haasd0gg wrote:Tell ya what; regardless of this case, if houses were being broken into in my neighborhood and I saw a kid jump a fence, you can bet your ass I would follow him.
If he attacked me and I was carrying, I would certainly shoot him. I'm too old to take an ass whuppin anymore.
But! If you were Zimmerman 'Neighborhood Watch', or Deputy/Trooper (Academy/OJT Trained Police Officer), which would you choose to approach an unknown person like Travon Martin?
My point was that this was a situation that need not have existed. Zimmerman could/should have left it to the 'professionals'...I.E. the Police.
FBI Agents do NOT just 'casually' make traffic stops. Nor are they supposed to. When FBI makes such a stop, it is done with advanced intelligence of the person stopped. It also involves a 'Uniformed' Law Enforcement Officer for that Jurisdiction. I.E. one 'trained' to do so as FBI moves in. It adds 'legitimacy' but leaves the most dangerous part of a 'nab' in the hands of those best qualified to do it. The 'experts'...The Street Cops.
Dont get me wrong, FBI Agents are 'trained' to do traffic stops in Academy, and there is such a set procedure(s) to do it safely with/without police assistance. However, the FBI are NOT experts at this!
Martin was allegedly 'high' on drugs when approached. So was Zimmerman 'trained' to approach someone like this? Very unlikely. I know that only our specially trained Agents get this training. Street Agents do not. Street Cops do!
Street cops have the most repetitive/continuous dangerous jobs in Law Enforcement and are best trained/experienced at this and approaching/assessing unknown persons. At any given situation, without a crystal ball or pre-planned advanced intel, they just don't know what level of 'Danger' they are facing. I admire those guys/gals.