That he was arrested for assaulting a police officer is a matter of public record, of course.
And the charge was dropped.
He began making frequent phone calls to the police prior to the formation of the Neighborhood Watch in his community, and a volunteer coordinator was sent out at his behest to discuss setting up a Neighborhood Watch in late 2011. In the presentation that coordinator gave, she clarified that the Watch is NOT supposed to be a vigilante police organization, and that the job of the official "neighborhood watch coordinator" is not to pursue or apprehend criminals but to liaise with the police.
Okay. And?
The NSA (National Sheriffs; Association, not National Security Agency, BTW) does not list Zimmerman's neighborhood watch as one of their registered groups, and their national policy explicitly instructs against carrying a gun while patrolling in a volunteer capacity.
So the Zimmerman watch wasn't listed with the NSA, nor does it have to be. What does this mean?
Furthermore, if it's not part of their "registered groups," why on earth would they be beholden to their national policy?
And the hair-splitting as far as the word "pursuit" is kind of silly. He drove around following Martin through the neighborhood, and then got out of his car and followed him on foot. Whether you consider that to be a legitimate thing to do or not, it's still a thing he did.
You still don't have this right. He "drove around" to go to the grocery store and spotted Martin. He then called the police. When the police asked where he was, he got out of the car to find out where Martin went - thus the misunderstanding of the instruction (which the dispatcher, under oath, understood how it could be construed the way Zimmerman did) and the further instruction of "you don't have to do that" after the fact once he learned Zimmerman had left his car and was "following" him.
So the "hair splitting" is more one of the difference between some guy chasing a kid around the neighborhood in a vehicle and on foot, and a guy on the phone with police attempting to ascertain the location of another suspicious person (because, as Zimmerman and those in the neighborhood had come to learn, "they always get away").
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2013-07-15 09:04 pm (UTC)And the charge was dropped.
He began making frequent phone calls to the police prior to the formation of the Neighborhood Watch in his community, and a volunteer coordinator was sent out at his behest to discuss setting up a Neighborhood Watch in late 2011. In the presentation that coordinator gave, she clarified that the Watch is NOT supposed to be a vigilante police organization, and that the job of the official "neighborhood watch coordinator" is not to pursue or apprehend criminals but to liaise with the police.
Okay. And?
The NSA (National Sheriffs; Association, not National Security Agency, BTW) does not list Zimmerman's neighborhood watch as one of their registered groups, and their national policy explicitly instructs against carrying a gun while patrolling in a volunteer capacity.
So the Zimmerman watch wasn't listed with the NSA, nor does it have to be. What does this mean?
Furthermore, if it's not part of their "registered groups," why on earth would they be beholden to their national policy?
And the hair-splitting as far as the word "pursuit" is kind of silly. He drove around following Martin through the neighborhood, and then got out of his car and followed him on foot. Whether you consider that to be a legitimate thing to do or not, it's still a thing he did.
You still don't have this right. He "drove around" to go to the grocery store and spotted Martin. He then called the police. When the police asked where he was, he got out of the car to find out where Martin went - thus the misunderstanding of the instruction (which the dispatcher, under oath, understood how it could be construed the way Zimmerman did) and the further instruction of "you don't have to do that" after the fact once he learned Zimmerman had left his car and was "following" him.
So the "hair splitting" is more one of the difference between some guy chasing a kid around the neighborhood in a vehicle and on foot, and a guy on the phone with police attempting to ascertain the location of another suspicious person (because, as Zimmerman and those in the neighborhood had come to learn, "they always get away").