Should neighborhood watch associations be illegal?

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Yes. They should be treated no differently than gangs, which if you think about it often basic behave in the same way.

[dead0man]

This is another one of those threads that you're going to be embarrassed about in the future.

[Antonio the Sixth]

No, but they should be banned from having guns.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

This is another one of those threads that you're going to be embarrassed about in the future.

Its not an election prediction, so it can't turn out to be inaccurate. So I doubt it.

[traininthedistance]

Like homeowners' associations and co-op boards, they self-select for busybodies and petty tyrants.  I don't think you can make them illegal per se, but they are definitely horrible as a rule, and should be defanged as much as possible.

[DC Al Fine]

This is another one of those threads that you're going to be embarrassed about in the future.

Its not an election prediction, so it can't turn out to be inaccurate. So I doubt it.

BRTD, have you ever been embarassed about music you used to like? A love affair with Nickelback perhaps?

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

I never liked Nickelback. I did like bad music before I became scene, but that was like 13 years ago.

[H. Ross Peron]

No (normal)

[TJ in Oregon]

Of course they should, just like Ingress and shows that aren't in a concert hall.



Oh, and that whole freedom of assembly thing.

[Oldiesfreak1854]

No; just because there are some thugs in them like George Zimmerman doesn't mean they should be banned entirely.

[DC Al Fine]

Of course they should, just like Ingress and shows that aren't in a concert hall.



Oh, and that whole freedom of assembly thing.

If only if only ....

[Horus]

No real way to make them illegal unfortunately.

[bedstuy]

We basically have a neighborhood watch on my block in Brooklyn.  It actually does help to stop crime.  Instead of a few anonymous vigilantes, it's a bunch of old ladies that know all the trouble-makers.  They're not going to go and confront people they don't know, of course.  But, they might talk to someone's family or parents.

Maybe if you live in the suburbs, that's not necessary.  But, if you live in an area that's had a crime problem, I think the right kind of informal groups are really helpful.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Like homeowners' associations and co-op boards, they self-select for busybodies and petty tyrants.  I don't think you can make them illegal per se, but they are definitely horrible as a rule, and should be defanged as much as possible.

Or PTAs.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Like homeowners' associations and co-op boards, they self-select for busybodies and petty tyrants.  I don't think you can make them illegal per se, but they are definitely horrible as a rule, and should be defanged as much as possible.

Or PTAs.

More or less this. Most NWAs have little if any power.

[Goldwater]

No (normal)

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

We basically have a neighborhood watch on my block in Brooklyn.  It actually does help to stop crime.  Instead of a few anonymous vigilantes, it's a bunch of old ladies that know all the trouble-makers.  They're not going to go and confront people they don't know, of course.  But, they might talk to someone's family or parents.

Maybe if you live in the suburbs, that's not necessary.  But, if you live in an area that's had a crime problem, I think the right kind of informal groups are really helpful.

I don't know if there's a Whittier Neighborhood Watch, but I don't see how it'd work, and Whittier is most certainly not a low crime or suburban neighborhood. The problem is defining "suspicious behavior". If I called went around the neighborhood looking for people who looked odd or I didn't recognize and called 911 on every single one of them I'd be calling 911 every time I left my apartment, and would probably make multiple calls walking around one block. Like train noted, it's just for busybodies with too much time on their hands, and actually seems more likely to happen in a suburban area (like where George Zimmerman was.) Especially if Zimmerman's standard for "suspicious behavior" is used.

Now simply calling 911 if you witness an actual crime or emergency (I have more than once upon hearing audible gunshots) is not something that you need an official "neighborhood watch" group for, and I know if I was a criminal those "If I don't call the police my neighbor will" signs I see in some neighborhoods would not scare or deter me. The whole thing seems similar to someone who believes the reason their neighborhood hasn't had any tiger attacks is the magic rock they carry that keeps tigers away.

[bedstuy]

We basically have a neighborhood watch on my block in Brooklyn.  It actually does help to stop crime.  Instead of a few anonymous vigilantes, it's a bunch of old ladies that know all the trouble-makers.  They're not going to go and confront people they don't know, of course.  But, they might talk to someone's family or parents.

Maybe if you live in the suburbs, that's not necessary.  But, if you live in an area that's had a crime problem, I think the right kind of informal groups are really helpful.

I don't know if there's a Whittier Neighborhood Watch, but I don't see how it'd work, and Whittier is most certainly not a low crime or suburban neighborhood. The problem is defining "suspicious behavior". If I called went around the neighborhood looking for people who looked odd or I didn't recognize and called 911 on every single one of them I'd be calling 911 every time I left my apartment, and would probably make multiple calls walking around one block. Like train noted, it's just for busybodies with too much time on their hands, and actually seems more likely to happen in a suburban area (like where George Zimmerman was.) Especially if Zimmerman's standard for "suspicious behavior" is used.

Now simply calling 911 if you witness an actual crime or emergency (I have more than once upon hearing audible gunshots) is not something that you need an official "neighborhood watch" group for, and I know if I was a criminal those "If I don't call the police my neighbor will" signs I see in some neighborhoods would not scare or deter me. The whole thing seems similar to someone who believes the reason their neighborhood hasn't had any tiger attacks is the magic rock they carry that keeps tigers away.

My neighborhood probably has ten times the population density of your neighborhood.  As far as I'm concerned, most of the Twin Cities feels suburban. 

But, you're missing the point.  People on my block know who has had a drug problem in the past, who is a knucklehead and so on.  So, the knuckleheads know that someone is going to see them selling drugs on the corner or sawing off an architectural elements off a brownstone, and they're going to get caught or at least found out.  So, they sell drugs and saw off an architectural elements on other blocks.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

If your neighborhood has ten times the population density (by the way this would be over 150k people per square mile), it would be odd to know that because that is far too many people to keep track of. I don't recognize well over 99% of people I see in my neighborhood, which makes sense because I bet most of them don't even live here. Even limiting it to just my block I don't really know or recognize anyone outside of my own apartment.

[bedstuy]

If your neighborhood has ten times the population density (by the way this would be over 150k people per square mile), it would be odd to know that because that is far too many people to keep track of. I don't recognize well over 99% of people I see in my neighborhood, which makes sense because I bet most of them don't even live here. Even limiting it to just my block I don't really know or recognize anyone outside of my own apartment.

You're right on the density point.  My hood is only 3 times denser than yours.  Yours must be one of the higher density areas of Minneapolis. 

[LastVoter]

Of course they should be, they are scabbing police unions.

[Wake Me Up When The Hard Border Ends]

No (normal)

[Paul Kemp]

Like homeowners' associations and co-op boards, they self-select for busybodies and petty tyrants.  I don't think you can make them illegal per se, but they are definitely horrible as a rule, and should be defanged as much as possible.

Or PTAs.

More or less this. Most NWAs have little if any power.

NWA was pretty influential if you ask me...

[© tweed]

as I said in the other thread, for better or worse, both gangs and their white petit-bourgeois incarnation, neighborhood watch associations, can't be banned pursuant to the right of free association in the first amendment, as I understand it.

[Supersonic]

No (normal)