It's cold. Really cold. Not that cold abstractly, but this is Texas, and it's cold. Mostly I guess it's just windy. Major wind chill going on. Started wearing my old trench coat for warmth on patrols. Concerned it may be too conspicuous. More concerned about hypothermia.
Other than freezing my butt off, it's been very uneventful. A bit frustrating really. Not the lack of action; I get the feeling that's par for the course. The frustrating part is reading the police reports the next day. If there's so much going on, why are my patrols always so empty?

Sparrow,

What do you do on your patrols? Just walk around randomly?

Do you do research on an area before patrolling there? As in checking crime statistics, and figuring out patterns in crime? Do you do some investigating and talking to the people and hearing what they have to say about the crime that goes on there?

As far as not running in to anything then seeing the cops do, understand that the police are the ones people call for help, when they call 911 or the police department. Think of situations such as domestic abuse, and such - not everyone knows who you are. So if you want the people to come to you for help, you'll need to first train your body and mind (off the top of my head, I'm not sure what kind of training or education you have) then make connections with people. They're unlikely to call to you for immediate help unless you're present, but if perhaps there's a need for like, let's say an investigation in to a crime, or perhaps something like protecting someone or looking after their house to make sure they don't get burglarized - there's a lot of little things like that, that you could be asked to do for people, if anything. But the idea is that you make connections with people who could act in the role of civilian informant, for you.

I'd like to think my patrols are more than walking around- I do spend some time beforehand researching crime statistics for the specific area I'd be patroling that night, and base my path on that. But yes, other than that it is just a more observant walk. I patrol on foot because I feel in a car I would be moving too fast to be properly observant and also a person on foot who would notice a crime in progress would be more of a deterrant than a person in a car who is presumably more focused on the road. Talking to people is a great idea; I actually can't believe that never occured to me. I am new to this, so any and all advice would be much appreciated.

Tothian has a great point, reasearch AND do a recon in a vehicle. The stats you get off the net are good, but things change. Know the battlefield as best you can

Sparrow, I have a great place for you to start if you want more active patrols. Call your local Sex Offenders Registration Unit and get a report on the offenders in your area. Reports are usually updated every 3 - 10 days and are cheap or free. You may also be able to find the information online. Patrol local parks and schools and you may be able to prevent repeat offenses by paroled sex offenders. You will feel truly heroic if you stop even one. Simply call police and you may be surprised how fast they pick the guy up. Call the police and alert school officials. If they leave the area, you give the name and address info to police. You may have to testify as to what happened, so be sure to be available to the legal system. And...take notes if anything relevant happens. Video is even better. Of course, you should certainly get involved if he approaches a child. Yell "child molester!" or anything else to draw attention to him, or intervene directly if necessary.

Thanks for the tip Gauge. I contacted them, and they directed me to an online interactive map that charts out location and info, and even gives a "risk level", an assessment of how likely the individual is to commit another offence.
I was a bit shocked by the shear number of sex offenders in my area. Not just the "safe" ones either; there's a high risk guy just two blocks over. And my neighborhood's lousy with kids... I'll definately keep this in mind on patrols.

https://records.txdps.state.tx.us/DPS_WEB/SorNew/Mapping/index.aspx?PageIndex=Map&COU_TXT=HARRIS

yeah.... I live in one of those "wonderful" areas. in one instance, one of these freaks tried to buy a little girl in a local park. a couple of guys I've known for years (one, ex-military) confronted and ended up bashing this guy.......... they were sent to priaon. 2 weeks later, the police caught him in bed with a little boy. this is another area to watch yourself in. sometimes reacting without "sufficient cause" will get you in more trouble than your perp. on a side, these would-be vigilantes each did more time than the sex offender caught for his charge later in the month. GIJoe (sertiously, I don't even know his real name, that's what we called him) hasn't been seen since.

The thing that makes sex offenders particularly dangerous is that we usually don't realize they're in the area until it's too late. Most people are quite shocked when they realize how many offenders live near them. Another thing you can do once you research the ones in your area is to distribute information to the schools, day cares, etc. in your area with pics and info on the offenders, so that they know to be on the lookout. Teachers should know what these people look like. I am all for letting them live in peace once they have served their time, but they need to stay away from the kids.

Another thing you might try is to set up a speaker to come to the school or develop a program to teach kids the importance of not talking to or going with strangers and how to react if someone tries to grab them. But whatever you do, I think it's awesome that you have looked into it. I wish everyone would do the same, because the info is really very eye-opening. This is my main out-of-uniform crime fighting activity, and is very fulfilling. Keep the kids safe.

I have actually seen the "Megans Law" I think the site is called for around here. they have offenders across the street from foster care providers in more than one instance.

as a parent, I cannot express how strongly I feel about this kind of thing. or how important it is to protect the next generation from such filth

Everytime One is released from prison he gets banned from his home town so we end up with all their garbage too and there is not enough room for them in our landfill (Where Id like to see them hang out) or in town and some of theese guys are repeat high risk offenders that just cant keep their hands off the children On top of that some SOs keep getting high paying Government jobs where they are placed in charge of the women Some of whom they may have abused in the past too It made all the National Headlines when one guy about 3 years ago went and called the Mayor's friend a f---en b---- just loud enough for them to hear it He did not count on a reporter with a recorder also picking up on what he was saying nor did he count on the Mayor herself repeating to her friend what the guy had just said other He is not the only one like this there are at least 2 or 3 others that I know of working at theese jobs holding high posistions over women

Atavistik Even though I am not a Parent I know what you mean I cannot stand the thought of creeps like theese guys even walking anywhere near a playground I gladly signed a petition to have one such guy removed from Iqaluit because alot of parents were so afraid of this guy and Last year another guy was given a choice either leave town by police escort or go to jail because he came from the south to live off of the women here by looking for a place to crash for the night but instead of leaving the next day he would then steal the spare keys and go back to eat all the food and steal things to sell for more money He once approched me with a bag of dvds I just took pictures and then phoned the police they found him that night trying to break into a shack where a family was sleeping and arrested him

I used to think it was bad over here until I saw how many registered sex offenders are in the Beverly Hills area.

Megan's Law

yeah, and that's not counting the ones "smart" enough to go to Thailand or the like.

and like PM said, they send these bastards somewhere. here for one. I guess they figure they have more chance of getting caught or disappearing if they isolate them in small communities

Ok, I like playing Devils Advocate. Sexual predators ARE the lowest form of life, but true Sexual Predators, not the 16 year old who has consensual sex with his 16 year old gf and her parents find out and have him charged (no I was not the subject, I had to stand guard on him when I was with a civilian PD) Many people abuse that law, just as the real deviants abuse the legal system to avoid a more ...medival style of punishment.

I have seen this as well. both teens faced statutory rape charges

Which is sad knowing that a good majority of people in high school and even some in middle school have very active sex lives.

Very true. I'm opposed to these kind of laws. While I do feel teens should be taught to have responsible sex lives (not necessarily a lack of sex; abstinance is a fine choice but it is a choice), I don't feel outlawing consensual sex is ever the answer. By lumping these people together in the same catagory as the other monsters out there, we are only
1) Dilluting the term by including the innocent
2) Destroying the lives of innocent people for the sake of teaching a lesson
3) Cluttering up the system, giving the real criminals more chances to slip through the cracks

here, if you're under 18 anything more than 3 years is considered prosecutable. allowances can be made with parental consent.

One Idea where we could send theese pices of Garbage is place them in an outpost camp Miles out on the land Put them on a sled pulled by a skidoo tied down and Blindfolded then drive at night out to the outpost camp taking as many twist and turns as possible that way if he tries to escape from the camp he would find it that much harder to make it back to town before the skidoo which he may have stolen runs out of gasWalking back would be even harder because even the weather man cannot predict every single storm and what pattern the storm would use so Trying to come back to twn would be futile he would be living the life of the inuit ancesters hunting and fishing for his own survival as the people have done for thousands of years

ugh...I just found out that I live in a neighborhood full of sexual predators...Fuck...There is a school not too far from where I live...A lot of kids hang out there at all times of the day...Looks like I'll be adding this to my patrol route...