GREAT LEO encounter

[DONT TREAD ON ME]

I live in a nice area here in San Antonio. The problem is that we have a couple bad neighborhoods semi close to us. The scumbags have been moving the crime to us. On Dec. 23 there were 5-7 car break ins on my street. A couple nights ago there were two home invasions in my immediate area. Due to this we are starting a neighborhood watch. I volunteered for the saftey committee and for our block captain spot. The head of the neighborhood watch called me this evening. She had spotted a run down van driving around our neighborhood and it was stopping at all the houses without their exterior lights on. She immediately called the non-emergency number to the Sheriff station. She noted that the van made 5 trips around the neighborhood prior to the deputies arriving. As soon as the deputies were calledthe van bolted out of the area and upon the deputies leaving the van returned, performing the exact same actions. She called the station again then she called me. She knows I have a CHL and wanted to inform me of what was happening. I immediately took off on foot to try and get a license plate number. While I was out on foot I came across a few people walking and stopped and asked them if they had seen or noticed anything. One of these people was a San Antonio Police officer in civilian clothes. He said he did not see anything but that he was informed of the situation and was out doing the same thing I was. I wasnt immediately aware that he was a LEO. He said dont be alarmed but and proceeded to show me his badge and gun. I said to him that I was not alarmed that I had a CHL and that I was also carrying. I kid you not he looked at me and said good it is your God given right.

There were no questions or anything he was completely ok with talking to a person with a CHL and carrying.

I just wanted to share this story with you all because I thought it was pretty neat that a LEO would say something like that!!!

[NcongruNt]

Great encounter. It's also good to see neighbors working together to make a proactive effort to safeguard their community, rather than sitting by to watch it happen.

Did they ever locate the van or suspects?

[davinco]

That is great. I live in a new subdivision in COnverse and have noticed the crime getting closer. Still being under construction there are a lot of vehicles coming and going that don't quite fit in with the neighborhood. Good encounter with the LEO.

Hope we have a couple in the nieghborhood here. My next door neighboor is a probation officer and recognized one of his guys working as a Rooms 2 Go delivery guy. Boy that made me all warm and fuzzy, we just purchased our living room furniture from them in Nov. What a job to case out houses. Ohh well.

Keep your eyes and ears open!

[MTICop]

That was a great encounter and it is good to know others were out to look out for the neighborhood as well. An active neighborhood watch can do great things and keep the riff-raff out. or to a minimum at least. I hope things get better in your neighborhood. You will have to let me know where you are at. Our neighborhood has kind of cooled down for now but things were getting a little dicey for a while. I hope it stays quiet.

[DONT TREAD ON ME]

As of right now there have been no arrest. I went out again last night around 2am and stayed out til 3am and saw nothing.

[DONT TREAD ON ME]

[BigBlueDodge]

I think what is alarming is the number of people that you are willing to let know you have a CHL. You stated that the neighborhood watch lady new you had a CHL. She should know that does not mean you are a cop, or can act in any capacity as a cop. Because you have a CHL and are licensed to carry a gun should not mean that she expects any more from you than any of the other residents when it comes to dealing with the crime watch. Also, you didn't state that the cop asked you for identification. I don't understand why you would volunteer that you have a CHL and are carring when the policeman tells you to not bea alarmed. That might actually create more issues for the cop knowing that he's got some shady characters running in the neighborhood, and also know he's got some guy running around the streets at night carrying a gun looking for these characters.

[DONT TREAD ON ME]

First off I do believe that it is up to me whom I tell that I have a CHL or not and I do not find it alarming that I told the Police officer or the head of the neighborhood watch. She completely understands that just because I have a CHL doesnt mean that I am a cop. I also volunteered my services to her in the very beginning as I am a younger lad and able to manuver throughout the neighborhood a bit better than she and since I have my CHL I am able to better protect myself should the need arise. As for the cop. I had run into him many times this summer at our pool and we kinda knew each other. He simply wanted to let me know who he was and told me not to be alarmed because his badge was concealed as he was in civilian clothes. When he showed me his badge it was located next to his gun. Thats why the dont be alarmed was mentioned. As for me telling him I was armed. I thought it best that I tell the police officer I was armed so that he was aware. And as for me running around the streets with my gun looking for those characters. Your darn skippy I did. We have thugs driving around our neighborhood breaking into cars and homes you can bet your butt I am going to carry if I am out and about. I was looking for a license plate number so that I could call the sheriff and they could have some sort of lead on the characters. I was not out looking to shoot someone or hoping that I would get the chance to save the day just simply looking for a license plate number. Im not a cop or a deputy but this is my neighborhood and I have a wife and two kids and there are many other kids around here. So yes I am going to do everything I can to protect this place and keep it nice and keep the scum out. Oh and the police officer was very glad that I was out and about looking as they need help because they are not able to be here 24/7. We then chatted for quite a while and he was very pleased at the extent of my knowledge of the handgun laws...I thank many of you herer for some of that...and we then parted ways. Neither of us alarmed that the other was armed and out looking for those characters.

I hope this helps you understand a bit better the situation. A police officer should not fear that there are good law abiding citizens out there trying to protect their neighborhoods.

[stevie_d_64]

I guess I am still trying to figure out why this story is a "great LEO encounter"???

All I can tell is that there are "known scumbags" running around...How do we "really" know this???

Everyone involved knows everyone else has a gun...

The new nieghborhood watch group seems to want to "patrol" more in the desire to directly "stop" crimes in progress...

Sorry if I am to harsh, or trying to deflate the intent of this effort...

Even with the explanation, I am just wondering if you would "patrol" your nieghborhood without your gun??? Because the only way a "need would arise" would be if you observed a crime in progress and you intervened at that point...Which the criminals would know they have someone in their midst that has a problem with what they are doing...

I have a concern that that action, if the need arose, would be bad for everyone involved...

I always thought nieghborhood watches were intended to be non-interfering elements in the community that were fabulous observers with good eyes and ears and took notes, made calls to Law Enforcement to report (only) what they see and hear going on in their areas...

Just my opinion...

[MTICop]

Maybe I'm reading your post wrong but I don't understand how patrolling a neighborhood would be a bad thing for all involved. I routinely patrol my neighborhood and I am always armed with both my gun and a cell phone. I am not even close to looking for trouble but will have the means to defend myself if necessary. People walk around their neighborhoods all the time and I can act like that is all I'm doing until I get to a place where I can call the police. The bad guys case neighborhoods, convenience stores, etc., like this to see where the vulnerabilities are so they know the softest targets.

The purpose of the neighborhood watch is to be active in the neighborhood, not to be a vigilante. However, I go very, very few places without my gun so walking around the neighborhood would be no different.

If I misunderstood your post, I apologize but I just don't see where patrolling is a problem. Maybe the word patrolling is a bad choice of words but that's semantics to me. I look at my neighborhood outings as a recon patrol where if I observe a problem, crime, etc., I can back off and feed the information to the required people but can still defend myself if I get into a situation I can't get out of.

My $.02

[DONT TREAD ON ME]

Its a great LEO encounter because the cop was very pro carry. He wasnt alarmed that I was carrying and supported CHLs. I thought that was pretty evident. As for the wanting to patrol instead of stopping the crime. What do you think we were trying to do? The vehicle was in the area so we were trying to get a license plate so that we could inform the cops so they could have a lead to help stop the crime. The fact that everyone knows everyone has a gun is not a bad thing. As I think we can all agree here it is our right to carry. I carry my gun with me everywhere I go. When I take my kids to the park, the mall, church or just walking around the neighborhood. I got the CHL to protect my family and myself. I dont know about you but I dont know when or where crime will happen. If I did I would just avoid those places and wouldnt need to bring my gun but since I cant predict the future I simply take it everywhere cause you just never know. I am happy that we have an active watch program and that we arent just sitting at our houses looking in our immediate area and instead are out trying to help keep the entire area safe. The criminals always know that someone is in their midst that has a problem with what they are doing because what they are doing is illegal and they know this. If I saw a crime in progress and I did not intervene (which we all have the right to intervene) but for arguments sake lets say I just kept on walking. Whos to say that they wouldnt try to attack me? I saw them right? So just cause I did not intervene does not mean I may not have to protect myself. Remember these are individuals who dont mind breaking laws and hurting people in the process. Again I am glad taht we have people here taking a pro-active approach to the crime and arent just sitting at home hoping they see something and that it stops.

[Rokyudai]

Out of curiosity, did these events in the OP take place in any subdivision (Cibolo Canyons, Bulverde Village etc) off of Bulverde Rd in SA? My wife woke me up at O'dark thirty last Saturday a.m. because she thought she heard a door knob being tried several times. Nothing evident of attempted break in that I could find.



Rok

[DONT TREAD ON ME]

No they didnt. Hope it wasnt anything but "night noise".

[Furyataurus]

+100 for ExtremeDuty.45!!! I'm about to be in L.E. soon and the more good guys armed the better IMO. ExtremeDuty.45, why not "patrol" in a vehicle or golf cart?????

[DONT TREAD ON ME]

Furyataurus,
Thank you! I was patrolling on foot for a couple reasons. 1) I had gone and talked to another gentleman on our watch team and he was driving around in his vehicle. 2) I thought that I would not tip the BGs off as soon if I was just taking a walk in my neighborhood and that I would have a better chance at getting a plate number. 3) I thought that I would be able to see and hear a robbery in progress better if I was on foot so that I could call it in to the Sheriff.

Note: I wake up extra early every morning to do a patrol in our area to make sure nothing is or has happened or that the van is not back. I also drive the neighborhood everytime I come home on the off chance that I see the van. Again I know that I am not and do not think that I am a LEO. I am just trying to protect my wife and kids, my neighbors and my neighborhood from scum.