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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: i-node who wrote (728125)	7/21/2013 4:38:23 PM
From: bentway	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1579704

Trayvon Martin would be alive if Neighborhood Watch rules followed 7:41 p.m. EST, March 14, 2012\|Beth Kassab articles.orlandosentinel.com If George Zimmerman didn't break every rule in the book when it comes to Neighborhood Watch programs, he came close. Zimmerman called Sanford police on Feb. 26, a rainy Sunday evening, to report a suspicious person inside his neighborhood near Seminole Towne Center. We don't know everything that happened in the 13 minutes that passed between the time Zimmerman, 28, called police and a paramedic pronounced 17-year-old Trayvon Martin dead. But this much isn't in dispute: Zimmerman was armed. He was alone. And while waiting for police, he somehow got into a fight with the person he thought suspicious. All three of those actions are strongly discouraged by the National Sheriffs' Association, which oversees about 20,000 Neighborhood Watch programs. There are practical reasons for those rules. And this absolutely heart-wrenching one: A family of a teenager is now coping with a death that probably could have been avoided. "There is no reason in the world to carry a gun for Neighborhood Watch," said Chris Tutko, a retired police chief who now directs Neighborhood Watch for the sheriffs' association. "It gets people more into trouble than out of it." A manual published by the association for its "USAonWatch" program makes that very clear. "It should be emphasized to members that they do not possess police powers and they shall not carry weapons or pursue vehicles," the manual states. "Members should never confront suspicious persons who could be armed and dangerous." Zimmerman is reportedly the self-appointed leader for the group at his complex of town homes. A sign at the gated entrance warns it is surveilled by Neighborhood Watch, and says, "We report all suspicious persons and activities to the Sanford Police Department." That's a prudent step for any neighborhood. In fact, Neighborhood Watches are popular in Central Florida. In Orlando alone, there are 905 block captains listed with Orlando police. Some groups are highly organized and walk their neighborhoods in scheduled patrols. More often, though, neighbors just get acquainted with one another, exchange phone numbers and learn to report anything out of the ordinary that they notice as they move through life's predictable moments: taking out the garbage, walking the dog or getting the mail. Even the basis for Zimmerman's initial phone call is questionable. Here's why: The sheriffs' association manual lists the type of suspicious activity that should be reported to police. Among the examples: "Someone peering into car windows" and "broken doors or windows." Nowhere does it list walking while black, which is all Trayvon appeared to be doing as he made his way back to the house of his dad's fiancée after a candy run to 7-Eleven. Trayvon was armed only with a package of Skittles in his pocket. At least one neighbor told the Sentinel that young black men were suspected in recent neighborhood crimes. Yet nothing — so far, at least — suggests that Zimmerman had reason to think Trayvon was committing a crime. We don't know exactly what happened next, but at some point the two fought. Zimmerman was bleeding by the time police arrived, and Trayvon was lying facedown dead in the grass. Zimmerman told police the shooting happened in self-defense. The Seminole County state attorney is investigating whether the killing was justified. It doesn't take much investigating, though, to see that if some basic, common-sense rules of Neighborhood Watch had been followed, it's likely none of this would have happened. Find out what another Neighborhood Watch leader with a weapons permit says on Beth's blog at OrlandoSentinel.com/bethkassab. bkassab@tribune.com or 407-420-5448

To: i-node who wrote (728125)	7/21/2013 4:46:22 PM
From: bentway	Respond to of 1579704

McCain backs Obama's call for 'stand your ground' review .View gallery Sen. John McCain is backing President Barack Obama's call for the so-called "stand your ground" laws in Florida and other states to be reexamined in the wake of the George Zimmerman case. "The 'stand your ground' law may be something that may needs to be reviewed by the Florida legislature or any other legislature that has passed such legislation," McCain said on CNN's "State of the Union" Sunday, two days after President Obama discussed Zimmerman's acquittal in the killing of Trayvon Martin. The Arizona Republican said he thinks the self-defense law should be reviewed in his home state, too. "I'm confident that the members of the Arizona legislature will, because it is very controversial legislation," McCain said. Florida and Arizona are among 30 states with "stand your ground" laws on the books. On Friday, Obama held a somber press conference at the White House to discuss the case, which is currently under review by the Justice Department for possible civil rights violations. The president hinted that he didn't expect the review would lead to federal charges against Zimmerman. "Traditionally, these are issues of state and local government, the criminal code, and law enforcement is traditionally done at the state and local levels—not at the federal level," Obama said. "The judge conducted the trial in a professional manner. The prosecution and the defense made their arguments. The jurors were properly instructed that in a case such as this reasonable doubt was relevant, and they rendered a verdict. And once the jury has spoken, that's how our system works." But the commander in chief called for a review of the controversial "stand your ground" laws. "And for those who resist that idea—that we should think about something like these 'stand your ground' laws—I just ask people to consider: If Trayvon Martin was of age and armed, could he have stood his ground on that sidewalk? And do we actually think that he would have been justified in shooting Mr. Zimmerman, who had followed him in a car, because he felt threatened?" the president said. "What I got out of the president's statement, which I thought was very impressive, is that we need to have more conversation in America," he said. "I need to talk to more of my Hispanic organizations in my state. I need to talk to more African-American organizations." McCain's support was in stark contrast to fellow GOP Sen. Ted Cruz's reaction to Obama's remarks. “It is not surprising that the president uses, it seems, every opportunity that he can to go after our Second Amendment right to bear arms,” the Texas senator said Friday in Iowa. “This president and this administration has a consistent disregard for the Bill of Rights.”