As "urban war" escalates, neighbors are on patrol (armed with cellphones, flashlights and Twitter)

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

It's not unusual for Jennifer Litkowiec to have problems with her husband's off-the-wall ideas, but this one took the cake.

Hispanic gangs had seeped into the couple's quiet corner of the working-class town of Cudahy, Wis., just south of Milwaukee, stealing garage door openers and returning later to score the contents.

So what was Jason Litkowiec's plan? Shine a light on the night. "I finally had enough," he says.

Against his wife's loud protestations, the young steamfitter joined a dozen other neighborhood men and set up the Rosewood night patrol.

Armed with nothing but flashlights and cellphones, the group followed suspicious cars and even set up an impromptu sting when a neighbor left town and forgot to close his garage door. They called in police to arrest the suspects after a brief chase.

High foreclosure rates, a spike in brazen break-ins, and slashed police budgets are causing turmoil in America's transitioning urban communities, auguring what Atlanta anticrime activist Larry Ely calls an "urban war."

So far, this is a largely unarmed conflict defined by nighttime jogger patrols with flashing headlamps, unofficial block patrols with cop-like "beats," and neighborhood all-Twitter alarms – short text messages dubbed "BOLO" or "be on the lookout" when something potentially dangerous or illegal happens.

...

What seems to have sparked many groups isn't just low level crime, but high profile incidents and brazen tactics like bashing in front doors to get at large flat-screen TVs. The murder in Atlanta of a bartender by four armed bandits on Jan. 7 resulted in the creation of a group called Atlantans Together Against Crime (ATAC). In the span of two weeks, the group had almost 5,000 members on Facebook.

...

Neighborhood patrols can be a powerful deterrent, says Rufus Terrill, an Atlanta mayoral candidate.

"Bad guys don't like to be seen doing things," says Mr. Terrill. "They don't want people's eyes on them. They fear that as much as a gun."

In Cudahy, it took Litkowiec and his band of civilian crime fighters a mere three weeks to effectively deter the garage robbers in the Rosewood neighborhood.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0127/p01s02-usgn.htm

[Ban Hammer 13,678]

[Jasman0717 9]

A friend from work started a community association in the area where he lives. It has really grown and neighbors work together to protect one another and their neighborhood. Food for thought

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

I'm surprised you approve, there's no mention of a 12 gauge

[Danno 1,228]

Imagine that, people actually doing something on their own to protect themselves.

I'm betting a few are "packin" just in-case, I know I would.

[Ban Hammer 13,678]

I'm surprised you approve, there's no mention of a 12 gauge

i'm liberal, i don't like only shotguns

Edited February 1, 2009 by charles!

[justashooter 430]

I'm surprised you approve, there's no mention of a 12 gauge

i'm liberal, i don't like only shotguns

choices, choices.

when do you have too many guns?

when it takes longer to pick out your carry piece than it does for your wife to pick out her shoes.

for me, it's a SIG P226 9mm doublestack in a Gould and Goodrich duty holster if i'm carrying openly or riding the motorbike (double retention), a slim little remington 51 380 if i'm in suit and tie, or a 1911 type 45 IWB if in casual clothes. the S&W 25-2 is just too intimidating to wear, with a 6' bbl on an N frame, but is definitely the gun to wear if serious one upmanship is going to occur. 255 gr keith style SWC in front of 9.8 grs blue dot get 1150 fps and about 650 ft lbs are double the energy you can get from a 1911 with standard hardball.

[aidan80 9]

It's not unusual for Jennifer Litkowiec to have problems with her husband's off-the-wall ideas, but this one took the cake.

Hispanic gangs had seeped into the couple's quiet corner of the working-class town of Cudahy, Wis., just south of Milwaukee, stealing garage door openers and returning later to score the contents.

So what was Jason Litkowiec's plan? Shine a light on the night. "I finally had enough," he says.

Against his wife's loud protestations, the young steamfitter joined a dozen other neighborhood men and set up the Rosewood night patrol.

Armed with nothing but flashlights and cellphones, the group followed suspicious cars and even set up an impromptu sting when a neighbor left town and forgot to close his garage door. They called in police to arrest the suspects after a brief chase.

High foreclosure rates, a spike in brazen break-ins, and slashed police budgets are causing turmoil in America's transitioning urban communities, auguring what Atlanta anticrime activist Larry Ely calls an "urban war."

So far, this is a largely unarmed conflict defined by nighttime jogger patrols with flashing headlamps, unofficial block patrols with cop-like "beats," and neighborhood all-Twitter alarms – short text messages dubbed "BOLO" or "be on the lookout" when something potentially dangerous or illegal happens.

...

What seems to have sparked many groups isn't just low level crime, but high profile incidents and brazen tactics like bashing in front doors to get at large flat-screen TVs. The murder in Atlanta of a bartender by four armed bandits on Jan. 7 resulted in the creation of a group called Atlantans Together Against Crime (ATAC). In the span of two weeks, the group had almost 5,000 members on Facebook.

...

Neighborhood patrols can be a powerful deterrent, says Rufus Terrill, an Atlanta mayoral candidate.

"Bad guys don't like to be seen doing things," says Mr. Terrill. "They don't want people's eyes on them. They fear that as much as a gun."

In Cudahy, it took Litkowiec and his band of civilian crime fighters a mere three weeks to effectively deter the garage robbers in the Rosewood neighborhood.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0127/p01s02-usgn.htm

An excellent idea what this place needs is more vigilantes, if the cops can't do it then the people must step up and do what needs to be done. I think they really need something more than flashlights and cell phones.. they need some extra equipment.. CS Gas a few tazers maybe even a couple of assault rifles. You can't allow criminals to come into your street or your house and take as they please, teach them a a hard lesson first time and they won't be back if they have any intelligence!

[one...two...tree 2,762]

We have a candy and fruit bowl ready - never know if a rioter is also a health nut or not.

[damulag 26]

I want one of these to cruise around my neighborhood at night.

[mawilson 2,133]

[dalegg 143]

I want one of these to cruise around my neighborhood at night.

That's police??!! God help us if we get to the point where we need police armed like that.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

We have a candy and fruit bowl ready - never know if a rioter is also a health nut or not.

Live a hippie, die a hippie!

Hippie till I die, muthafucka!

[Heracles 417]

We have a candy and fruit bowl ready - never know if a rioter is also a health nut or not.

Live a hippie, die a hippie!

Hippie till I die, muthafucka!

Whatever helps you sleep at night.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Neighbourhood watch was always a good idea.

Though no surprise that the carrying of firearms is shoehorned into the convo in a article that doesn't mention them at all.

Yes people - a phone, a sense of a community purpose and a degree of vigilance can do wonders for neighbourhood security.