is an ALMOST foolproof way to pick those circular locks, take the pen apart, use the lighter to soften the tube of the pen, and then quickly press it into the circular hole, allow it to cool and harden, then twist as if the pen were a key. It doesn't always work, but it does work most of the time.
70 percent of the time. It works all the time…😆
Classic technique
If it doesn't work you've jammed the locking mechanism with soft plastic and the boot key will no longer unlock it.
You go girls!
@@SarcasticDatathat was my first thought
That lawyer talk smart and got a nice suit. He defo getting them charges dropped. Fight the power!!
If something "illegal" can be corrected by paying something, then it's only illegal for the poor. If the law doesn't respect you, why should you respect it?
lol but the thing is that you should’ve been paying for your car payments or shouldn’t have gotten a car to begin with 😂 How are you living in section 8 with your new Kia, but you can’t make payments on? Cmon now, yall be making horrible choices and act like it’s the “man” trying to get yall. Just look at the peoples cars! THEY CLEARLY GOT CARS THEY COULD NOT AFFORD WITH THE KNOWLEDGE THAT THEYRE NOT GOING TO MAKE THE MONTHLY PAYMENTS
@@thatbeaatcch9884 damn we get it your a bootlicker. You don't have to go so far out of your way to swallow the whole dam boot. It's embarrassing.
@@thatbeaatcch9884that’s not always the case and bro why you defending the government 💀
aw i honestly fkn love them, grass roots for the people movements are highly important and impactful and cover all kinds of areas, including this one right here. these girls are out there doing the right thing, bless them for real
what oranges mean to Florida is what strippas mean to Atlanta.
I love this
Like florida ain't got a shitload of strippers too
Dammn I thought it was peaches 🍑 for ATL .
Not all heroes wear capes
Some wear ski mask
Some wear pleasers 🩷✨
@@IPETGOATII. Real heroes would take the boots off for free instead of leaving a card to take it off for slightly less. 😒
@@I.____.....__...__well they do admit they are hustlers & this is a good way to build a legit hustle!
lol some wear booty! 🍑
Y’all made it hot airing it on a platform like Vice. It will be a matter of time until Atlanta switches it up with booting people.
Yep. New boots that cannot be picked.
Exactly what I was thinking
@@eternalbeing3339 If a lock can be unlocked, it can be picked. There's no unpickable locks.
That cannot be picked… name one lock in the entire world that cannot be picked.
@@Ajidambut these hoes aren't picking the locks. They have a handful of stock keys.
so cute together. love their friendship and work ethic
Their "work ethic"? 🤨 Of charging $50 to take boots off of poor people's cars so they don't have to pay the company $75? 🤨 And then posting on social-media to pretend they're "heroes"? 🤨
Yea until one of them is messing with the other one’s relationship partner lol- then they gonna turn on each other- it’s science
@@Missing-Exploited. Sounds like you were hurt 😭
I absolutely love this. I’m from the U.K., parking companies here have way more power than the consumer. I love their friendship, I love their hustle and I love the fact that they’re helping people. My husband is disabled and has a blue badge, we still get ticketed for parking outside our own property. I think these girls deserve every good thing going ❤
Next time, take the boot when you unlock them. Just don't document it on video, let see how many boots they can afford to buy 🙂
They can't; that's theft and they've already established that they're the ones taking the boots off, so the company will tell the cops it was definitely them even if it wasn't, and the cops will be happy to just believe them with nary an investigation. They've boned themselves. 🤦 If instead of plastering themselves all over social-media like their DEgeneration can't help but do, they had kept a low profile, they could have been quietly ditching the boots and run the company into the ground. 😒
It would be gratifying, but if they leave it, they can't be rightfully accused of theft or vandalism. So they should be in the clear.
Theft is a crime (police get involved), removing a private boot company's boot from your car and leaving it there is not a crime (police dont care).
@@RockwaterReese Everyone needs to get these keys and take the boots with them. If it's left on my vehicle, I consider it a gift and it's my property now.
Who didnt grow up with the LockPickingLawyer! 🎉
Watched his channel for a little while but didn't grow up with him because i am not a thief.
@@eternalbeing3339 You might want to watch it a bit more if that is all you got from watching his channel.
@@eternalbeing3339Are his however-many millions of followers all thieves? 😆
@teac damn near
@@eternalbeing3339 lol what a coward, keep getting screwed by greedy capitalists ie government thieves, the only real thieves :). besides, his channel has many other purposes.
But this fool not covered up!!.. going to be the first one to snitch!!!..😂😂
Hes only there for information purposes lol
@@DOCTRJdid you watch the whole vid he literally took a boot off himself on camera gang😂😂😂
What they gonna do about it hahaha!
People are dumb af. All it takes is a collection of enough evidence to prosecute.
@@jpark91He just linked himself to what they can interpret into criminal conspiracy at any time in the future for clout.
I hope these 2 lovely ladies never get caught.
Lovely ladies 🤣
@@switzjon8405 if only someone in your life would compliment you
Don't give your scam up lol
This is so amazing. Love that the lockpicking lawyer was an inspiration for this! I picked up one of his lockpick sets to learn with. If boots come to my city I'm gonna pick every single one I see.
Get a graphite from an AA battery and connect it to the negative side of the battey in the car, connect whatever metal in the negative, have fun with your portable sun.
You're going to need a rotary pick for those tubular pin tumbler locks that many of these car boots have.
@@fss1704Even better, make some thermite. It's very easy, and cheap.
Woo Hoo! Got booted once when down to see a show at The Fox. We didn’t have time to pay first as needed to find an atm to get the money. We were running late so hustling intended to pay once we got back which is what we did immediately upon returning. Those sob’s still charged us $50(this was in 2004)even after they told us they watched us immediately pay the fee when we got back. Criminal enterprise it is for sure so these girls ROCK!!!
man i damn near cried at their friendship dynamic 😂 And i feel them cali and atlanta the same, u gotta work a 9-5, trap, scam, strip to survive
Make me thinking of an old Simpson show with homer hard driving trough traffic in Nyc with his booted car, epic moment
Remember that too! 😂😂😂
Tommy G, Vice, all over social media like IG and FB gotta love the exposure they got because they really are helping out the people
I loved seeing this story when it first popped up. I'm happy they are out there doing their thing.
Tow companies are the worst, these women found a good hustle that's helping people, I like it
This is an honorable practice.
We need people like this in all states
All of this pointing back to the LPL is hilarious!🤣 I love it
Lord please don’t let them get locked up for preventing the government from getting revenue 😂😂
“Boot Shiesty” is fucking hilarious 😂😂😂😂😂
If you boot the car, then the car is stuck there taking up space. Just write tickets.
You can make something that reaches almost the temperature of the sun using only your car battery and a graphite rod from an aa battery and some jumpstart cable.
I heard about them awhile ago and I LOVE this!
Great documentary, headed to ATL soon this was very informative 💯
Atlanta and Decatur are the only cities you can get booted in, everywhere else has to tow your car. Yall look up the ordnances on booting in Atl tho if you get one. They have to be there within a certain time, have to have their car labeled, etc or they can be fined/ shut down. I got them for taking too long once and they showed up and just took it off while I was sitting there bc I threatened to have my lawyer go after them for it. City Wide Parking is one of the worst companies I’ve dealt with here. Born and raised and booting didn’t become a problem til recently
Parks on line amd gets booted "this is my second time getting booted".....how hard is it to park between the lines, you would save yourself the grief and money as well to get the boot girls out by doing that one simple thing
Did you hear her say both times were for parking on the line? Or did you just make that up?
Lock picking lawyer the goat he helped me get alot into alot of places I couldn't get into
Every city with boots needs this!
Bless the Boot Beauties & Squad!!!
Love love love love love this. Thanks vice
4:58 you can tell from the guy smile like "I own you" 😂
I get the whole Robin-hood thing. I respect that they’re helping people who are disenfranchised but I don’t think it’s wise to advertise it. Now the authorities know who they are. Their going to come up with a way to stop this from happening.
In real time white people realizing that low agency criminals be doing crime
The authorities already know who they are. The police arrested one of them according to their lawyer.
@@abcdef20 because they weren’t smart about it. Like everyone now days they have to document everything they do. I would file this under worlds dumbest criminals!
@@abcdef20the thing is you don’t know about arrests is that it’s a wrap sheet. Basically they already have her down for grand theft from the government, now if she gets arrested again, she’s going to jail and it’s a wrap! Literally how the play goes
@@wendylederer367so if you watched the video she was not supposed to be arrested because the police told her months earlier that they could remove it. But then other police officers came and wrongly arrested her. It’s also not a criminal matter it’s a civil matter so it doesn’t matter if they record themselves or not.
The thing that they don’t understand is that if they make booting illegal then they will just do it like they do here in mn - they don’t boot any cars ever - they tow unauthorized parked cars to the tow lot and charge you for towing and storage and you’ll be out 300 instead of 150
There are more regulations and protections for people who are towed.
It's much less convenient to tow a car than it is to slap a boot on it. You need a lot to keep the cars in, a tow truck, somebody that knows how to tow a car, etc. The only investment you've gotta make for booting is buying the boots 🤷
Or pay your bills and park where it's not illegal problem solved
1 used tow truck costs: approx. $65k, a driver, insurance diesel fuel, def, wages vs. Loading 1 gas, hybrid or electric car with 25 to 50 boots. No tow truck can get and store this many cars in one day.
It’s what people don’t understand. It’s what happened here in la
Good job guys I applaud you. Damn the Man. Thank you for sticking up for us
when the lawyer said there was a CROSS road ... I died 🤣
The boot comes in many forms.
Great story, honestly
This is officially my new favorite story
This is amazing.
I love the teamwork 😅😅
These ladies are bringing us together. ❤
I felt that! "That's what's up Twin" 😊❤
After taking the boots off, need to put some superglue on the locks
Lockpicking Village is gonna be lit.
Covers face but shows matching tattoos
it's not a crime to begin with, so meh. At least not in ATL
The lawyer is right, you wont get charged with destruction of property if you don't break it. Tampering (lockpicking for example) with other people's property is illegal even if the reason the boot was questionably attached. The lawyer in the video is a criminal defense lawyer, ask a prosecutor and he would have a different opinion. It's legal to attach a boot to a vehicle that is parked on somebody's property without permission. This video is not informative, it is promoting illegal acts without a disclaimer. Vice could be held liable if someone says they learned to boot from this video. Stupid all around, all for views and clout built on bankrupt ideas.
@@shoesinmysoupmaybe blaks should learn to read and follow rules
@@chrisfisher91 Since when does something being a crime matter? You heard the lawyer, they're already being charged with a FELONY and THREE MISDEMEANORS. Cops don't care about the law, they'll MANUFACTURE charges to hunt their prey, and they'll happily take hunt down anyone that calls them. The company doesn't even need to give them kickbacks to do it, they just have to make the call, that's why swatting is STILL a thing. 😒
@@asgeir7774 It doesn't matter if they can't get charged with destruction of property or theft, that won't stop the cops from arresting them anyway, and manufacturing a dozen extra charges like "disorderly, obstruction, delaying, resisting". They've already done that to one of them. 😒 As for tampering, so you're saying a rando can walk up and put a lock on your front-door and you can't break it to get into your own house? 🤨
They should make a youtube channel and record their heroic acts, im sure a lot would watch. Perfect content for shorts too
I find it hard to believe there hasn’t been a sting operation in them by now 😂
These girls should totally make some merch
Daniel Nagel is a great lawyer.. Fair. Always sees both sides of the story
You two are like Batman and Robin on the streets! Kuddos to the two of you and your manager. The fact that he only charges you 15% and sells keys to customers for a low price is generous and fair. I feel that it is unfair and dangerous for anyone to boot another person's car. I have a few dangerous scenarios in my head, what if someone is running to their car to get away from someone that is trying to attack them so they can rob them, or trying to escape a physically abusive relationship? What is going to happen to them when they get to their car, but can't leave? They're not going to check first to see if they have a boot on their car! KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK BOOT GIRLS!!!
Ahh. Atlanta be wild!
Fighting back possible corrupt private property owners entangled with private towing companies who prey on local citizens to hold their vehicles hostage as extortion. These girls should be protected by any means necessary.
Lockpicking lawyer is on another level
Thank you for providing this important information about the bootgirls of buckhead
booting is NOT a thing in seattle. they just tow your car 😂
i would love to see them have they own show
These folks gave shawty them a vice show 😂😂😂 that fye
Nice thanks for the idea, might start doing this in my own country❤
I’m so glad they have a lawyer too
Mad respect to the Boot Girls. Fantastic!
Their parents is a prime example of raising your kids wrong. I respect their hustle, but it's also sad.
Exactly at least you have some integrity
I LOVE THISSS!!!!! I also think parking in general is a HUGE issue and one that is the perfect example/metaphor of how the poorly planned infrastructure of most if not all, cities are starting to show negative side affect. Having to pay to park in a society that makes life nearly impossible to succeed at without having personal transportation and THEN to charge EXTRA just to PARK??? It is nothing more than GREED and more control constraints that our governing party places and thrives on us through. DON'T build establishments and housing if they DONT adequately offer parking that is substantial and equal to the occupancy their business claims to "support". So many housing/public establishments allow TICKETS and BOOTS over parking "violations" but yet they don't have the space to even give their patrons in the first place, that's the real violation!!! Make it make sense. I 100% love and support what y'all are doing, salute and keep it up :)
This is a noble hustle ❤
WILDDD that vice got both angles of the lawyers eyes
good for them. god bless y’all.
I didn’t know but now I do and will def keep them in mind !
Do you see the perpetrator? Yeah I'm right here.
😂 They were already on the Gram. I’m sure the City has known for a minute. Still, you’re right.
All success to them course I want them to succeed but she also left her whole handprint on that boot
@@oatmealeverymorning Forensics is really Expensive. It’s not like TV/Movies. It’s not that serious.
Like the MF doom line from Rapp snitch knishes 👍
@@DMUSA-gd6kq that's good then
Great for them . Love it
Yo this a vibe
Now what If an undercover calls the boot girls 😮
They really gave the attorney a different camera angle so that he could have each eye look in the camera. 😅
0:45 😂what
I love this!! The people need this kind of help!!!
I need those vending machine keys. lol. We don't get booted in AZ.
Yo booting is such a scam, what a great way to get back at the sh!t system
Honestly learn how to park in the lines. Not hard. And she still left her car like that lol
The most wholesome story on the net
What if the dudes putting the boots to your car write down your plate?😂 You can't run away like that baby
Didn't you listen to their lawyer with the lazy eye, as long as it's a civil matter and the boot doesn't get damaged it's not illegal.
@@t-trunx you'd still get fined for your parking
Boo!
I don't have an issue with booting in most situations. I have an issue with no consistent regulations and fine limitations of them.
I had a friend get booted. She called to get it removed. She asked about the parking and said she didn't see any sign. The guy pointed to a sign that was literally the size of an index card in the far corner of the lot. After he removed the boot, he tried hitting on her. She got in and drove off. Seeing where these girls are operating, I have no doubt the boot operator is scum.
@@weirdshibainu that's one of those situations that I'd oppose the booting. Also goes back to needing consistent regulations. Such as all parking rule signs should be of a minimum size and text on the sign a minimum size etc...
@@weirdshibainuthat would and could never be this problem in Germany 😂🇩🇪
the backiest thing I've seen all week