Homeowners armed with rifles and body armor patrol their neighborhood

[HCM]

Homeowners armed with rifles, body armor and marked vehicles patrol their neighborhoods

SAN ANTONIO – As they patrol their Northwest Bexar County neighborhoods, a group of armed homeowners is putting criminals on notice.
A former army infantryman who lives in the Cobblestone neighborhood off Culebra Road started the Crime Deterrence Unit there in September. A number of car break-ins and a shooting near his home led to the group’s formation. He asked to go by only his first name, Bryan.
“You gotta be nuts to come to Cobblestone and think you’re going to steal stuff, honestly,” Bryan said.
Since September, he’s recruited 20-plus volunteers and expanded to 10 more neighborhoods and six businesses in the area.

http://news4sanantonio.com/news/loca...-neighborhoods


This area this group is operating in is unincorporated Bexar county. The Bexar County Sheriffs Office, which patrols this area is competent but a bit thin on the ground and understaffed given how development has increased population density in these areas the past few years. The primary issues being day time burglaries and other property crime.

[voodoo_man]

Good for them.

[StraitR]

Not being from a high crime area, I can only support the idea and initiative of those looking to make their neighborhood safer. That said, I hope Bryan and the CDU have the correct mindset and motivation. They will "run into" someone eventually, and that interaction along with every statement and action leading up to it will be highly scrutinized. Quotes like the one below give me pause.

"Lord help you if we run into you," Bryan said. "Hopefully, if you’re lucky, the cops will run into you before we will."

[TGS]

"Lord help you if we run into you," Bryan said. "Hopefully, if you’re lucky, the cops will run into you before we will."

....and that's the kind of shit that's on record and will bite you in the ass one day.....

[voodoo_man]

"Lord help you if we run into you," Bryan said. "Hopefully, if you’re lucky, the cops will run into you before we will."

....and that's the kind of shit that's on record and will bite you in the ass one day.....

Clearly not one of those persons is a lawyer or consulted a lawyer.

[RevolverRob]

Crime Deterrence Unit

I'll pass on living in that neighborhood.

Last winter, I was home visiting my folks and did some suspension work on the car. Got done, took the car down a local twisty road to check for clunks, bumps, etc. I was driving fairly aggressively in an effort to try to rattle something loose. In the process, I passed the marked neighborhood watch patrol car, complete with flashing yellow light, and an over-eager volunteer at the wheel. To my surprise this car started following me while I was driving. I slowed, turned off the main road and went over some potholes and speed-bumps to check the suspension and was still being followed. At this point, confused, I decided to simply drive back to my parents' house.

The vehicle followed me all the way there. And that was when I confronted the eager beaver behind the wheel, after parking and exiting my car.

"Can I help you?"

"You were speeding! I'm waiting for the cops to show up to write you a ticket."

Me, staring confused at the woman behind the wheel of this vehicle, "Ma'am that isn't how it works."

"Well, if the cops don't come, I'm going to write you a summons."

"Uhh...a summons for what and on whose authority?"

"Neighborhood Watch's authority! You can't go speeding around our neighborhood! That's hoodlumism and we don't have it here. Now you get back in your car and wait for the police!"

Me staring, still confused, "Have a nice night ma'am."

I turned around and started for the house. Then she got out of the patrol vehicle and started to chase after me. But I turned back and glared at her and she thought better of it.

___

Why the fuck would someone do these things? After 20 minutes of the cops not showing up, idling in front of the house, she finally left. I did, however, get a hastily written chastising note under my windshield wiper (my "summons", maybe?). I filed that one away in the pile of useless passive-aggressive shit stupid people do, when they don't have better things to do. I look back on it and laugh now, but if that eager-beaver had been a bit more eager, I might have been staring down the barrel of someone's gun. Or worse...had them staring down the barrel of mine.

FWIW, after this incident my parents went to the local Neighborhood Watch meeting and instituted a vote. The watch is now disbanded. That's how you lose your nosy neighboring privileges folks...

[Duces Tecum]

Trayvon? Oh, haven't we seen this movie before, Honey?

[voodoo_man]

Trayvon? Oh, haven't we seen this movie before, Honey?

I mean, sure Zimmerman's life was ruined but he's alive and free, other guy is dead in a box.

[HCM]

I'll pass on living in that neighborhood.

Last winter, I was home visiting my folks and did some suspension work on the car. Got done, took the car down a local twisty road to check for clunks, bumps, etc. I was driving fairly aggressively in an effort to try to rattle something loose. In the process, I passed the marked neighborhood watch patrol car, complete with flashing yellow light, and an over-eager volunteer at the wheel. To my surprise this car started following me while I was driving. I slowed, turned off the main road and went over some potholes and speed-bumps to check the suspension and was still being followed. At this point, confused, I decided to simply drive back to my parents' house.

The vehicle followed me all the way there. And that was when I confronted the eager beaver behind the wheel, after parking and exiting my car.

"Can I help you?"

"You were speeding! I'm waiting for the cops to show up to write you a ticket."

Me, staring confused at the woman behind the wheel of this vehicle, "Ma'am that isn't how it works."

"Well, if the cops don't come, I'm going to write you a summons."

"Uhh...a summons for what and on whose authority?"

"Neighborhood Watch's authority! You can't go speeding around our neighborhood! That's hoodlumism and we don't have it here. Now you get back in your car and wait for the police!"

Me staring, still confused, "Have a nice night ma'am."

I turned around and started for the house. Then she got out of the patrol vehicle and started to chase after me. But I turned back and glared at her and she thought better of it.

___

Why the fuck would someone do these things? After 20 minutes of the cops not showing up, idling in front of the house, she finally left. I did, however, get a hastily written chastising note under my windshield wiper (my "summons", maybe?). I filed that one away in the pile of useless passive-aggressive shit stupid people do, when they don't have better things to do. I look back on it and laugh now, but if that eager-beaver had been a bit more eager, I might have been staring down the barrel of someone's gun. Or worse...had them staring down the barrel of mine.

FWIW, after this incident my parents went to the local Neighborhood Watch meeting and instituted a vote. The watch is now disbanded. That's how you lose your nosy neighboring privileges folks...

I would have called the real cops just to squash that shit ASAP.

As for the guys in the article I think they mean well but I don't see it ending well or being effective.

They are homeowners and thus likely only patrolling when most people are off work. The main issues in their area are daytime burglaries and midnight to dawn vehicle thefts and break ins, times when these guys are likely at work or asleep.

These guys can only citizens arrest for felonies. It is rare to catch burglars etc in the act. Many who do get caught, are snagged for traffic offenses and misdemeanors which then lead to evidence of their other activities.

[modrecoil]

"Lord help you if we run into you," Bryan said. "Hopefully, if you’re lucky, the cops will run into you before we will."

....and that's the kind of shit that's on record and will bite you in the ass one day.....

Then there's their web site with the Punisher logo background.

They proudly cite their training that "...includes training in various areas, to include weapons training, i.e. marksmanship, transitioning and live fire drills, as well as tactical handcuffing, felony arrest techniques and classes on Title I Article 14 and Title II, Chapter 9 of the Texas Penal Code."

How about first aid, law, conflict resolution, communication, etc.? I know, boooring.

Maybe the reason nothing has gone sideways yet - like some dummy putting holes in a teenager stealing an iPhone from an unlocked car - is because they're playing dress-up in very upscale gated communities. Not impressed. I don't know if anyone remembers the Guardian Angels but I wonder how many of these operators would disarm, put on a red beret and jackets and ride the NYC subway in the 80s. Not many, I bet.

Edit: My response to a non-LE guy in body armor walking down my street with a rifle in low ready would not be positive. Code Orange all the way.