Very Frightening Walk This Morning!

[JTH]

To quote Citizen Clark:

"When I see cops in my neighborhood, I make sure they know that they aren't welcome. I don't appreciate the presence of roving gang members in their gang colors looking for trouble."

Very well stated.  I feel the same way. 

I'm curious how you make police officers feel unwelcome?  I asked Clark the same thing, and he never answered.

How exactly do you do that?

[just_me_mongo]

JT-  I like the way that Citizen Clark wrote his thread.  I feel the same way he does as for their general "presence" if you will.

I personally avoid their presence.  I don't do anything to make sure that they know that they are unwelcome.  My last encounter and my son's last encounter were enough for me to avoid them all together. 

[JTH]

I conspicuously videorecord their activities. I ask them to leave their victims alone. Etc.

You interrupt a law enforcement officer in the performance of their duty and tell them to leave their "victims" alone?  (Use of quotes is merely to denote your term, as opposed to anything else).

Now I'm really curious what the "etc" is.  I'm also trying to think of how saying things like that will do anything other than make the police officers annoyed.  Have you ever had an officer say "You know what, you are right.  I should just let this guy go."

Has your actions made any difference to police presence in your area?  (Last I knew, police patrols and such weren't based on anything like that, but maybe I'm wrong.)  Or did they merely make certain that the cops were in a worse mood in your area? 

I mean, if you don't want them around, wouldn't it work better to attempt to change staffing or patrol schedules, as opposed to annoying the officers who don't get to choose their patrol areas in the first place?  Or do you think that instead of patrolling, they'll simply go hide elsewhere for their shift?

[GreyGeek]

This is 85 pounds of uncontrolled love during his nap time on the designated "dog couch".  I wouldn't blame anyone for being afraid of him when he comes running towards them at 15 mph.

Fly

I had a dear friend who looked identical to your pooch, but Rascal weighed only 15 lbs.   Big heart, lots of love.  We rescued him from a puppy mill in York, along with a 9 lb sibling, Reba.  The pair were full of ticks, worms, brucellosis, malnutrition and other problems.   The mill was shut down.   More than $3,000 later they were in excellent health and fine shape.   Rascal developed diabetes.  Reba had hip dysplasia that grew worse as she grew older.   Eventually I had to carry her outside and hold up her rear end so she could do her business. because she couldn't navigate the deck steps.   Eventually she couldn't walk at all.

They've been gone about 3 years  and my  wife and I miss them both.

[OnTheFly]

They've been gone about 3 years  and my  wife and I miss them both.

I always say "Dogs are some of the best people I've ever met".

Fly

[RedDot]

I conspicuously videorecord their activities. I ask them to leave their victims alone. Etc.

Not sure how it is in Lincoln, but here in Omaha I've always found it ironic that the neighborhoods who are often complaining about police oppression and brutality are the same neighborhoods that send representatives to cityhall meetings to demand a greater "police presence" when their kids start shooting each other. 

[AWick]

So update on this one. I never ended up speaking with the owner, haven't seen her out since, but talked to two of the neighbors. I guess that morning the dog must have been extra limber because normally it suffers from some pretty bad old-big-dog arthritis in the hips. I'm sure that is why the lady didn't think that it may have been a threat at all to let it out. Either way, I have walked that route several times again and have yet to see the dog. I haven't bought pepper spray, but I just got a Cabela's gift card in the mail and I plan on picking up a can soon! I'm carrying more frequently now... I know, I know... it's not 100%, but I'm still getting myself and my wife used to it. I was relieved when we went on a date in Omaha the other night for her birthday and not a single place restricted concealed carry so there weren't any trips back to the car!

As for the discussion about not making cops feel welcome I would disagree on some points and agree on others. I don't think that I should make them feel as if I NEED them to protect me and make me safe, I should be able to do that on my own with the right to self defense... However, when my son was just a few months old he got sick and had breathing troubles and started to turn blue-ish on me at 2AM. The local small town cop, with first responder training, arrived in literally less than 40 seconds after I heard the dispatcher call it in (he must've been close by on his rounds). I had taken lots of first aid and cpr classes, but in the middle of the night as that was going down I felt so utterly paralyzed that I can't even describe it. I couldn't have been more thankful for the help he provided until the volunteer EMT crew showed up and transported him to the hospital. He is more than welcome in my neighborhood!