Armed French Quarter Citizens Group - ETA: founder booked for stalking

[geoney]

I think it would be a good idea, if they had any sort of formal training. I applaud their effort but have a feeling it will end badly.

What kind of formal training should they have to walk around their neighborhood and call the cops when they see things, all while legally being armed to protect themseleves?

 

[SpeedRacer]

What kind of formal training should they have to walk around their neighborhood and call the cops when they see things, all while legally being armed to protect themseleves?

LE type training. Even if their plan is just to observe and notify police, they are still actively looking for trouble and putting themselves at risk. Eventually there will be encounters, and they should know how to handle them properly. There's a whole lot of middle ground between cell phone and gun.

 

[JR1572]

This will end up turning into a disaster.

JR1572

 

[LACamper]

There was a group like this in the late 80's in NO east. The housewives would drive around with CB's and one would stay behind at a base station and call 911. They ran a story in the paper about them and the idiots gave their names and let them take pictures. Two months later the group disbanded after multiple vandalized cars and houses, including a very nice blazer that was torched into pieces and left in the driveway!

 

[rocketsteve]

LE type training. Even if their plan is just to observe and notify police, they are still actively looking for trouble and putting themselves at risk. Eventually there will be encounters, and they should know how to handle them properly. There's a whole lot of middle ground between cell phone and gun.

Agreed, and being a member of this "Pseudo-Neighborhood Watch" shouldn't necessarily mean that one MUST have a CHP and gun. Regular citizens have cell phones and can just as easily place 911 calls for help. If this group wants to win the P.R. battle, I think they should invite ALL members of the community to join their group; not just the ones with guns. Then, they could have groups of two walking the Quarter; one armed and the other not. This would effectively double the number of citizen groups patrolling the streets and also double the density of patrols in the coverage area.


Unless this group plans on getting involved in very dicey situations, thereby increasing the chances that their lives would be placed in jeopardy, all members shouldn't necessarily need a CHP and a handgun to patrol the streets...





That being said, I have never been, nor shall I ever go to the French Quarter or Bourbon Street without my CHP and EDC.

 

[Vermiform]

What kind of formal training should they have to walk around their neighborhood and call the cops when they see things, all while legally being armed to protect themseleves?

And if they see someone doing something suspicious, should they follow the suspect at a distance in order to be a better witness when the cops show up?

 

[my-rifle]

You know I could care less about N.O. Wonder what the rest of the states crime stats would be if you took N.O. out of the equation, Would it drop by perhaps 70% ?

So would their tax revenue.

 

[my-rifle]

LE type training. Even if their plan is just to observe and notify police, they are still actively looking for trouble and putting themselves at risk. Eventually there will be encounters, and they should know how to handle them properly. There's a whole lot of middle ground between cell phone and gun.

ISn't that what CHP training (required by the state) does?

- - - Updated - - -

Solution: More eyes? Yes! - More CC's? Yes! - Profile? YES!

YES!

I agree.

 

[geoney]

LE type training. Even if their plan is just to observe and notify police, they are still actively looking for trouble and putting themselves at risk. Eventually there will be encounters, and they should know how to handle them properly. There's a whole lot of middle ground between cell phone and gun.

I guess my question is that at the end of the day, if they "find trouble", why would they act unlike any other lawful citizen who has had trouble find them?

 

[AustinBR]

ISn't that what CHP training (required by the state) does?

In short: no.

 

[SpeedRacer]

I guess my question is that at the end of the day, if they "find trouble", why would they act unlike any other lawful citizen who has had trouble find them?

Because it's not the same. Simply put, there's two different types of people. People that have bad things happen to them during the course of their normal business, and people that go out actively looking for bad things happening, ie law enforcement. When group A people try to play the role of group B people, it rarely works out for them. Ever heard of George Zimmerman?

Law enforcement are trained and equipped to deal with confrontation. These people aren't. If something were to happen, and it probably will eventually, best case scenario they end up getting their life turned upside down Zimmerman style. Worst case they end up dead. I'm not against what they are doing but would love to see them do whatever they can to improve their odds of not getting in over their heads.

 

[SpeedRacer]

In short: hell friggin' no.

FIFY

If you think 8 hours of the NRA's "this is the end that the bullets come out of" class and a 36 round "you pass if you don't shoot yourself in the face" test is enough to prepare someone to go out in known dangerous areas at known dangerous times and seek out bad people doing bad things, you're nuts.

Granted, some CHP instructors are better than others. But I don't know of a single credible one of them that would tell people they were ready to go fight crime after completing the mandatory training.

 

[JR1572]

Armed citizens form group to keep eye on French Quarter

How are these people going to detain anyone? What else do they have with their handgun? Cuffs? Less-lethal? This doesn't sound like a good idea, and looks more and more like a disaster waiting to happen.

POST certified members of LE go though months at an academy, and then go through a FTO program. After all they, some people don't know how to do proactive police work. Now people with little to no training are going to go out and pretend to be the police?

Brilliant.

JR1572

 

[alpinehyperlite]

POST certified members of LE go though months at an academy, and then go through a FTO program. After all they, some people don't know how to do proactive police work.
JR1572

Plus an average of 40 hour inservice annually to go over law changes/policy revisions, defensive and less lethal tactics, shooting, quarterly firearm training, plus weeks and weeks of other optional classes to assist with dealing with different types of subjects.

 

[calcagno45]

How are these people going to detain anyone? What else do they have with their handgun? Cuffs? Less-lethal? This doesn't sound like a good idea, and looks more and more like a disaster waiting to happen.

POST certified members of LE go though months at an academy, and then go through a FTO program. After all they, some people don't know how to do proactive police work. Now people with little to no training are going to go out and pretend to be the police?

Brilliant.

JR1572

It sound more like they are going to be walking the French Quarter already on the phone with a 911 operator waiting to give a location of a suspicious person that could be of danger as determined by they untrained and twitchy eye. But rest assure if NOPD doesn't arrive quick enough or the activity encroaches them, they have their CHP and are carrying.

This sounds like it will tax an already burden call center for New Orleans.

 

[XD-GEM]

Many of the people who own businesses and residences in the Quarter are putting in cameras - LOTS of cameras. There are few street crimes that aren't caught on camera now (or at least the perps running away from the scene); and often, when the media play the clips on television, the thugs turn themselves in. The problem then is that the judicial system lets them back out and the DA's office rarely takes a case to court unless they think it's a slam dunk sure thing.

 

[nolaradio]

If all they're going to do is ...walk in pairs looking for suspicious people and activity, then report it to police, then it sounds like something that the French Quarter residents and business owners should already be doing if they are concerned about their community. Why should there be a need for an outside group to come in and do this? Just my 2 cents.

 

[nolaradio]

Here's the latest: http://www.wdsu.com/news/local-news/new-orleans/nopd-meets-with-citizen-group-french-quarter-minutemen/26313614#!Unvh4

 

[mike84z28]

Announcing to the media labels it as 15 minutes of fame to me. Shut up and just do it, keep it quiet and you may just make a differance. Once their names and faces are known their will be issues they really wont be prepared to deal with.

 

[madwabbit]

it'll be zimmerman 2.0

its all fine and dandy until someone gets in your face.