All to often, when we feel there has been some injustice done or crime committed against us, the first thing we do is run to the police and say, “HE DID IT!” I used to be that way. Neighbors too noisy? Don’t bother confronting them, just call the cops. Fender bender? Immediately call the cops. You get the idea.
Most things can be handled without getting the cops involved. I’ve taken keys from drunk drivers, I’ve chased away thieves, I’ve asked noisy neighbors to keep it down and in general, I don’t involve the police unless there is a very, very good reason. I’d much rather let someone get away with a petty crime than run the risk the police will escalate a non-violent situation in to deadly force. Petty criminals don’t deserve to die. Mentally ill people don’t deserve to die. The fact is, every time the police get involved in a situation, there is a significantly increased risk that it will escalate to the point where the cops use force. The way to mitigate that possibility is not to get the cops involved in the first place.
So how do you avoid getting the police involved? The first thing to do is realize that there are alternatives. When a situation comes up that would normally have you dialing 911 immediately, stop and think. Ask yourself, “Is this something I can handle myself?” Politely ask the neighbors to turn down the music, ignore the guy smoking pot, check to see if there really is domestic violence going on when you hear you neighbor and his wife yelling, spanking a kid isn’t necessarily abusive, petty theft is never investigated anyway and usually not worth raising your insurance premiums over. Are you starting to see a pattern here? These are all little things that you can either deal with yourself or simply ignore.
What if you’re the victim of a more substantial crime? If I caught an unarmed burglar in my house and had him held at gun point, the first thing I would do is demand his wallet. I wouldn’t beat him or do anything that would cause him to seek revenge. But I would look him dead in the eye and say, “I know your name, I know your face. I’ll be watching out for you and if I catch you in my neighborhood again, it will be the last thing you ever do.” Guide him to the front door and tell him to run. You don’t have to be a big, tough, intimidating guy to get away with this. A petite woman with a gun could get away with the same thing. The point is, arm yourself in your own home so that you are not a victim.
If you’re the victim of a crime where the likelihood of catching the perpetrator is very, very low, don’t report it. If you’re mugged and you didn’t see the guys face, don’t bother reporting it, it’s not going to solve anything or make you feel better. The police aren’t going to set up roadblocks and issue APB’s because your wallet got stolen. If your laptop gets stolen and has a tracker in it, then find it and go get it; take some friends with you. You might even consider hiring a bouncer from a local bar. Be smart though, the person who now has your laptop might not realize it was stolen. The last resort to being a crime victim, but one that might be necessary is vigilante justice. Face it, the cops frequently don’t do their jobs and sometimes we have to take justice in to our own hands and deal with things. Justice and revenge though are two different things and it’s not a course that should be taken without a lot of serious thought.
Sometimes it’s simply unavoidable and involving the cops is the only suitable choice. Sometimes the cops get involved against your will. Next time you’re tempted to call the cops, try to sort it out yourself, you’d be surprised at what you can do without their help.
In my next column I’ll explain how to deal with the police once they do become involved.
In the mean time, please visit my blog. I have not been writing as much there as I would like but there some good past material there that explains my libertarian views along with discussions about economics as well as other stuff that I found amusing or interesting.
lol, reminds me of a time when we were partying in my neighbors backyard, and the “new” neighbor would call the cops on us, if some one so much as sneezed. Well, we had headed back to my place, as it was getting late, and I had my side door open, as it is to far from any of my neighbors to hear music going that direction, except the people right next door.
Well, a cop shows up outside the door, and says he got a noise complaint. I knew this was a lie, and they had probably started at the “backyard” party, and upon realizing no one was there came around the corner saw that we were partying at my house, on a Saturday night to boot.
Anyway, I’m talking to the cop, and let him know we were winding things down anyway. He asks, “Is there some reason you don’t want us to come in your house. I said, “Absolutely not, come on in.”, as my roommates and I always hang our latest “targets” (yes, shooting targets) on the wall. It’s a “pride” thing. We are all pretty competitive. I thought it was hilarious that they could see what good shots we all are, and two of my roommates are blind in one eye. One from losing an eye to an IUD, and the other glaucoma.
Anyway, next day, I go out and ask all my neighbors, who weren’t at the party, that is, which was only three, “Did you call the cops?” They all said they were angry that I would even ask such a thing. I knew better than that. So, I tell them the lie that the cops told me, and they all assured me that we are a “close enough” neighborhood that we all feel just stepping next door or across the street, and telling me to knock it off was something they all felt perfectly comfortable doing. The two neighbors across the street, Mike, and Krista, both assured me that they don’t even hear anything at all when they get back to their bedrooms. Of course, I also took the opportunity to tease Mike about the whole neighborhood hearing him yelling at the TV during sporting events. lol
See, when you “know” your neighbors. Invite them over for get together(s), as we all do a pot luck Sunday dinner and watch The Walking Dead together (lol), etc… there is no reason for cops. If one of your neighbors give you such a hard time that you think you can’t handle it yourself, get the rest of your neighborhood to “gang up on them”; not literally, of course, but verbally.
This has never happened in my little neighborhood. I am blessed in that none of my neighbors have “serious” issues, like bi-polar, or some other serious condition.
Great article!
Sounds like a lot of common sense when it comes to minor domestic issues. Might hamper the ability to prevent future crimes, though. For example, if the police have a dozen reports of neighborhood vehicle break-ins between 2am and 5am in the morning every Thursday, then the odds of it happening next Thursday are pretty high, and an officer could be dispatched to watch for car burglars. Just sayin’.
LadyM, while I’m glad that you have good neighbors, NEVER EVER EVER invite the police inside your home for any reason. No warrant, no police. Maybe if the cops are close personal friends it’s ok, but otherwise, no; don’t do it. The stories of cops being invited in and planting evidence, or making other mistakes that lead to escalation of force, or false arrests are too numerous to count.
But keep up the good work in your neighborhood.
Mator,
I realize my article doesn’t cover every situation and sometimes the police just get involved. My next article is on what to do when the police are already involved (regardless of how they became involved).
Difster;
By not allowing the cops inside, you highly increase the chance that they think you are hiding something (which makes sense) and they’ll just come back with a warrant, pissed off that you’re wasting their time. I understand what you’re saying, but I’m also pointing out that if the cops aren’t being assholes and are just suspicious (which, hey, everyone is) and you really aren’t hiding shit, it’s easier to just let them in.
PaganRocker, not allowing the police in is not probable cause and the police cannot usually get a warrant based on that.
And even if the cops are being sweet and nice, I’m still not going to let them in EVER without a warrant.
Hello Difster,
I’d be concerned about the possible legal consequences of holding a burglar at gunpoint an essentially robbing them in your home. And then threatening them. By demonstrating so much control over the situation I think you are pretty clearly throwing any self-defense justification out the window.
Perhaps most burglars wouldn’t be keen enough to turn around and attack you in the court of law, but taking their wallet and threatening them certainly wouldn’t put you in the best position.
“If I caught an unarmed burglar in my house and had him held at gun point”. This position presupposes a lot about the robbery, first that you woke up (if you were sleeping), armed yourself, determined that they were alone and unarmed, secured the safety of your family, possibly in other rooms, and then went all covert ops through your house to apprehend them.
I would have called the police as soon as I was awake and armed. You might be able to apprehend on unarmed robber, or you might be getting yourself into a gun fight with three murder/burglars. I’d say it’s much safer to sequester yourself with your family if you can, and then shout that you are armed and you have called the police.
One last quibble; it seems to be a bit cavalier to suggest that vigilante justice is OK without expounding greatly on the consequences and dangers. If you engage in vigilante justice, you will most likely be punished by the law (at least in the US). Remember Dexter is a fiction story character.
On the whole, great article, I’m a fan of your contributions to copblock.org!
Les Wes,
I agree with you that I need to expand upon the idea of when vigilante justice is appropriate.
Also, if you held a robber at gun point and he tried to take you to court, first, he’d have to admit to the attempted to rob you then, unless there were other witnesses, prove that you took his ID. Highly unlikely. Sure, there are risks, but it’s one I’d be willing to take.
“if you held a robber at gun point and he tried to take you to court” It’s happened before.
This would seem to put you in the uncomfortable position of lying in court, or at least taking a lot of 5ths. It would also preclude you from posting their picture around your neighborhood to warn people. Maybe it would be better to just take their picture before kicking them out.
Plus that would work if they didn’t have an ID on them. (I wouldn’t take one to a burglary).
Les Wes,
I think you misunderstood my point about taking his wallet. It wouldn’t be to keep it, it would be to get his ID and find out who he was. Keeping his wallet would invite revenge. I apologize for the lack of clarity.
LMAO!!! Just reading some of these comments are HILARIOUS!!!!! I’ve been a cop for 10 years. Never planted anything on anyone, never seen anyone do it either. People who know “numerous” stories need to check the dates on those stories as well.
Do things esculate when the police get involve? Yep!! Sometimes, most times they don’t? If that drunk you took the keys from decides he wants them back….then what? If that petty theif decides he’s not happy with you….then what?
And I’m sure at 3am your going to let a burglar go. Let’s disect that one.. You’ve got his wallet(btw, most people I catch don’t have a wallet to begin with, let alone an id.. but whatever, let’s play).. he knows that you know have a gun in the home, and you can have him put in prison. So being the bad guy I am.. wtf u think I’m going to do?? I’d be watching out for you too!! AND when your not at home.
Chances are your simple crimes listed are also crimes else where by the same purp on other victims who didn’t have a chance to catch the guy…. so he’ll be on his way to victimize someone else!! Thanks for doing something good for your community…
Simply put PSOSGT, I dont’ believe you that you’ve never planted something on someone or seen anyone do it. Maybe if you work in a small town that’s true but you know it happens on any metropolitan police force and it happens frequently.
And yes, rather than bring the cops to my house, I would let a burglar go if I think I’ve scared him enough to make him never want to come back.
You’re not watching out for me. It’s been proven over and over again in court that the police have NO duty to protect us and from the cumulative news reports available, it’s absolutely true.
Difster. Let’s break this down.. I know and understand that there have been and are cops out there that have planted evidence. But it’s not a frequent occurance. I personally don’t understand WHY a cop would do it!! Put your OWN freedom on the line, along with the financial security of thier families, for what? A misdomeaner bust?
“to protect and serve”… not written in any law book. Was a slogan thought up by some police chief decades ago to put on the door of cop cars. And I personally don’t understand why everyone get’s thier panties in a bunch over this. We’ve got 700,000 cops to cover over 300 MILLION people. That’s 1 cop per 428 people….if they all work 24/7. Last number I heard was 250,000 actual patrol officers, lets say they all work 7 days a week, but 3 different shifts, that’s 83k patrol officer on duty at 1 time. Thats 1 cop per 3614 people.. how the FUCK does anyone think that they are going to have a personal cop to “protect” them.
PSOSGT, you’re full of crap. First of all, NO ONE thinks they should have their own personal cop protecting them.
As far as I’m concerned, that’s WAY TOO MANY cops. We need less.
Also, people need to take MORE responsibility for their own protection (guns, etc.) and the vast majority of cops should be disarmed since it’s easily proven they have a very high rate of unjustified shooting (by the standards of civilized people, not internal police review boards.
Also, cops planting evidence happens but I don’t know why you’re so focused on it unless perhaps you have a guilty conscience. Beating, tazing, arresting people for having bad attitudes (which isn’t a crime), etc. Those are the problems.
And thank God for video. Cops are getting away with less of their crap because people are pulling out the recording devices more and more often.
I agree with you Difster, people need to take much more responsibility for their own protection. Your 100% correct. People should stop calling the ops for the constant petty bullcrap. We should be liking out for our neighbors as well, the ones who can’t protect themselves.
And for that, sometimes the cops need to be called. Sometimes.
Regarding your comments with PSOSGT, and previous ones with myself, I really don’t understand why you truly believe that all cops are bad. Planting evidence, etc.
Im sure there are dirtbag cops. But you can’t just believe we all are.
1025,
I take it you are a police officer. I have a couple questions for you.
Have you ever witnessed, or become aware of, any incident in which a fellow police officer broke a law (violation of which would result in the arrest of a mere “civilian”), violated the civil rights of a citizen or otherwise abused his authority as a law enforcement officer?
If the answer to that question is “yes”, what, if anything, did you do about it? Even if you did not actively cover for them, even if you simply looked the other way, kept your mouth shut, then in my view you are part of the problem.
You know very well what is meant by the term “Blue Wall of Silence”.
Here’s the deal: when the crooked cops are the ones constantly looking over their shoulder; when crooked cops are the ones who have to worry that their “brothers” might take their sweet time to answer a call for back-up; when crooked cops have more to fear from their fellow Boys in Blue than the “snitch” who dares to “rat out” a crooked cop to Internal Affairs; when the “bad apple” cops live in abject mortal terror of the whistleblower cops, and not the other way around; then I will buy the “it’s just a few bad apples” line, mmmmmkay?
http://reason.com/archives/2010/10/18/americas-most-successful-stop
see also: http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2011/11/09/Fla-troopers-patrol-car-covered-in-feces/UPI-94741320866988/
Cops! The edge of tyranny’s knife; the standing army the Founders feared so deeply. EVERY cop is guilty, by acts of either commission or omission, of helping further the destruction of Liberty. There is NO circumstance under the sun that would ever lead me to call the cops! NONE. And when the inevitable economic collapse begins to really gather steam, there is one silver lining to it all: Time for some payback!