Armed citizens and CHL holders fill the gap

[rp_photo]

http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?secti ... id=8560458" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Keith B]

No me. I'm not a Cop any more.

[speedsix]

...what does the linked story have to do with the title???


...the anchor says "...you pay millions of dollars to have sheriff's deputies on parole..."
typical media idiot...

[RoyGBiv]

The entire premise of the article is wrong. It's a "media" piece designed to create a response.
Sitting in my living room, I hear LEO's doing traffic stops all the time. I live maybe 100 yards from a busy street. But I rarely see a unit patrolling past my front door. I'd venture to guess that I've never seen one roll past my door that wasn't on a call or errand that required them to pass my house. Do I feel "cheated"? Of course not. Why?

1. Because I realize that although I might not see them every day, they are there doing their job. I don't need to be falsely placated by laying eyes on "the cop that I'm paying". I know they are out there doing their job because the crime rates in my area are tolerable and trending downward (mostly).

2. If I required a visit from every person my tax money sponsors, none of us would ever get anything done... I'd spend my days shaking hands with everyone form the POTUS and SCOTUS to the Mayor and the dog catcher.

3. If citizens demanded to have police sightings on a regular basis, we'd need to hire so many more police that we couldn't afford it... For what? to "feel good"?

It's a media piece...

[speedsix]

...amazing that they din't interview just ONE of the dozens who used to ask me "Why aren't you out there looking for REAL CRIMINALS instead of writing me a ticket for not quite stopping for this little stop sign?"

[goose]

...amazing that they din't interview just ONE of the dozens who used to ask me "Why aren't you out there looking for REAL CRIMINALS instead of writing me a ticket for not quite stopping for this little stop sign?"

It's hard to catch up to them while they're speeding? :-)

[magillapd]

Well this was a definitely a media piece. As was pointed out earlier, I doubt any police officer is on Parole. Also, no police car beams signals into space to satellites. I can't believe they were that dumb to even say that, then to add a graphic? Many police agencies, as well as numerous other industries, use GPS to show the location of their cars on the CAD map in Dispatch. They RECEIVE the signal from the GPS system, same as your tom tom. Then they transmit it back to the main server via CELL PHONE SIGNAL using an air card in their laptops. sheesh

2nd, it was pointed out that that community contracts with the local constables office to provide patrol services so why would the sheriff's office go there? That no longer is their responsibility, but rather the constables.

Media bias at it's best folks....my thinking, the producer doesn't like the sheriff!

[chasfm11]

The entire premise of the article is wrong. It's a "media" piece designed to create a response.
Sitting in my living room, I hear LEO's doing traffic stops all the time. I live maybe 100 yards from a busy street. But I rarely see a unit patrolling past my front door. I'd venture to guess that I've never seen one roll past my door that wasn't on a call or errand that required them to pass my house. Do I feel "cheated"? Of course not. Why?

1. Because I realize that although I might not see them every day, they are there doing their job. I don't need to be falsely placated by laying eyes on "the cop that I'm paying". I know they are out there doing their job because the crime rates in my area are tolerable and trending downward (mostly).

2. If I required a visit from every person my tax money sponsors, none of us would ever get anything done... I'd spend my days shaking hands with everyone form the POTUS and SCOTUS to the Mayor and the dog catcher.

3. If citizens demanded to have police sightings on a regular basis, we'd need to hire so many more police that we couldn't afford it... For what? to "feel good"?
It's a media piece...

I'm not sure that I agree. We are currently in a small area of a busy town and police sightings here are rare - but they do happen from time to time.

In PA, we lived in an un-incorporated part of the State and the only police unit that covered our section was the State Police. Many of the roads were very remote and the level of crime and teenage mischief had risen to almost a rampant level. Pleading for occasional patrols by the State Police got us nowhere. So we formed a citizen group and started patrolling. We concentrated on the late evening and morning hours but had groups out in the daylight occasionally, too. We were able to identify problems and our presence was noticed. Problem rates dropped off rapidly and significantly. There were other areas just like ours and the BGs and teen beer parties found other places to do their thing. For a few hour investment once about every six weeks, a core of about 40 people put a big dent in the original problem.

While I agree that resources need to focus on where the largest problems are, I think that there is a prevention element to police work. Only working the hot spots, sooner or later, just leads to more hot spots.

[RoyGBiv]

I'm not sure that I agree. We are currently in a small area of a busy town and police sightings here are rare - but they do happen from time to time.

In PA, we lived in an un-incorporated part of the State and the only police unit that covered our section was the State Police. Many of the roads were very remote and the level of crime and teenage mischief had risen to almost a rampant level. Pleading for occasional patrols by the State Police got us nowhere. So we formed a citizen group and started patrolling. We concentrated on the late evening and morning hours but had groups out in the daylight occasionally, too. We were able to identify problems and our presence was noticed. Problem rates dropped off rapidly and significantly. There were other areas just like ours and the BGs and teen beer parties found other places to do their thing. For a few hour investment once about every six weeks, a core of about 40 people put a big dent in the original problem.

While I agree that resources need to focus on where the largest problems are, I think that there is a prevention element to police work. Only working the hot spots, sooner or later, just leads to more hot spots.

The article was a leading question on whether people "feel cheated" because they don't see the police patrolling past their house regularly. If there's a real problem, like you describe, it's a different story entirely. But this article was saying... "If you don't see a cop, aren't you being cheated?", as if not seeing a regular patrol past your door and actually having a real problem were the same thing.

I lived in the country for 10 years. My nearest neighbor was more than a half mile away. The land we lived on was at the end of a lovers lane and our pasture was an excellent place to jack-light deer, apparently. It was impossible for the local Sheriff to drive by the house, because the only place to turn around was in my gravel parking lot. I'm very familiar with the problems you describe, but the article was really not about that, IMO, YMMV.

[chasfm11]

I'm not sure that I agree. We are currently in a small area of a busy town and police sightings here are rare - but they do happen from time to time.

In PA, we lived in an un-incorporated part of the State and the only police unit that covered our section was the State Police. Many of the roads were very remote and the level of crime and teenage mischief had risen to almost a rampant level. Pleading for occasional patrols by the State Police got us nowhere. So we formed a citizen group and started patrolling. We concentrated on the late evening and morning hours but had groups out in the daylight occasionally, too. We were able to identify problems and our presence was noticed. Problem rates dropped off rapidly and significantly. There were other areas just like ours and the BGs and teen beer parties found other places to do their thing. For a few hour investment once about every six weeks, a core of about 40 people put a big dent in the original problem.

While I agree that resources need to focus on where the largest problems are, I think that there is a prevention element to police work. Only working the hot spots, sooner or later, just leads to more hot spots.

The article was a leading question on whether people "feel cheated" because they don't see the police patrolling past their house regularly. If there's a real problem, like you describe, it's a different story entirely. But this article was saying... "If you don't see a cop, aren't you being cheated?", as if not seeing a regular patrol past your door and actually having a real problem were the same thing.

I lived in the country for 10 years. My nearest neighbor was more than a half mile away. The land we lived on was at the end of a lovers lane and our pasture was an excellent place to jack-light deer, apparently. It was impossible for the local Sheriff to drive by the house, because the only place to turn around was in my gravel parking lot. I'm very familiar with the problems you describe, but the article was really not about that, IMO, YMMV.

Sorry that I wasn't more clear. Yes, we did feel cheated in my story because, like many others, we were paying very high property taxes and ended up having to solve some of our own security problems. I really don't care if I personally see a cop every now and again but I want someone in my area to see one.

If I'm paying the same tax rate as everyone else, I expect the same services. If the county isn't going to provide any police coverage in my area except on emergencies, that I shouldn't have the same tax burden. Yes, I know that my argument could be carried to extremes like if I don't have kids in school, I shouldn't be paying school taxes. But that isn't my point and I don't think it was the point of the article.

Crime prevention in my area is important. Not all of the deputy sheriffs in the story were responding to calls. Some were just cruising. There is no reason that an occasion cruise couldn't happen on other than a major artery. Just my $.02.

[Scott in Houston]

All of the above comments are right in line with my thoughts as well, but to go further...

I don't even think that "graphic" can be trusted. What a joke!

There's a stop sign in our neighborhood that we, and our neighbors, have complained about because people often run it. There are a lot of kids around, so we asked that they police that intersection better and crack down on these stop sign runners.
I have seen the deputy sit out there for hours over the last several weeks and I have seen him make a few stops.

Now, I go online and check the graphic, and there's no sign of a patrol car ever entering our neighborhood at all.

[gringo pistolero]

Sorry that I wasn't more clear. Yes, we did feel cheated in my story because, like many others, we were paying very high property taxes and ended up having to solve some of our own security problems. I really don't care if I personally see a cop every now and again but I want someone in my area to see one.

If I'm paying the same tax rate as everyone else, I expect the same services. If the county isn't going to provide any police coverage in my area except on emergencies, that I shouldn't have the same tax burden.

[KingofChaos]

All of the above comments are right in line with my thoughts as well, but to go further...

I don't even think that "graphic" can be trusted. What a joke!

There's a stop sign in our neighborhood that we, and our neighbors, have complained about because people often run it. There are a lot of kids around, so we asked that they police that intersection better and crack down on these stop sign runners.
I have seen the deputy sit out there for hours over the last several weeks and I have seen him make a few stops.

Now, I go online and check the graphic, and there's no sign of a patrol car ever entering our neighborhood at all.

Your location says Katy and Sugarland. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe neither of those are in Harris County. That's why you see nothing.

Edit: Part of Katy is in Harris County.

[rp_photo]

No matter what, you can always count on an officer being nearby to cite you for an expired inspection or going a few MPH over the limit.

[Jumping Frog]

I'll tell you where it could be legitimate to feel cheated. My homeowners association has an agreement with HCSO that calls for a car to be patrolling our subdivision 50% of the time, 24x7. We pay good money for these extra patrol services. There are rarely any visible presence, so I feel like we are not getting what we paid for.