My neighborhood is having another rash of car burglaries. One of the neighbors got the guys on camera but they were just walking up to the car, didnt actually enter his vehicle. The cops don't care, said the video doesn't mean shit and they won't even try to find out who is on the tape or question them. They have basically told us don't leave things in your car, beyond that they have nothing to offer. I'm not going to stake out anything or something like that, but just curious. If I hear something at night and go check and find someone in my car, is it legal to point a gun at them and hold them until police can be called?

I get they would probably have to actually be in my car taking stuff, not just standing there. The police made it pretty clear they don't give a shit about this, which I kind of get, there are bigger fish to fry, but then don't be having traffic patrols giving out speeding tickets in the school zone because you have better things to do. The problem is this is now spreading all over town, these break ins are all over town and every damn night, I'm sure because they know nobody is looking for them or gives a shit. One of my co-workers had a bunch of stuff stolen as well. Seriously I didn't see this many car burglaries when I lived in Detroit. In the last year my neighborhood has had dozens of car burglaries and 4 home break ins. I have lived in Detroit and Flint, and had less problem then being here in suburban Tennessee, and that's not an exaggeration

You need to be thinking ahead. What if he doesn't want to be held at gunpoint and runs away? Are you going to shoot him ?

My opinion is, if I catch someone on my property doing that shit, pull out a gun and they actually stay put, all is good.
But...if I chase them across my neighbors yard with a gun pulled, I done broke the law and the tables are turned since they are no longer a threat.

Honestly, "don't leave anything of value in sight" is the best advice.

I don't know if it's legal, but vehicle break-ins are a reality regardless where you live. Might happen where you work, or while out to dinner, or parked at the airport.

Churches are a favorite place for vehicle break-ins, since the thieves know what time you'll be returning to your car.

If you have a garage, park in it.

If you don't, well, see the advice above.

If they break into your house, of course, all bets are off.


Good luck, sir!

A 22 to the ass is a great deterrent!

quote:

Originally posted by sgalczyn:
A 22 to the ass is a great deterrent!

If all you want is a deterrent, a 12 gauge full of rock salt works way better.

Damn. You're in the 'boro area, right? Things are going downhill all over!

quote:

Originally posted by NK402:
You need to be thinking ahead. What if he doesn't want to be held at gunpoint and runs away? Are you going to shoot him ?

No, absolutely not. I'm just asking is it legal to hold them. If they run, they run. I'm not going to chase them or shoot them.

Thank goodness that Texas laws concerning legal assumption I can make about the intentions of trespassers on my property (and messing with my property) between sundown and sunup removes such conundrums.

Not a lawyer. That said, I'd imagine reading through your state's use of force laws/definitions, when it may or may not be used, and it what circumstances, what your responsibilities are, etc. would be of value.

Not in my state.

And our prosecutors generally won't accept cases against car break in thiefs anyway.

quote:

Originally posted by chongosuerte:
And our prosecutors generally won't accept cases against car break in thiefs anyway.

Wait, what?

So people break into cars, and just get a free pass? Seriously?

One of the best things to have outside of a camera,is one of the wireless detectors that pick up movement in your driveway...even foxes and deer besides people and cars driving by.

We had two kids breaking into cars and looking for unlocked vehicles. My wireless detector came on one night and I look out and see two individuals walking away from my truck. So I go out and catch up to them down the street and give chase until they go into a yard with a bad dog so I broke off and went back and called the police since I recognized them.

It took about 45 minutes for the police to arrive and they tried to dispute my story and that was the last I heard from them. But the story must have got around because some of the people that I do not know at the other end of the block would wave when I went by and I heard that there were no more cars being broken into.



41

quote:

Originally posted by exx1976:

quote:

Originally posted by chongosuerte:
And our prosecutors generally won't accept cases against car break in thiefs anyway.

Wait, what?

So people break into cars, and just get a free pass? Seriously?

It's the opposite to the "Broken Window" theory of policing where you police the little things so fewer thugs dare try anything more serious. By this new/old "Let It Slide" theory, police are told to ignore the small crimes and hope the thugs are satisfied and don't escalate.

quote:

Originally posted by Fenris:

quote:

Originally posted by exx1976:

quote:

Originally posted by chongosuerte:
And our prosecutors generally won't accept cases against car break in thiefs anyway.

Wait, what?

So people break into cars, and just get a free pass? Seriously?

It's the opposite to the "Broken Window" theory of policing where you police the little things so fewer thugs dare try anything more serious. By this new/old "Let It Slide" theory, police are told to ignore the small crimes and hope the thugs are satisfied and don't escalate.

You're shitting me, right?

quote:

Originally posted by exx1976:

quote:

Originally posted by Fenris:

quote:

Originally posted by exx1976:

quote:

Originally posted by chongosuerte:
And our prosecutors generally won't accept cases against car break in thiefs anyway.

Wait, what?

So people break into cars, and just get a free pass? Seriously?

It's the opposite to the "Broken Window" theory of policing where you police the little things so fewer thugs dare try anything more serious. By this new/old "Let It Slide" theory, police are told to ignore the small crimes and hope the thugs are satisfied and don't escalate.

You're shitting me, right?

He's not...kinda...

We still take the reports...by the freaking dozens. Even get written statements from victims and witnesses, canvass the area for nosey neighbors and cameras. Sometimes we even catch them in the act. But when the detectives present the case to the assistant district attorney, with a friggin bow on top, the ADA sometimes, oftentimes, (but not always) has a reason not to prosecute. It's not the cops.

A few weeks ago I responded to a homeowner who caught a guy breaking into his home in broad daylight. In the house. We got into a foot chase with the guy a few blocks away, I ended up tackling him. He had just gotten out of jail a couple of months before for the same shit. He was released without paying a bond less than 24 hours later, but with a GPS monitor, which he promptly cut off.

The system is a joke. If they won't lock up repeat offenders caught in the act, imagine their response to you shooting one when your life wasn't clearly in danger.

Where I work we have not had a car broken into in months...........now unlocked cars gone through and stuff stolen out of them, tons of those. You don't know the number of stolen cars we have had in the last year because people left their keys in the center console (usually in plain view) and left the car unlocked. We have caught several of the suspects and almost all of the cases referred to State Court were refused and referred back to Municipal Court, where under the post Ferguson laws, the suspects don't see any jail time until they rack up around 18 cases on them.

Oh, as for the cops running traffic in the school zone, I can almost guarantee that is not the officer's idea, it came down from above (Mayor/City Council/City Manager/Police Chief). For the last two weeks my crew had to run radar to catch speeders three to four times through out the shift on a specific street. Oh, the street in question is a dead end street and is only about 250 yards long. Every time I did, I spent a half hour there and did not see a single car drive on the street.

quote:

Originally posted by jsbcody:
under the post Ferguson laws, the suspects don't see any jail time until they rack up around 18 cases on them.

Wait, WHAT?! Dafuq?!?

A bunch of delinquents ruin a fucking city, on national television, and the response of the justice system is to LITERALLY give them 18 chances?

What in the SAM hell kind of sense does that make? If I were running that shitshow you guys would be under orders to kneecap someone for spitting on the fucking sidewalk!

quote:

Originally posted by exx1976:

quote:

Originally posted by jsbcody:
under the post Ferguson laws, the suspects don't see any jail time until they rack up around 18 cases on them.

Wait, WHAT?! Dafuq?!?

A bunch of delinquents ruin a fucking city, on national television, and the response of the justice system is to LITERALLY give them 18 chances?

What in the SAM hell kind of sense does that make? If I were running that shitshow you guys would be under orders to kneecap someone for spitting on the fucking sidewalk!

Up is down. Less is more. No action is the best action.

It's mind boggling. Trust us.

Case in point: Last year's Charlotte riots were a direct result of inaction. Brass that were on scene allowed the scene to be unnecessarily drawn out, and when the cars were attacked finally leaving, they ordered the officers to sit in the cars and do nothing. I was there.

We thought change was coming, but I haven't seen it yet.

A fellow cop caught a dude ransacking his personal car. In the ensuing struggle, the cop took a shot up side his head with a tube sock filled with coins the burglar had taken from other cars in the lot. Knocked him out!
And at least here they are still fully prosecuting car burglars.