A significant advantage of being part of an organized neighborhood watch affiliated with the police is that you become a known quantity to the police. Police should respond to all calls of suspicious activity, but human nature being what it is, they are going to have more confidence in calls from known people than out of the blue ones.
Additionally, if things go bad, the police are going to be more likely to sort the known people with a history of doing good into the good guy category. Eureka40''s call into the SO to let them know he is out and about sounds like an excellent practice. (In George Z's case, I don't think the police ever thought he was out of line and they were not interested in prosecuting him. HIs prosecution was a classic politically driven one, that became painfully obvious during the trial itself.)
I think the citizen's watch idea is a noble one, but disarming licensed citizens undercuts that nobility severely. If you go out, you are in fact looking for trouble, you just intend to stay back, watch, and report. However there is a non-zero chance that the trouble you are watching and reporting on will come to you, so it is reprehensible to ask people to go look for crime but disarm them when they do so.
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- Mon Jun 27, 2016 9:55 am
- Forum: Off-Topic
- Topic: Asked to be on neighborhood crime watch team...
- Replies: 19
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- Fri Jun 24, 2016 3:51 pm
- Forum: Off-Topic
- Topic: Asked to be on neighborhood crime watch team...
- Replies: 19
- Views: 3611
Re: Asked to be on neighborhood crime watch team...
My two cents:
Short of being an commissioned peace officer active with a department, the only "authority" you have, neighborhood watch or not, is what everybody else has, i.e. "citizen's arrest" powers, I don't think anyone can grant you any more than that. It is true that a peace officer can summon you for aid, but as far as I understand it that is a case-by-case basis, and of course the peace officer has to be present.
I probably would not participate in any neighborhood watch program that wanted to disarm me. If I did, I certainly would not obey their rule about not carrying.
I listened to the actual trial of George Zimmerman, and it was pretty clear he was not chasing anybody, he was trying to be a good witness, and trouble came to him. So even with the best intent to not get involved and only be "eyes and ears", trouble can come to you, which is why I would not go unarmed.
Best wishes on your decision.
Short of being an commissioned peace officer active with a department, the only "authority" you have, neighborhood watch or not, is what everybody else has, i.e. "citizen's arrest" powers, I don't think anyone can grant you any more than that. It is true that a peace officer can summon you for aid, but as far as I understand it that is a case-by-case basis, and of course the peace officer has to be present.
I probably would not participate in any neighborhood watch program that wanted to disarm me. If I did, I certainly would not obey their rule about not carrying.
I listened to the actual trial of George Zimmerman, and it was pretty clear he was not chasing anybody, he was trying to be a good witness, and trouble came to him. So even with the best intent to not get involved and only be "eyes and ears", trouble can come to you, which is why I would not go unarmed.
Best wishes on your decision.