Tag Archives: neighborhood watch

Oakland Citizens Renting Their Own Cops

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With rising crime, downsized police forces, and no help in sight, some neighborhoods are dipping into their own pocketbooks to hire private security firms. The guard’s job: pick up where the police cant.

Oakland California is a community that has tried to remake itself several times over the past century. Currently, it is in the middle of a perfect storm. Since 2009, the city of 400,000 has seen its full-time police force drop from more than 830 sworn officers to just 615. In the same time, not surprisingly, the crime rate has soared. In fact, since 2012, robberies in Oakland are up 24% and burglaries have increased a whopping 45%. This led to the disquieting fact that law-abiding citizens in residential areas were liable to be robbed while out and return home afterward to a burglarized home. Police response times lagged. The average response time for a burglary of a dwelling in progress last year was 17 minutes.

So the citizens have started renting their cops…

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Read the rest in my column at Firearms Talk.com

Warping a Tragedy

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Just a few months ago, a young man lost his life. No matter the reason behind it, that is a tragedy. Now, before a dutifully appointed jury can hold a hearing to see if he lost his life lawfully or unlawfully, the case is being thrown about in the media. Tragically, it is turning into a second amendment issue.

The basic facts are this; the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman took place on February 26, 2012, in Sanford, Florida. Trayvon Martin was a 17-year-old African American male who was unarmed. George Zimmerman was a 28-year-old multi-racial Hispanic American, who was the community watch coordinator for the gated community where the shooting took place. Zimmerman who claimed self-defense was released after a two-hour long interrogation and, following a very public call for prosecution, Zimmerman was taken into custody on April 11, 2012, after being charged with second-degree murder in the Florida courts.

Now, with the case in pre-trail, both Second Amendment supporters and detractors are lining up to use it as ammo. Read the rest in my column at Firearms Talk.com.