This is murder

By the way,,,re: "This is murder" thread title:

Murder Iin the US) = the unlawful premeditated killing of one human being by another.

I'm not seeing that (based on the information reported thus far).



QuickSilver said:
If someone were breaking into my house.... even if I scared him away... I would call the police.. at least to alert them someone like that is on the prowl in my neighborhood.. I can't begin to understand who wouldn't... unless of course they were breaking the law themselves..
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Yeah, I agree.
 
applecruncher said:
By the way,,,re: "This is murder" thread title:

Murder Iin the US) = the unlawful premeditated killing of one human being by another.

I'm not seeing that (based on the information reported thus far).
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I'm pretty sure she knew before she fired the gun that bullets can and do kill. I guess it depends on your definition of premeditation......thanks, I have my own dictionary.
 

QuickSilver said:
If someone were breaking into my house.... even if I scared him away... I would call the police.. at least to alert them someone like that is on the prowl in my neighborhood.. I can't begin to understand who wouldn't... unless of course they were breaking the law themselves..
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Mr. 911 might be able to corroborate, or deny, that it just might be a violation of the law to NOT call the Police after an incident of the nature which you describe. Might depend on the jurisdiction; "failure to report a criminal act". imp
 
I still thought we were talking about incidents "reported" by the press, NOT about crimes "reported" to the police. Of course people report things like that to the police (most do, anyway), but the media doesn't pick up and "report" them, because there's no splash usually. None of us civilians know how many things are "reported" to the police that we never hear about; only what's "reported" in the media.

My dog (RIP) took a chunk out of of the south end of a bad guy breaking into my house years ago. I duly "reported" it to the police, but it was of course never reported in the news. Just because you don't see something in the news doesn't mean it didn't happen!! Geez!
 
SifuPhil said:
One of the more interesting - and rarely remarked upon - aspects of gun ownership is that one cannot count the number of times a home invasion, robbery, mugging, etc. has been averted just by a show of force - by bringing out the weapon and intimidating the perp into fleeing. These incidents are not usually reported.
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I can vouch for one such incident.
 
SifuPhil said:
I think anyone who opens their eyes - and their mind - will see at least that many incidents in their life, but there is a large contingent of System-indoctrinated robots who nay-say any possibility of this happening.
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Well I'm no robot and I can honestly say that at 61 I have never known anyone who was an intended victim of a crime and saved themselves by having a gun. Could it happen?....of course it could. Could a meteor land on me?.....of course it could.
 
Warrigal said:
Reporting to the police is very important even if nothing comes of it.
Police stations keep a book of such phone reports and they can be important intel later.
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What about all those domestic abuse cases that go unreported? That's bad enough, but when you are constantly reporting the abuse and they say "Well, we didn't catch him in the act", then you file a Protection from Abuse order and a week later they find it pinned to your chest by a knife? (True story)

mitchezz said:
Well I'm no robot and I can honestly say that at 61 I have never known anyone who was an intended victim of a crime and saved themselves by having a gun. Could it happen?....of course it could. Could a meteor land on me?.....of course it could.
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Well, I was of course excluding the millions of people who luckily go through life without being exposed to such shenanigans. Congratulations!

The "robots" I was referring to have a philosophical view that, no matter what, they WILL report every misdeed they come across. That's scary. Let them take a ride on pretty much any public street - are they going to report all the speeding, tail-gating, etc. that goes on? No. Let them ride a public bus - will they report the intimidation or the loud music playing? Of course not.

There are levels, and you don't necessarily report all of them. In my bouncing days I had a few knives pulled on me. Did I report them? No. I would lose time from work and mess up the life of a guy who just had a little too much to drink. He was easily handled and the knife taken away from him. But if he had actually cut me? I'd probably report it, but more for medical coverage reasons than entering his name on some dubious official list.

Repeat offenders? I kept a bag of lime in the trunk ... :cool:
 
After much publicity on the anniversary some people reported seeing a couple of cars parked in an unusual position not far from the home.
It might have made some difference if the report was made when the newspapers were full of the disappearance.
Or it might not, but at least there would be no regrets about not reporting.

Domestic violence should be reported as it happens. I nearly made such a report when I heard a child screaming in the house opposite but then the fight spilled out onto the street and I could see that the grandfather was out of control and his son was trying to subdue him. The grandchild was screaming because he was upset by the fight. I decided to mind my own business at that stage but the police arrived anyway and everything calmed down.

I did report the time my 12 year old daughter was on her way home from school and was lured to a car by a man wanting directions. When she approached she saw that he was exposed and masturbating.
She was able to give a reasonable description of the man and the car but unfortunately not the number plate. Even though he would have been long gone by the time she came home we made a report to let the police know that a pervert was active in that area targeting school children.

My mum always said that reporting such incidents is important, especially if it prevents a future crime.
If waving a gun at someone is protective, then surely reporting dangerous people is also protective.
 
As I said earlier, it all depends. Some incidents, it may be better to report. Some not. You yourself said, in the incident with the screaming child, you decided not to call the police - because you had the time to observe the incident and judge what was really going on. Yes, the police arrived eventually but you didn't KNOW that they would.

How many times do people receive a nick on their auto and money exchanges hands, instead of reporting it to the insurance company? That's a very minor form of larceny that probably happens every day, and most people will just wink at it. Yet isn't that technically against the law?

Cars down the street in front of the church are parked illegally every Sunday, yet no one say anything. Illegal.

Attempted child abduction? Certainly it should be reported.

It all depends.
 
Warrigal said:
Attempted home invasion? Certainly it should be reported.
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Not so sure on that one. Depends how far inside they get and what happens.

You have to remember I look at things differently. I'm not as physically capable now (although still dangerous enough), but in the "old days" a good thrashing of a would-be criminal would do far more for the recidivism rate than calling the cops. Of course not everybody has that ability, so I understand the reliance upon The System to protect them.
 
Butterfly said:
You ARE pretty scary, Phil. I think it's the New Year's hat.
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Darn - I was hoping it was my diaper, and the cavalier way I wear my banner ...

Seriously - PA troopers always scared me, even if I wasn't doing anything wrong. I think they grow them in a secret place with lot of steroids, because every one I've ever known has been over 7' tall, 300 pounds of muscle with mirror sunglasses.

Many nights I slept with my light on.
 
Butterfly said:
Hey, Phil, can older people whose joints may not be what they used to be learn effective self-defense skills like you talk about? And use them without winding up in traction?
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It's usually harder to get started later of course, but you can still learn some things that would help in a hand-to-hand scenario. Weight, strength and size of your attacker will be more important at this point than when you're younger, but overall the more you train the more flexible, fast and level-headed you can become.

It's true that a lot of martial arts is as much mind as it is body.

You have to remember that I've been doing this pretty much full time since I was 12 - almost 46 years - and even with my now-gimpy leg I do my 2-hour workouts each day and teach my private student roughly 6 hours a week. Not everyone has that kind of time, granted, but like I said every little bit helps.

A good "style" for older folks might be something called Krav Maga - it is a fairly simple, no-nonsense martial art for self-defense. The problem is that there are not a lot of Krav Maga teachers in this country.

This guy is crazy good - he's a top-level practitioner of Krav Maga - and though a lot of this clip is choreographed and I wouldn't recommend the "leaping-up-on-their-back" moves there are many moves, such as the joint locks, that you can fairly easily learn that would help.

(Turn down your speakers - some obnoxious music ahead!)

 
SifuPhil said:
Darn - I was hoping it was my diaper, and the cavalier way I wear my banner ...

Seriously - PA troopers always scared me, even if I wasn't doing anything wrong. I think they grow them in a secret place with lot of steroids, because every one I've ever known has been over 7' tall, 300 pounds of muscle with mirror sunglasses.

Many nights I slept with my light on.
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C'mon, Phil. We are not all Shaquille O'Neals. I am only 6 ft. 2 in. and weigh between 220 and 230. Not very intimidating at all and my sunglasses are Oakley Flak Jackets (Sort of fits the uniform.). Maybe it's the .45 that I carry, but I have found that the Taser worries more people than the handgun, at least that's what people tell me. I was Taser'd once and I think maybe they are onto something. It was a good thing that I had two guys to catch me or I would have put a hole in the floor the way I went down. 50,000 volts gets the heart pumping.
 
911, only 6'2", and around 230lbs? Not intimidating? I guess that depends on the person. At 5'2" 120lbs, it certainly is intimidating enough for me, even without the sunglasses. Lolol. You could hold me in midair with one hand! Lolol.
 
911 said:
C'mon, Phil. We are not all Shaquille O'Neals. I am only 6 ft. 2 in. and weigh between 220 and 230. Not very intimidating at all and my sunglasses are Oakley Flak Jackets (Sort of fits the uniform.). Maybe it's the .45 that I carry, but I have found that the Taser worries more people than the handgun, at least that's what people tell me. I was Taser'd once and I think maybe they are onto something. It was a good thing that I had two guys to catch me or I would have put a hole in the floor the way I went down. 50,000 volts gets the heart pumping.
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Like Shali said, "only" 6'2" / 220? That's nightmare enough even for me.

Maybe it's something they teach you guys in school - "presence" or "command posture"? I don't know - I just know that with city cops I'm cool, rarely intimidated, but Staties? Even back in New York my brother was best friends with a State cop, and even when he came over to our house there was something that inspired awe and not a little fear.

Thank you for you service, BTW.

As for gun vs. Taser - I agree. I think the same way with knife vs. gun - I'd rather get shot in an arm or leg than get stabbed. It just seems like a "cleaner" wound.
 
Shalimar said:
911, only 6'2", and around 230lbs? Not intimidating? I guess that depends on the person. At 5'2" 120lbs, it certainly is intimidating enough for me, even without the sunglasses. Lolol. You could hold me in midair with one hand! Lolol.
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At 5'2" and 105 pounds, he could juggle me with the other hand, Shali :D
 
Sorry I am late acknowledging your comments. Thanks for the comments. I don't see myself in the same light as others and I never heard any of my brethren talking about their intimidating actions either. I like to think that the state police of any state is respected. We try our best to earn respect by showing respect and being a good listener and not being confrontational. It's all part of the training that starts when we are at the Academy. Every state cop that I know tries their best to be professional when doing their job.

I made friends with a few Texas Rangers (not baseball players) years back. I respect them to the hilt with what they have to contend with down there and along the border.
 
Real intimidators usually don't talk about it - they just are. ;)

Texas Rangers have a long, colorful history, don't they?
 

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