TexasCHLforum.com

Having been in the OP's hypothetical for real I can offer how I handled it and why. Any number of things could have been different and that would have changed how I dealt with it. I will run down the list of observations, options, decisions and the reason why I chose to do what I did.
1. Could not avoid the situation. I was at work and had worked there for several years without incident. Sure the area could be sketchy but nothing had ever happened and I didn't have the luxury of simply quitting my job and finding another.
2. I had the luxury of being able to identify the problem from the safety of the building. This meant I didn't have to force the issue with the gang. Decision time...tell them to get lost or wait. Armed or not only a fool would've waded into that mess as I was outnumbered 8 to 1 that I could see. I waited...15...20...25...30 minutes. They didn't leave.
3. Now what. Its late and I'm tired and if I wait too much longer I'll be too tired to drive the hour home. Again time to decide...wait longer or tell em to get lost...or...call the police.
4. Called the police. Not 911 but Venice PD. Politely told to get over it and wait, they have real crime to deal with. Also told that if I want them to respond the thugs need to do something illegal like threaten me and or beat me. Sigh...I wait.
5. They leave finally. I wait another 5-10 minutes to make sure they aren't just around the corner and go home tired and annoyed...but I go home in one piece and have nothing but a story and no legal issues.

Change any one of those variables and things might have been different. I haplessly walk up to my car without seeing them and find myself surprised, trapped, and verbally threatened...who knows. I saw the situation and chose, wisely I think, to just choose tired and annoyed over any of the other options. Mind you I had the luxury of options and picked what I picked. In the middle of nowhere with the temperature dropping and fearing freezing to death I may well have pressed the issue. The only advantage I can see in being armed that night would've been had I unwittingly walked blindly into that problem and it turning sideways in a hurry. Situational awareness worked for me that night by me not ever being in that position. Like the song says..."know when to hold em, know when to fold em...know when to walk away, know when to run".

So you were told by the dispatcher to escalate the situation so the police would intervene.

I wasn't told TO escalate. I was told that unless an escalation occurred by them or myself that the police would not respond. Legally I understand the police departments stance since technically no crime had yet occurred. I just really found it troubling to have the police advise me in that manner when there was clearly trouble brewing. It was definitely as situation of just because I could doesn't mean I should. These types of situations highlight a really sticky area of the law for civilians. A police officer can stop and arrest someone on suspicion and effectively prevent a crime (ie. someone skulking around a store at night with a bag of tools). As a civilian it seems that I have to wait until the crime is actually in progress and even then I would be afraid that I could be painted as the one who escalated the situation by confronting the perpetrator. I chose to leave well enough alone and the gang got bored and wandered off eventually but that really irritates me that the police wouldn't help, they would only pick up the pieces.

I was once in the same position in Venice California. I was leaving work late at night and was the only one working late. There was an obvious gang hanging out around and on my truck. I called the police to see if they would drive by and kinda shoo them away so I could go home and was told that they would do no such thing. The dispatcher told me that until I went out there and told them to leave and got beat up they wouldn't do a thing, not even just drive by or hang out so I could leave. Hows that "protect and serve" working out.