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Posted on 01/16/2005 2:16:35 AM PST by freepatriot32
OSTON, Jan. 15 - In Boston, a witness to a shooting by a member of a street gang recently found copies of his grand jury testimony taped to all the doors in the housing project where he lives.
In Baltimore, Rickey Prince, a 17-year-old who witnessed a gang murder and agreed to testify against the killer, was shot in the back of the head a few days after a prosecutor read Mr. Prince's name aloud in a packed courtroom.
And in each city, CD's and DVD's titled "Stop Snitching" have surfaced, naming some people street gangs suspect of being witnesses against them and warning that those who cooperate with the police will be killed. To underscore its message, the Baltimore DVD shows what appears to be three dead bodies on its back cover above the words "snitch prevention."
These are only a few examples of what the police, prosecutors and judges say is a growing national problem of witness intimidation by youth gangs that in some cities is jeopardizing the legal system and that bears striking similarities to the way organized crime has often silenced witnesses.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Violent crime is a local problem. Local police need to take the initiative and get it under control instead of passing the buck to the federal government.
Compare the number of policemen per thousand population, the length of prison sentences and executions and the reasons for differences between cities with gang problems and those without becomes obvious.
Agreed. The military has a lot on their plate right now.
The cops simply react when proactivity is called for.
And the politicians are more concerned with graft and self-aggrandizement than serving the electorate.
Perhaps it is time to consider this:
U.S. Constitution Article I Section 9
The privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.
Ef em, they gotta wade through 5 dogs and a .44 mag first.
Libertarian ping.To be added or removed from my ping list freepmail me or post a message here.
I teach high school in just such an inner city neighborhood and have for the last eight years. I've never had a problem in the so called "Blackboard Jungle" but I know plenty of teachers that have. Might have something to do with my background as a State Parole Officer. I'm also a certified firearms instructor and I compete regularly in IDPA competitions. Can't carry my gun at school, but it doesn't seem to matter to the kids.
If you're going up against a street gang, you'd better be prepared to pull a good replication of the attitude in the Clint Eastwood movie Outlaw Josey Wales because they won't back off. Ever. Gangbangers are used to taking losses in their own ranks and it just encourages them to show up with ever escalating force in subsequent encounters. They don't know about or care about fire discipline. They just spray lead. That's why a lot of innocents get hurt in the area of a gang war. Some of the more productive gangs have contacts globally and of course inside the mob and outlaw biker gangs. They can contract a hit faster than you can believe.
Would I testify against a gang member? I really dunno, but I'm at the age where I really just don't give a $H** anymore. Let's put it this way:
~squints eyes, voice goes deep and gravelly~ When it gits bad and it looks like you ain't gonna make it...well that's when ya gotta get mean and I mean plumb MAD-DOG MEAN 'Cause if you quit...well then you neither win nor live. That's just the way it is.......
Very true.
I once lived in a townhouse that was located in a block that was no-mans-land between two rival gangs. One evening I arrived home to find 5-6 gang-bangers in my parking area selling drugs. Keep in mind that these little punks are cowards by nature - they are only "brave" when they have their "posse" nearby. I went in, called the police, then went outside with my shotgun loaded for bear.
I informed the assembled slime that a) the police were on their way, and b) I would not hesitate to blow the slimeballs into little bloody pieces if they threatened me in any way; then or later, as I was ALWAYS packing. Lastly, I informed them that they could do/sell as many drugs as they wanted as far as I was concerned, as long as they stayed away from my home.
The slime oozed away, after vague mutterings of "seeing me later". I waited until the cops showed up and told them what had happened. One of the cops told me that if I ever saw one of them with a gun to not hesitate to shoot, because this particular gang was notoriously bloodthirsty.
I never had any other problem with this group or their rivals. The word had spread in the area to "stay away from that crazy little white bread; he WANTS to shoot one of us." I heard several non-gang members talking about me in the local convienence store, so I KNOW that the word had spread.
My point is this: these social misfits count on our silence and our unwillingness to get involved. Standing up to them lets them know that the cost/benefit analysis does NOT weigh in their favor - and they quickly move on.
You have touched on another useful tactic. Convince your enemy that you are irrational. This keeps them off balance. They never know what to expect. If they can't even count on you acting in YOUR own best interests, what can they count on?
Sure he would and he'd start by cleaning out ALL the guns. Well, everybody who is considered law abiding...and that's where he'd stop. Because the criminals won't ever disarm and they're not into obeying the law anyway.
Rudy is a gun grabbing RINO.
Wrong. Situational awareness can and should extend in a radius beyond your immediate personal space. You can build a perimeter that extends about 50 feet from you in all directions and maintain awareness of this area all the time in CONDITION YELLOW. It is almost impossible to "take" a person who operates their daily life in condition yellow. However it is equally easy to kill, kidnap, or otherwise ruin a person's day who operates in Condition WHITE. This is simple apathy as to ones immediate environment. 99% of all the sheep live in this state of mind (as in out of) because they simply refuse to believe they may be stalked by the human wolves that hunt our lands.
Spray me with full auto? That's only going to frighten somebody who believes what he sees from Hollywood. Anybody who is conversant with weapons knows it takes a serious expert to hit anything in full auto. No, I'm much more worried about the guy who knows exactly what he's doing. Who knows about sight picture, breathing and trigger squeeze and who knows the importance of the front sight. Who can stay calm under pressure. That does not describe the average gangsta. I know, I teach 'em everyday.
Welcome to the club fellow sheepdog.
Thanks, FRiend.
I read that website, and agree completely. I wonder though, if sheepdogs are born, or are they made by training and environment. Or both. I am not sure.
I, like the cop that carries in Church, know the Universal Rule of sheepdogs everywhere: You don't need a gun at all until you really need one badly.
I decided in my early youth that I was NOT going to be taken advantage of by anyone; especially not by some snot-nosed punk selling drugs and doing drive-by shootings.
I do not dispute what you say. Further, I should have known better than to refer to the weapons used by the perps as fully auto. The press refers to all weapons that fire more than one round as automatic. From the news reports, I know that multiple rounds have been fired and in some instances non targeted individuals have been killed or wounded. Targeted individuals are usually known to the police, therefore they are able to conclude gang related.
I further agree that self defense is taking personal responsibility for ones life, however I would not be so quick to label as sheepish those who do not choose to live in condition yellow. Many times witnesses come from the ranks of the old, infirm, and children. And, an able bodied man who comes forward also subjects his entire family to this condition.
I am not arguing for sheepishness. Lack of witnesses is a serious problem for police and prosecutors especially in gang infested neighborhoods, but I am not convinced that all who choose to remain silent should be labeled coward. What to do if ones twelve year old comes to you and says "I saw such and such".
You just answered your own question. You decided. I was a sheep until I got into junior high school (not middle school....I'm an "old" guy, lol) and got bullied without mercy. I spent a summer on the family farm with some cousins recently returned from Vietnam. Special Forces. I returned to my home in South Florida as a sheepdog and determined to acquire the skills (I already had the mindset) I needed to change my life. And change it I did.
The sheep would much rather have the sheepdog cash in his fangs, spray paint himself white, and go, "Baa."
Not entirely true, as some sheep are active in pulling the sheepdog's teeth on his behalf. An attempt at forcing their own denial onto the sheepdog.
If you are warrior who is legally authorized to carry a weapon and you step outside without that weapon, then you become a sheep, pretending that the bad man will not come today. No one can be "on" 24/7, for a lifetime. Everyone needs down time. But if you are authorized to carry a weapon, and you walk outside without it, just take a deep breath, and say this to yourself... "Baa."
Doesn't necessarily hold true; the tool doesn't define the sheepdog nor the warrior. Grossman admitted that (some of) those on Flight 93 had made the change from "baa" to "woof".
I'm not a warrior. Neither am I a sheepdog. It may sound like "baa", when I talk to anti-rights liberulz and sheep; it's spelled "BAH!".
If you have the capacity for self awareness and know right from wrong, you can live in condition yellow. That would seem to rule out infants and the senile. Kids should be raised in the mindset. Adults should be inculcated with the following ALERT LEVELS
In today's world (so called civilized, but not) you really are either sheep, sheepdog or wolf. Did you not click the link: "I ONLY HANG WITH SHEEPDOGS?" Being a sheep is not being a coward. Not today. Actually, the wolves are the cowards just as terrorists and criminals have always been. Crime and terrorism are tools for losers. That's why they can never win.
I respectfully disagree. I don't know you, except by your words on this board, but those words speak clear crisp truth as fresh and vibrant as a cold mountain stream. I think you need to slightly modify your definition of warrior. Maybe you're not a sheepdog, but you may certainly be a warrior. There's a great book you should read (I'll bet you can get it at amazon.com) titled: Living the Martial Way by Forrest E. Morgan, Major USAF. It's a book on the martial arts but the warrior philosophy it speaks of extends to all our lives and and situations. Read it. Heck, you may decide to take up Aikido and become a sheepdog, too.
This is one of the things that we talked about in one of the firearms courses that we took a couple of years ago, and we are today always aware of our surroundings, both walking and driving.
Just read it.. That was great, we all have a choice of what to be.....
The bad guys are going to win until we (the law) fights them like they fight each other. Shoot on sight - no questions asked.
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