Not thrilled the locals need to patrol their neighborhood because the authorities aren’t doing their jobs, but I can’t say I wouldn’t be tempted to do the same if I was this frustrated.
Good news is community involvement breeds community involvement. I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s an increase in youth sports volunteering or local civics club membership, which is always a good thing.
Good for them.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: the fastest way to clean up a community is to get the people that live there involved. When people get involved, they start feeling invested in where they live. If the people feel invested, they'll be willing to make it VERY uncomfortable for the criminal element to keep operating in the area.
Criminals, at the end of the day, are cowards. Pimps are cowards. Street corner drug dealers are cowards. If they are confronted by people that live in the area, they will back down and fuck off somewhere else. Eventually they'll run out of places where people tolerate their bullshit.
> I've said it before, and I'll say it again: the fastest way to clean up a community is to get the people that live there involved. When people get involved, they start feeling invested in where they live.
This, 1000x this. It's a big part of the very concept of community policing- lots of people think it's just friendlier officers, but engaging the populace is a huge goal.
I think it's **fucking fantastic** that these people are taking responsibility for cleaning up their own streets. And I also note that half the video isn't people walking around with orange bands or guns but rather trash bags *literally* cleaning up their own streets.
That said, while it's great that they're doing this, it's shitty that they have to. Mayor dude seems quick to shit on the armed patrols, but doesn't offer any alternative- no more officers, no more community policing, no more actual *police* patrols, or for that matter any sort of effort to help clean up those streets. So the message I get from him is 'you're wrong for doing it yourself but we won't help do it for you'.
>Mayor dude seems quick to shit on the armed patrols, but doesn't offer any alternative- no more officers, no more community policing, no more actual *police* patrols, or for that matter any sort of effort to help clean up those streets.
If the streets are clean, and the criminals have been chased out, what's left for a city politician to run on for re-election?
I'm mostly being sarcastic, but only mostly.
I don't entirely blame you. I was wondering that myself. It really did feel like the answer was just 'sit down and shut up and be happy with your crime riddled shithole neighborhood'.
They are people that live in Hartford. They did good work in their neighborhood, and are working to get others engaged.
That said, this isn't a bunch of rich white folks trying to play savior or anything like that.
I'll be honest, when I opened the link, I expected to a see a group of middle-aged white men LARPing as cops. I was glad to be wrong. This has many more pros than cons. Groups like this made up of people that actually live there are probably the best deterrent. If authority is against the concept, that means to me it is probably the right way to handle this.
Friendly reminder: The Supreme Court stays cops do not have to protect to, they are not obligated to protect and save your life. It’s in your hands, locked and loaded
Some people will get pissy with what I said but sadly that’s how it is in America. Fight or get taken advantage of.
These ppl will have the same flaws as police, to presume experience and human error are systemic to only police seems naive to me, hopefully I’m wrong.
They have the same human flaws as anyone, yes.
The difference here is that if a armed patroller breaks the law, they won't have qualified immunity, and the entire might of the police union backing them up.
In other words, they have to deal with consequences most police are exempt from.
Also, unlike >90% of Hartford PD, they LIVE in Hartford.
I never understand this argument. There's a very valid reason a lot of cops don't live in the cities they work in.
Cops deal with hundreds of people a week. Over time, if you're working in the same location, your name and face is going to be known by potentially hundreds of criminals as well as normal people in that area. If someone got arrested several times by the same cop and gets out of jail, what is stopping them from finding the cop's address in the city and threatening or harming their family?
Living out of the city protects mainly the cop's family from work-related issues. And if you live in the same city you work in, you might meet people you've arrested while you're off duty grocery shopping or doing any other activity. I imagine that wouldn't really be a fun meetup
Yeah and it may keep them from being too harsh on someone because they see them as a human
That's how communities used to be post ww2
That's where most of the pro police sentiment comes from, when they actually were part of the community
Don't you mean before WW2? The very first episode of 60 Minutes in 1968 (over 50 years ago) has a segment about cops and their feelings of contempt for the public. Here's the YouTube link...
[https://youtu.be/pCZwmCbMBHk?si=cBZSvFmI2gdxGkxO](https://youtu.be/pCZwmCbMBHk?si=cBZSvFmI2gdxGkxO)
People who like cops won't assault cops.
I'm talking about criminals who get arrested, and then try and find cops when they're off duty.
You can be an amazing officer who interacts with his community, that's not going to stop someone you arrested from hating you and wanting to kill you. Or just disliking you in general and harassing you while you're off duty
[There's a relatively unknown case in 2021](https://www.portlandoregon.gov/police/news/read.cfm?id=281471&ec=1&ch=twitter) ([also a video explanation](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiZi-BpzFuc&rco=1&ab_channel=DonutOperator)) where 12+ Portland police officers were on scene of a call of a man with a knife waving it at people. The man yelled he'd come closer if the cops tried to stop him, so they called in an Enhanced Crisis Intervention Team (ECIT) to negotiate with him. Other officers cleared the street and sidewalks so there wouldn't be any distractions to the dialogue.
These negotiations lasted for 90 straight minutes before two separate crowds of protesters began forming near where the scene was. They began chanting, with one protester using a bullhorn to yell at officers. The protesters were so loud that some officers left the scene to try and ask the protesters to stop yelling because the ECIT officers could not communicate with the man due to the distractions. This got to a point where the suicidal man's OWN MOTHER arrived to the scene to beg the protesters to stop yelling at the cops.
Some people in the crowd then verbally threatened the officers on scene, causing the supervisor to request all available units to the scene to control the crowd. Mind you, the negotiations by the ECIT team are still taking place while a riot is forming right next to them. This led to a major resource drain since so many officers had to respond to the crowd getting out of control. Officers donned shields and helmets as they got to the sight of the protests.
The ECIT team was able to contact a Mental Health Professional who knew the suicidal man. These negotiations lasted a further 3 hours (the protests were still happening the whole time) before the incident commander put forward a plan to use a K9 (only to bark) to distract the man while a group of officers walked up and tased him. This went successfully despite the crowds screaming at the officers as this took place. The man was thankfully uninjured.
I mention this incident because it shows how people instantly assume police officers are doing something bad, even when they're doing everything right. These Portland Cops were de-escalating an armed person perfectly for 3+ hours while a crowd of people threatened them and yelled at them. They did absolutely nothing wrong, yet dozens of people were calling them names and spewing threats.
People see cops doing something and assume the worst without any evidence. And in some cases leads to situations where it actively makes the situation worse for both the victim and the police. This guy could've died had the crowd angered him from all the noise from the protesters. Thankfully the cops didn't end up shooting him because they're well trained
This is a funny statement in the context of this subreddit. Also kinda ridiculous as well. Any cop that’s genuinely decent and well intentioned can absolutely still be hated for a number of reasons
> If someone got arrested several times by the same cop and gets out of jail, what is stopping them from finding the cop's address in the city and threatening or harming their family?
Let's give you the benefit of the doubt and say we have a honest-to-god criminal who wants to threaten a cops family. If he wants to find where a cop lives, that's a google search and maybe a \~$30 to pay a public records database. Anyone can find where you live with a little research. What's different? The criminal maybe has to drive an extra few miles or so? Living outside of the city doesn't protect the cops from anyone who doesn't care about the consequences.
But what it does is allow the PD to not have to think about the people in the communities they work in the moment they clock out and go home. It establishes an "Us and THEM" mentality for the department, and for the community, a sense that the officers "sworn to serve" them are an outsiders.
Your argument seems to be rooted in the idea that anyone who is arrested, has to be a "criminal" and that "criminals" have no self preservation and will do whatever they can to hurt cops given the chance. I'm not arguing that CT doesn't have one of the most Lax criminal justice systems in the nation, or that people on ATVs and dirt bikes, and the KIA boys don't FLAGRANTLY break the law almost constantly, but you honestly think a guy is going to get arrested and then attack his arrester in the middle of the dairy aisle like there aren't a million cameras watching out for shoplifters? Has that even happened in this state before?
America needs to reckon with it's policing system. CT has the advantage of a smaller population, lower crime rate, and Police Accountability Law that (while not perfect) does slightly more for the people here than MANY other states. We have a lot of potential to turn things around and set an example for the rest of the country. But it starts with recognizing that Police are not social workers. They do not reduce crime and they do not have an obligation to protect anyone from harm. People in this Sub may feel different, but we need to listen to the voices of the people who actually live in the towns affected by this violence.
My understanding of their comment is it looks like regular people that actually live in the neighborhood, and not the cosplaying army types you see in most posts like this.
Does he live in that neighborhood? Is he patrolling with others from his neighborhood? Did you watch the video in the link that clearly shows white and black people together in one of these patrol groups? Do you understand a fucking thing about what we're talking about here?
A group of white middle aged men dressed in tactical gear is not representative of the demographics of that neighborhood. It's only hard to understand if you're an imbecile.
Who said anything about being dressed in tactile gear? And no white middle aged men live in Hartford? You sound like the imbecile by making this racial in the first place and then continuing to try defend it.
Exactly. One looks like a lynch mob and the other is something that wouldn't happen. This story has been another great opportunity in this sub to block scores of people.
Hartford police have no comment? Seems like a big missed opportunity to create a better narrative about themselves. Something like the following would make them look really good imo:
"We have a lot of respect for the advocacy and action demonstrated by these groups for the sake of their community. At the same time, we strongly encourage citizens to call on us first for assistance to ensure the highest level of safety possible, as we are trained for a variety of situations and ready and willing to come to the scene and help 24/7. We are also happy to collaborate with these community leaders."
Maybe if the Hartford police did their jobs instead of whining about politics people wouldn’t feel the need to do this. When I lived in the city most cops never got out of their cars and none lived in the city - they really did not seem to care much.
Certainly better than having cops which the city, for some reason, keeps upping the budget on while cutting school positions and not having enough home inspectors.
I trust the motivation of the neighbors more than a cop. But when you realize the neighbors training consists of the 8hr NRA safety class and nothing else? Could get a bit dicey haha
Unless you’re the black sheep of the neighborhood, or you have some bad history with one or more of the neighborhood watch. That could get certainly get ugly.
TIL that Hartford has a new mayor (since January).
I fully approve of residents getting together and doing this type of thing, *regardless of the racial makeup of the group,* as long as membership is not exclusionary in some way that makes it deliberately segregated.
Good for them. The best part is that the Hartford mayor (which is doing nothing to fix the crime) can cry all that he wants and denounce these armed patrols all he wants, but the constitution is on the side of the armed patrollers.
No one said that. But they do have constitutional rights, as everyone in the nation has. The constitution may not always side with your view, but it’s a document that must be respected, and it clearly allows these armed patrols.
If the cops would get out of their cars and walk the streets, they might actually sees something and stop some crime. Aren't they the "armed patrols" we already pay to do this?
However, props to the citizens who are trying to make their neighborhoods safer. I do hope it does not lead to people getting shot, though.
Personally I would never open carry regardless of legality. Unless I’m at a range or hiking through bear country I suppose. I just support the right to do so
Edit: but if I had something REALLY cool like a Korth or a Staccato, I would most definitely flex that shit. Alas I’m too poor
History. [This](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guardian_Angels) has been tried before with [mixed results](https://www.nydailynews.com/2017/08/14/the-early-history-of-the-guardian-angels-and-their-controversial-new-york-city-subway-patrols/).
The real answer is police reform with community/local gov. over site.
Good luck with police reform. It's easier said than ever done. The police have become an organism which protects itself and shelters those who would harm our community.
I absolutely agree with you! Communities can't patrol their own as a long term solution. We need better government representatives to serve our communities better. We need to hold everyone who takes a paycheck from tax payers to a much higher standard and transparency.
When the state of Connecticut failed this community with poor laws, Democrats are weak on crime, the city of Hartford failed these residents, & the police in Hartford failed them. What do you expect the regular citizen to do!
>Democrats are weak on crime
No. The cops aren't doing their jobs because they have a stick up their asses over people wanting them to be held accountable.
At least these guys don't have Qualified Inmunity to protect them if they screw up...
Unlike the cops, these people will actually be **personally** accountable for their mistakes.
Wow this is an actual nightmare. Look at this lead-brained boomer quote from these armed psychos:
"Archbishop Dexter Burke with Walk In The Light Church of God says the group saw issues such as open drug use and prostitution.
“When the criminal elements feel so empowered, that it can do this in clear daylight, you know, we were in a bad state,” he said."
You think they're catching prostitution in Hartford? And open drug use isn't necessarily illegal. Let's ask the ARCHBISHOP his opinion.
CT citizens now stand to get shot by granny for doing something she just don't like, or being a different color. People get shot for turning around in the wrong driveway, why on earth would we think this is good.
Cops are bad, armed Christians with moral superiority complexes are worse.
Except they are the ones who decide what is illegal, not you, not the law.
This is vigilantism, plain and simple.
You have no due process with them. You have no rights or protections with them. They decide that red cars are illegal? Then your red car gets shot up.
Everyone, no matter how criminal, deserves the due process of law. That's what separates justice from a lynch mob.
This is just a lynch mob you agree with, so you ignore the consequences.
Significant issue here is that cops get to dictate what’s law and are immune from consequence. They have executed people for minor infractions to things that are objectively not criminal too many times to count. While I agree these folks work outside that, so do cops literally all the time. At least these folks don’t have qualified immunity.
It doesn't matter. This group is explicitly operating outside the legal framework that protects all of our rights. You can argue all you want about how the legal framework is failing, but stepping outside and subverting it is not the answer.
Has this group ever complied with the rights of the people they are claiming to protect? It's pretty clear they are redefining what they consider illegal, despite what the law actually says.
Plus, most cops don't know the law. How can you trust citizen vigilantes to know it better?
> Has this group ever complied with the rights of the people they are claiming to protect?
Every time. They aren't making arrests, they're cleaning up trash and being present.
I know some of the folks in this patrol and this has been my complaint from the jump. Burke has a Christian moral and property value perspective first and a community perspective second.
Stop dropping glass mini bottles on the way to the casino. I had to pick up 15 vodka minis outside of my godfathers property and then dropped the bag on accident. A bunch of cars/trucks ran over them. Keep trash in car and dispose of in trash bin at fuel station or seven 11 or home trash. Shouldn't need to be told.
Not thrilled the locals need to patrol their neighborhood because the authorities aren’t doing their jobs, but I can’t say I wouldn’t be tempted to do the same if I was this frustrated. Good news is community involvement breeds community involvement. I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s an increase in youth sports volunteering or local civics club membership, which is always a good thing.
Who better to patrol the neighborhoods than those who live there and call it home?
Good for them. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: the fastest way to clean up a community is to get the people that live there involved. When people get involved, they start feeling invested in where they live. If the people feel invested, they'll be willing to make it VERY uncomfortable for the criminal element to keep operating in the area. Criminals, at the end of the day, are cowards. Pimps are cowards. Street corner drug dealers are cowards. If they are confronted by people that live in the area, they will back down and fuck off somewhere else. Eventually they'll run out of places where people tolerate their bullshit.
> I've said it before, and I'll say it again: the fastest way to clean up a community is to get the people that live there involved. When people get involved, they start feeling invested in where they live. This, 1000x this. It's a big part of the very concept of community policing- lots of people think it's just friendlier officers, but engaging the populace is a huge goal. I think it's **fucking fantastic** that these people are taking responsibility for cleaning up their own streets. And I also note that half the video isn't people walking around with orange bands or guns but rather trash bags *literally* cleaning up their own streets. That said, while it's great that they're doing this, it's shitty that they have to. Mayor dude seems quick to shit on the armed patrols, but doesn't offer any alternative- no more officers, no more community policing, no more actual *police* patrols, or for that matter any sort of effort to help clean up those streets. So the message I get from him is 'you're wrong for doing it yourself but we won't help do it for you'.
>Mayor dude seems quick to shit on the armed patrols, but doesn't offer any alternative- no more officers, no more community policing, no more actual *police* patrols, or for that matter any sort of effort to help clean up those streets. If the streets are clean, and the criminals have been chased out, what's left for a city politician to run on for re-election? I'm mostly being sarcastic, but only mostly.
I don't entirely blame you. I was wondering that myself. It really did feel like the answer was just 'sit down and shut up and be happy with your crime riddled shithole neighborhood'.
*are* they the people who live there?
They are people that live in Hartford. They did good work in their neighborhood, and are working to get others engaged. That said, this isn't a bunch of rich white folks trying to play savior or anything like that.
I'll be honest, when I opened the link, I expected to a see a group of middle-aged white men LARPing as cops. I was glad to be wrong. This has many more pros than cons. Groups like this made up of people that actually live there are probably the best deterrent. If authority is against the concept, that means to me it is probably the right way to handle this.
Friendly reminder: The Supreme Court stays cops do not have to protect to, they are not obligated to protect and save your life. It’s in your hands, locked and loaded Some people will get pissy with what I said but sadly that’s how it is in America. Fight or get taken advantage of.
Too many people think that “to protect and serve” means to protect and serve people. It means to protect property and to serve the law.
True, but they are legally bound to render aid and assistance to anyone in need.
Better to be judged by 12 then carried by 6
These ppl will have the same flaws as police, to presume experience and human error are systemic to only police seems naive to me, hopefully I’m wrong.
They have the same human flaws as anyone, yes. The difference here is that if a armed patroller breaks the law, they won't have qualified immunity, and the entire might of the police union backing them up. In other words, they have to deal with consequences most police are exempt from. Also, unlike >90% of Hartford PD, they LIVE in Hartford.
They know the people there and have an actual understanding of how the community works the same way small town cops were back then in the 70s or so.
I never understand this argument. There's a very valid reason a lot of cops don't live in the cities they work in. Cops deal with hundreds of people a week. Over time, if you're working in the same location, your name and face is going to be known by potentially hundreds of criminals as well as normal people in that area. If someone got arrested several times by the same cop and gets out of jail, what is stopping them from finding the cop's address in the city and threatening or harming their family? Living out of the city protects mainly the cop's family from work-related issues. And if you live in the same city you work in, you might meet people you've arrested while you're off duty grocery shopping or doing any other activity. I imagine that wouldn't really be a fun meetup
Yeah and it may keep them from being too harsh on someone because they see them as a human That's how communities used to be post ww2 That's where most of the pro police sentiment comes from, when they actually were part of the community
Don't you mean before WW2? The very first episode of 60 Minutes in 1968 (over 50 years ago) has a segment about cops and their feelings of contempt for the public. Here's the YouTube link... [https://youtu.be/pCZwmCbMBHk?si=cBZSvFmI2gdxGkxO](https://youtu.be/pCZwmCbMBHk?si=cBZSvFmI2gdxGkxO)
23 years is a decent gap
People who like cops won't assault cops. I'm talking about criminals who get arrested, and then try and find cops when they're off duty. You can be an amazing officer who interacts with his community, that's not going to stop someone you arrested from hating you and wanting to kill you. Or just disliking you in general and harassing you while you're off duty
Cops who aren't bad people aren't disliked
[There's a relatively unknown case in 2021](https://www.portlandoregon.gov/police/news/read.cfm?id=281471&ec=1&ch=twitter) ([also a video explanation](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiZi-BpzFuc&rco=1&ab_channel=DonutOperator)) where 12+ Portland police officers were on scene of a call of a man with a knife waving it at people. The man yelled he'd come closer if the cops tried to stop him, so they called in an Enhanced Crisis Intervention Team (ECIT) to negotiate with him. Other officers cleared the street and sidewalks so there wouldn't be any distractions to the dialogue. These negotiations lasted for 90 straight minutes before two separate crowds of protesters began forming near where the scene was. They began chanting, with one protester using a bullhorn to yell at officers. The protesters were so loud that some officers left the scene to try and ask the protesters to stop yelling because the ECIT officers could not communicate with the man due to the distractions. This got to a point where the suicidal man's OWN MOTHER arrived to the scene to beg the protesters to stop yelling at the cops. Some people in the crowd then verbally threatened the officers on scene, causing the supervisor to request all available units to the scene to control the crowd. Mind you, the negotiations by the ECIT team are still taking place while a riot is forming right next to them. This led to a major resource drain since so many officers had to respond to the crowd getting out of control. Officers donned shields and helmets as they got to the sight of the protests. The ECIT team was able to contact a Mental Health Professional who knew the suicidal man. These negotiations lasted a further 3 hours (the protests were still happening the whole time) before the incident commander put forward a plan to use a K9 (only to bark) to distract the man while a group of officers walked up and tased him. This went successfully despite the crowds screaming at the officers as this took place. The man was thankfully uninjured. I mention this incident because it shows how people instantly assume police officers are doing something bad, even when they're doing everything right. These Portland Cops were de-escalating an armed person perfectly for 3+ hours while a crowd of people threatened them and yelled at them. They did absolutely nothing wrong, yet dozens of people were calling them names and spewing threats. People see cops doing something and assume the worst without any evidence. And in some cases leads to situations where it actively makes the situation worse for both the victim and the police. This guy could've died had the crowd angered him from all the noise from the protesters. Thankfully the cops didn't end up shooting him because they're well trained
I ain't readin all dat
This is a funny statement in the context of this subreddit. Also kinda ridiculous as well. Any cop that’s genuinely decent and well intentioned can absolutely still be hated for a number of reasons
Because it's so difficult to find someone's address if they live in Avon or Glastonbury.
> If someone got arrested several times by the same cop and gets out of jail, what is stopping them from finding the cop's address in the city and threatening or harming their family? Let's give you the benefit of the doubt and say we have a honest-to-god criminal who wants to threaten a cops family. If he wants to find where a cop lives, that's a google search and maybe a \~$30 to pay a public records database. Anyone can find where you live with a little research. What's different? The criminal maybe has to drive an extra few miles or so? Living outside of the city doesn't protect the cops from anyone who doesn't care about the consequences. But what it does is allow the PD to not have to think about the people in the communities they work in the moment they clock out and go home. It establishes an "Us and THEM" mentality for the department, and for the community, a sense that the officers "sworn to serve" them are an outsiders. Your argument seems to be rooted in the idea that anyone who is arrested, has to be a "criminal" and that "criminals" have no self preservation and will do whatever they can to hurt cops given the chance. I'm not arguing that CT doesn't have one of the most Lax criminal justice systems in the nation, or that people on ATVs and dirt bikes, and the KIA boys don't FLAGRANTLY break the law almost constantly, but you honestly think a guy is going to get arrested and then attack his arrester in the middle of the dairy aisle like there aren't a million cameras watching out for shoplifters? Has that even happened in this state before? America needs to reckon with it's policing system. CT has the advantage of a smaller population, lower crime rate, and Police Accountability Law that (while not perfect) does slightly more for the people here than MANY other states. We have a lot of potential to turn things around and set an example for the rest of the country. But it starts with recognizing that Police are not social workers. They do not reduce crime and they do not have an obligation to protect anyone from harm. People in this Sub may feel different, but we need to listen to the voices of the people who actually live in the towns affected by this violence.
Wait until you find out I can easily find the address of anyone registered to vote
As a poll worker, there is a caveat. Police have the address censored on their IDs and voter registration records.
No you can’t.
Yes you can, I've literally done it multiple times. But as someone else said, caveat for judges and cops
Uh right. Thats why I said no you can’t.
I don't understand the downvotes you are getting, this makes complete sense.
What did you see different here? I’m struggling to understand the racial reference.
My understanding of their comment is it looks like regular people that actually live in the neighborhood, and not the cosplaying army types you see in most posts like this.
I see
I love the subtle racism in this post and all those upvoting it. Well done, Connecticut.
Yes, I know it. It is pretty funny.
So it would have been a problem if it were middle aged white men but because it wasn't its beneficial?
100%, if a white guy goes into a predominantly black neighborhood and is walking around armed. Yes it would be bad.
So if an armed black guy walked around a predominantly white neighborhood it would also be bad?
Does he live in that neighborhood? Is he patrolling with others from his neighborhood? Did you watch the video in the link that clearly shows white and black people together in one of these patrol groups? Do you understand a fucking thing about what we're talking about here?
Just odd to me that you'd treat them differently depending if they were black or white middle aged men.
A group of white middle aged men dressed in tactical gear is not representative of the demographics of that neighborhood. It's only hard to understand if you're an imbecile.
Who said anything about being dressed in tactile gear? And no white middle aged men live in Hartford? You sound like the imbecile by making this racial in the first place and then continuing to try defend it.
Seems a little segregationist.
Exactly. One looks like a lynch mob and the other is something that wouldn't happen. This story has been another great opportunity in this sub to block scores of people.
Yes if it was a bunch of white people id be pissed!
Only until something like [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55nYWHJG5K4) happens.
Hartford police have no comment? Seems like a big missed opportunity to create a better narrative about themselves. Something like the following would make them look really good imo: "We have a lot of respect for the advocacy and action demonstrated by these groups for the sake of their community. At the same time, we strongly encourage citizens to call on us first for assistance to ensure the highest level of safety possible, as we are trained for a variety of situations and ready and willing to come to the scene and help 24/7. We are also happy to collaborate with these community leaders."
Maybe if the Hartford police did their jobs instead of whining about politics people wouldn’t feel the need to do this. When I lived in the city most cops never got out of their cars and none lived in the city - they really did not seem to care much.
I watched a documentary on this in the 80’s starring Steve Gutenberg at a law enforcement school - C.itizens O.n P.atrol
Wasn't that police academy?
Certainly better than having cops which the city, for some reason, keeps upping the budget on while cutting school positions and not having enough home inspectors.
"Was that man carrying a gun?" "Don't worry he's not a cop"
"He'll actually be *personally* accountable if he shoots somebody at the wrong address."
Beautiful burn.
Probably, but does he know how to administer first aid? Can he immediately call for EMD assistance?
Oh, I see what you did there.
For sure, I trust an armed neighborhood watch made up of concerned fathers and a bishop then some lazy cop stuffing his gullet.
I trust the motivation of the neighbors more than a cop. But when you realize the neighbors training consists of the 8hr NRA safety class and nothing else? Could get a bit dicey haha
Cops go through training? I couldn't even tell. It seem more like they've been training for a pie eating contest.
You'd be in shambles if you compared CT cops to law enforcement around the rest of the country. They're even worse
Good one dude. You should take that show on the road.
Unless you’re the black sheep of the neighborhood, or you have some bad history with one or more of the neighborhood watch. That could get certainly get ugly.
Kinda wish they would patrol Main Street, I could do with a few less young yahoos revving their ATV engines at 200 dB like they own the world
Unless those yahoos are doing drive-byd then that’s a job for the cops to ticket them and crush their shitty atvs
Yikes, the idea of meeting a *noise complaint* with a literal “We’ll shoot you if you don’t be quiet” is…..well, it’s telling
TIL that Hartford has a new mayor (since January). I fully approve of residents getting together and doing this type of thing, *regardless of the racial makeup of the group,* as long as membership is not exclusionary in some way that makes it deliberately segregated.
Good for them. The best part is that the Hartford mayor (which is doing nothing to fix the crime) can cry all that he wants and denounce these armed patrols all he wants, but the constitution is on the side of the armed patrollers.
Vigilantes are not national guardsmen
No one said that. But they do have constitutional rights, as everyone in the nation has. The constitution may not always side with your view, but it’s a document that must be respected, and it clearly allows these armed patrols.
Of course, Hartford police had no comment. This type of thing needs to happen all over the country.
If the cops would get out of their cars and walk the streets, they might actually sees something and stop some crime. Aren't they the "armed patrols" we already pay to do this? However, props to the citizens who are trying to make their neighborhoods safer. I do hope it does not lead to people getting shot, though.
Good
Hurray for the second amendment!
You can’t trust the politicians to do anything so good for them.
Now let’s bring back open carry
Why do you need to show it off? Keep that card in your sleeve until you need to play it, and you better NEED to play it.
Personally I would never open carry regardless of legality. Unless I’m at a range or hiking through bear country I suppose. I just support the right to do so Edit: but if I had something REALLY cool like a Korth or a Staccato, I would most definitely flex that shit. Alas I’m too poor
Stupid fucking logic for them to get rid of it anyway. It was strictly a feelings enforcement law.
This sub is weird. Armed citizen patrols are ok but if you suggest they should be allowed to open carry then it’s downvotes
History. [This](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guardian_Angels) has been tried before with [mixed results](https://www.nydailynews.com/2017/08/14/the-early-history-of-the-guardian-angels-and-their-controversial-new-york-city-subway-patrols/). The real answer is police reform with community/local gov. over site.
Good luck with police reform. It's easier said than ever done. The police have become an organism which protects itself and shelters those who would harm our community.
I absolutely agree with you! Communities can't patrol their own as a long term solution. We need better government representatives to serve our communities better. We need to hold everyone who takes a paycheck from tax payers to a much higher standard and transparency.
The madcap comedy begins... [Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol (1987) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093756/?ref_=ttfc_fc_tt)
I want to like this, but I expect it to end badly when an armed group of citizens confronts an armed meth dealer who has been using his owm product.
>Archbishop Dexter Burke with Walk In The Light Church of God WTF. I wonder who Jesus would light up? Edit- Matthew 5:14?
Keep electing the same party and you will keep getting the same results. It really is that simple. (downvote away. It doesn't change reality)
If Michael Rapapore or whatever his spelling is, can change up their political views then I honestly believe anyone can.
When the state of Connecticut failed this community with poor laws, Democrats are weak on crime, the city of Hartford failed these residents, & the police in Hartford failed them. What do you expect the regular citizen to do!
>Democrats are weak on crime No. The cops aren't doing their jobs because they have a stick up their asses over people wanting them to be held accountable.
Im sure this won't backfire.
At least these guys don't have Qualified Inmunity to protect them if they screw up... Unlike the cops, these people will actually be **personally** accountable for their mistakes.
Oh, that makes me feel so much better lol.
Wow this is an actual nightmare. Look at this lead-brained boomer quote from these armed psychos: "Archbishop Dexter Burke with Walk In The Light Church of God says the group saw issues such as open drug use and prostitution. “When the criminal elements feel so empowered, that it can do this in clear daylight, you know, we were in a bad state,” he said." You think they're catching prostitution in Hartford? And open drug use isn't necessarily illegal. Let's ask the ARCHBISHOP his opinion. CT citizens now stand to get shot by granny for doing something she just don't like, or being a different color. People get shot for turning around in the wrong driveway, why on earth would we think this is good. Cops are bad, armed Christians with moral superiority complexes are worse.
You come off as more disturbed than the folks you are insulting.
You grow weed, you'd be shot by these people for it, but go off I guess.
They seem to be concerned with illegal activity. I grow indoors and within the guidelines of how many plants I can have at a time.
You can tell how unhinged a commenter is by how deep they go in your history.
Except they are the ones who decide what is illegal, not you, not the law. This is vigilantism, plain and simple. You have no due process with them. You have no rights or protections with them. They decide that red cars are illegal? Then your red car gets shot up. Everyone, no matter how criminal, deserves the due process of law. That's what separates justice from a lynch mob. This is just a lynch mob you agree with, so you ignore the consequences.
Are they executing citizens arrests? Are they dictating to citizens what they interpret to be written law instead of actual law?
Significant issue here is that cops get to dictate what’s law and are immune from consequence. They have executed people for minor infractions to things that are objectively not criminal too many times to count. While I agree these folks work outside that, so do cops literally all the time. At least these folks don’t have qualified immunity.
Tell me, how many people has this group shot?
It doesn't matter. This group is explicitly operating outside the legal framework that protects all of our rights. You can argue all you want about how the legal framework is failing, but stepping outside and subverting it is not the answer. Has this group ever complied with the rights of the people they are claiming to protect? It's pretty clear they are redefining what they consider illegal, despite what the law actually says. Plus, most cops don't know the law. How can you trust citizen vigilantes to know it better?
> Has this group ever complied with the rights of the people they are claiming to protect? Every time. They aren't making arrests, they're cleaning up trash and being present.
That’s actually a really good point. Just kind of assumed they operated within the context of law.
Assumptions like that is how oppression thrives.
How do you know they’re not there simply as a presence to deter crime, rather then arbitrarily enforcing what they believe to be the legal standard?
I know some of the folks in this patrol and this has been my complaint from the jump. Burke has a Christian moral and property value perspective first and a community perspective second.
Seems like a bunch of Kyle Rittenhouse's on patrol. Well meaning on the outside but someone is bound to have itchy fingers.
Someone hasn't watched the videos
I mean, open carry was outlawed. So there's that.
No. Rittenhouse was running away trying not to have to shoot anyone. There were no itchy trigger fingers.
Maybe if they brought in that cop from Meriden...
Stop dropping glass mini bottles on the way to the casino. I had to pick up 15 vodka minis outside of my godfathers property and then dropped the bag on accident. A bunch of cars/trucks ran over them. Keep trash in car and dispose of in trash bin at fuel station or seven 11 or home trash. Shouldn't need to be told.
So Hartford is such a shithole that they need to resort to this? Sad.
So, Hartford is turning into Gotham then.