What on earth could they be thinking? The current bunch that’s taken control, with vivacious élan and enthusiasm, of the neighborhood organization has decided that nothing will do but what we must have a neighborhood watch.
Astonishingly, the Phoenix police department is aiding and abetting this bit of foolishness. The neighborhood association is recruiting people to join up and take a (1) training class, after which, presto-changeo, “you will leave the class trained to help with our PNP.”
You realize Arizona is a concealed-carry state. The legislature in its infinite wisdom got rid of the requirement to get a concealed-carry license by taking a firearms safety class. So everyone and his little sister is lugging pistols around. Even if these volunteer coplets are told not to carry guns, you can be sure at least some of them will.
And you realize that according to the best crime map that covers the city of Phoenix, since last August there’ve been about eight or ten crime complaints here in the ’hood, most of them petty thefts out of driveways. Much as I complain about the inner-citiness of it all, the place is really pretty tame.
And there’s a kid in the neighborhood who goes around tricked out in full thug regalia, complete with sagging pants and a hoodie with the hood pulled up over his head. And yep: he’s a black kid. About 14 or 15, I’d guess. He usually hangs out with a bunch of kids who affect a more average look. But the first time I saw him, I was certainly given pause — straight-looking pals notwithstanding.
So, the question is, what part of “George Zimmerman vs. Trayvon Martin” do they not recall?
The risks in having a bunch of nervous, half-baked civilians tromping around looking for criminals defy belief. If they’re likely to be carrying concealed weapons, so are the perps they encounter (if any). So are the innocent citizens they mistake for perps. We’ve seen what self-appointed neighborhood security guards can do when they meet up with a black male in a jacket with a hood.
Back when my parents lived in Sun City, the county sheriff had this old-guys’ citizen’s patrol. My father actually joined it, he being bored and restless. He was an expert marksman. But most of them weren’t. One of the old buzzards tangled with a burglar who was trying to break into a loading dock door at a strip shopping center. Burglar shot and killed him.
Thank goodness this bunch of enthusiastic neighbors is just a passel of volunteers. If it was an HOA, we could all be liable for a lawsuit if someone gets hurt or killed.
Such a stupid idea. If the local burgers couldn’t transcend their idiocy, wouldn’t you think the cops would have better sense?