The night started with a loud voice from outside, echoing between the buildings. Couldn’t see
anyone from any window but it was definitely very close. Since it couldn’t be from the balcony
or parking lot, and wasn’t the courtyard in the next building or mine, it had to be someone between the buildings but near the alley. I went out the front door and looked over the edge and saw someone. He was loud, sounded intoxicated or under the influence. He mentioned crack cocaine in his ramblings so i called
non-emergency police. Yes, someone who used to do bad things and avoid cops like the plague is the one calling them these days. That ‘neighborhood watch’ sign warns you about me in these parts. If you are
going to do bad things, don’t be so fucking obvious please.
Last time it was a drunk shouting at the top of his lungs in the parking lot. I called non-emergency and Denver District 6 rolled up in under 2 minutes, questioned him, ran his info and arrested him (warrants i assume). Tonight, DD6 rolled up in about two minutes, the officer approached the perp and told him to be
cool, saw me up above on courtyard level and asked me where the 2nd guy was. I told him if there wasn’t
a 2nd, he had been talking to himself all night.
I feel bad because for the most part, he wasn’t doing harm. He was loud, he was on private property
and he was talking about illegal activity. Any one of those things wouldn’t have been bad, but after hours of that, why should the tenants suffer? When the officer walked up, the perp was immediately worried and scared of going to jail. Even with the officer talking to me a floor above, the perp didn’t seem to realize I was there or why the officer showed up. When I realized he had been talking to himself and not someone that was out of sight, all I could think of was how the system has failed. Without getting into some huge political rant, why do we spend billions on overseas aid packages and wars when we have so many problems at home. I would have rather gone down there and given him a warm meal and an old shirt rather than call the police, but the state of society just makes that too risky. It’s really sad.
While the officer searched him and secured him, I started to back away so that the perp couldn’t see me. I realized quickly, “wtf”. I live here, this is my home. Why should I be afraid of him or anyone else that doesn’t belong. I know good people get hurt by bad people for just that sort of thing, but the principle is sound. The good guys shouldn’t have to hide, they shouldn’t have to run. I stepped forward against the gate and answered the officer’s questions loudly, daring the perp to look up at me. I know the law doesn’t favor my position, but if someone commits a crime on or near my property and I report it, if they come back for any form of retaliation it should really be open season on shitheads. Not only should I be able to defend myself, but the fact that if they came back to attempt to intimidate or hurt a good citizen should give me license to put my boot on their throat or drill them with a legally owned and licensed gun.
I know, too many douche bags that don’t have the ability to rationalize and get through that process without serious bias, that turns them into would-be vigilantes that ultimately kill their neighbor on accident or find a random perp miles from home to unload on. But like the one-off dangerous misdemeanor criminal that might come back on a witness, the over-zealous vigilante is similarly the one-off. Until that changes, the good guy can only stand up for their home and their rights.