Free Republic

I formed a Neighborhood Watch group and now need a messaging app. The police rep. mentioned WhatsApp but supposedly some people are moving away from it to Signal. Not knowing anything about social media I need some advice, our group already has Facebook which I don't have, don't do, and can't even seem to get, and someone else handles that Facebook account and it isn't used much by them I'm told. My first instinct is to use Signal, but I'm really in the dark about these things and once I sign-up someone else will be doing the mass communications on...

Not everyone is a Middle East expert. In fact, few Americans are. But most if not all Americans should have some depth of knowledge about the Middle Eastern terrorist group Hezb'allah (translated as "party of god," which is often written as "Hezbollah"). We should be aware (because it should be taught and media should remind us) that on October 23, 1983, Hezb'allah murdered 241 U.S. servicemen and 64 others when it bombed the barracks housing the multinational peacekeeping force in Beirut, Lebanon. French servicemen and civilians were killed in the bombing as well. According to Marine Times: "The bombing killed...

Back in 1997 a highly patriotic man got tired of being censored at a popular site of the time. With his understanding of America's Constitution, he created a site called Free Republic (FR). It was/is a very fitting name. It grew exponentially and the participants started creating FR city chapters for local activism beyond their discussions. They were on the streets no matter the age, race, or sex. One sentence from Jim Robinson created an entire movement that brought people from all over the country to make a statement in DC about Bill Clinton. It was called the "March For...

So much to say... 2 full essays I have written became virtually obsolete before being proof-read. Also very busy working these days. But though I would just jump in and say that NOW would be a good time to: * To contact your local Worship Leader to see if they are having service this Sunday. * Having a *private* (very private) meeting with your local law enforcement. Perhaps they could use some "support". (perfect window of opportunity, folks) * Or if their plans are just to surrender, a heads up would be nice, as there may be a need to...

Shreveport police are investigating posts to a large neighborhood watch group suggesting recent car break-ins are reason to watch young, black men or teens, and even for so-called “vigilante justice.” The Times reports that police confirmed on Thursday that they’re investigating some of the posts made to the Facebook page called “Broadmoor Neighbors in Shreveport.” …

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - The United States plans to launch a pair of satellites to keep tabs on spacecraft from other countries orbiting 22,300 miles above the planet, as well as to track space debris, the head of Air Force Space Command said. The previously classified Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program (GSSAP) will supplement ground-based radars and optical telescopes in tracking thousands of pieces of debris so orbital collisions can be avoided, General William Shelton said at the Air Force Association meeting in Orlando on Friday. He called it a "neighborhood watch program" that will provide a more detailed...

When new Police Chief Cecil Smith arrived in Sanford, Fla., in April, he suspended the city's neighborhood watch program — the one under whose auspices George Zimmerman had patrolled the streets until he fatally shot unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin. Now Smith is restarting the program, but the police department says it will exercise more control over volunteers, including doing background checks and asking them not to carry guns. "We just don't see the need for anybody to be armed," Smith told the Associated Press. Smith has chosen to ask the volunteers rather than order them, perhaps because Florida law allows...

The Sanford Police Department is backing off a proposal to ban Neighborhood Watch members from carrying guns, but it still wants volunteers to leave their firearms at home and will make that recommendation at a community meeting Tuesday night, police Chief Cecil Smith said Monday. "We originally came out with a stern, 'You should not,'" Smith said. "We took a second look at it." Smith now recommends that people forgo their guns while they are performing their Neighborhood Watch duties. Smith said he could legally have dictated a ban, but he decided it was better to include people rather than...

The National Association of Town Watch will hold its 30th annual National Night Out celebration, otherwise known as "America's Night Out Against Crime," on Tuesday. The event, which celebrates crime prevention throughout the country, encourages communication between communities, police and neighborhood watch groups. While National Night Out is intended to be a fun event, filled with celebratory block parties and cookouts, one might wonder whether the George Zimmerman case has cast a shadow on neighborhood watch groups and influenced how they are perceived. "Everyone uses the neighborhood watch umbrella for what [Zimmerman's] group is, when really there is a severe...

Vigilance, not vigilantism. No weapons, other than pepper spray for self-defense. More reliance on paper and cellphones. For almost everyone on neighborhood watch groups in Williamsport, a question of what message did the George Zimmerman verdict send was followed by a common answer: Those involved do not take the law into their own hands. Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer in Sanford, Fla., got out of his car after police instructed him not to. His actions led to an altercation with unarmed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, whom Zimmerman said he shot in self-defense on Feb. 26, 2012. Martin died and in a...

As cities across the U.S. face police shortages and violent crime rebounds, some communities have begun to police themselves through other means. One such watch group was created in a neighborhood in Milwaukee, Oregon and calls itself a "Glock Block."KOIN News reports: “We’re starting a new group,” said Coy Tolonen, who lives in unincorporated Clackamas County. “We don’t feel neighborhood watch is sufficient, and we don’t feel the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office is sufficient.” Tolomon and a group of Jennings Lodge neighbors say they’re responding to escalating crime on their block by also making fliers that read “This is a...

All over the United States, frustrated homeowners are banding together, arming themselves and patrolling their own streets. One of the primary reasons this is happening is because police budgets all over the nation are being slashed at a time when violent crime rates in the United States are increasing and many our our largest cities are being transformed into crime-infested war zones. So instead of waiting for government to come up with a solution, many Americans are taking matters into their own hands. For example, one community group in Milwaukie, Oregon has started posting flyers with an ominous message for...

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George Zimmerman's Sanford, Fla., neighbor, said the neighborhood watchman protected his residence from a potential burglary several weeks before the shooting of Trayvon Martin. Frank Taaffe, a former neighborhood watch captain, told CNN that his house was in the process of being robbed on Feb. 2, but Zimmerman called Sanford police, who thwarted the robbery. "My house was being robbed, and George on his nightly rounds watched this burglary in progress, called Sanford P.D., waited for them, and helped ensure that nothing bad happened to my house," Taaffe said. "And it's documented in the 911 call for February 2. That...

In Florida, questions continue to swirl about the shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. Neighborhood Watch volunteer George Zimmerman gun down the teen in February. Zimmerman hasn't been charged because he claimed self-defense. One question that hasn't been answered: Is the homeowners association liable for the death. Here's NPR's Greg Allen. GREG ALLEN, BYLINE: There are nearly 200 townhomes at the Retreat at Twin Lakes, the community in Sanford where Trayvon Martin was shot and killed. It's possible the owners of those townhomes may also be held liable in Trayvon Martin's shooting. Lawyers for the Martin family say they plan...

CLEVELAND, Tenn. -- Inspired by his high school criminal justice class, Zachery Gallegos asked his neighbors in a developing subdivision to form a Neighborhood Watch program. "Once we started talking about speeders and how little kids could get hurt, people said OK," the teen said. So Thursday evening the Silver Springs subdivision, a new community off Old Freewill Road, became Bradley County's 39th Neighborhood Watch group. "This program is for everybody," Lt. Bob Hancock of the Bradley County Sheriff's Office said before meeting with the group. "It is for affluent neighborhoods, apartment complexes, trailer parks, anyone." Hancock coordinates the local...

DENVER – A store clerk's curiosity about why Najibullah Zazi was buying large quantities of beauty supply products indicated that something about the transaction wasn't quite right — and it's an example of the kind of citizen vigilance that can combat terror, a police commander said Saturday. Los Angeles police Cmdr. Joan McNamara cited this summer's incident as police chiefs meeting in Denver adopted a model for a nationwide community watch program that teaches people what behavior is truly suspicious and encourages them to report it to police. Federal authorities allege Zazi, 24, tried to make a homemade explosive using...

Quote: Reporting from Washington - As Barack Obama builds his administration and prepares to take office next week, his political team is quietly planning for a nationwide hiring binge that would marshal an army of full-time organizers to press the new president's agenda and lay the foundation for his reelection. The organization, known internally as "Barack Obama 2.0," is being designed to sustain a grass-roots network of millions that was mobilized last year to elect Obama and now is widely considered the country's most potent political machine. Organizers and even Republicans say the scope of this permanent campaign structure is...

Wichita Police Chief Norman Williams met with more than 100 members of the city's Hispanic community Saturday to try to clear up misconceptions about how his officers deal with minorities. A major concern was a fear that any illegal immigrant in Wichita would be immediately arrested if he or she has any contact with Wichita police. "When a citizen is the victim of a crime, we do not ask if they are documented or undocumented," Williams said. The meeting at Horace Mann Dual Language Magnet School was arranged by Hispanos Unidos, a branch of Sunflower Community Action. Organization president Lore...

BAGHDAD (Army News Service, Nov. 17, 2005) -- Alert Iraqi neighborhood watch members in east Baghdad stopped a potential car bomb attack Nov. 15. Shortly before 6 p.m., local residents noticed a suspicious vehicle getting fuel from a roadside gasoline dealer. When the neighborhood watch members approached the driver, he pulled a pistol and pointed it at them and then attempted to flee. “The citizens tried to stop the suspect but were unsuccessful,” said Oday Fakhan, the leader of the neighborhood watch in the area. As he fled, the would-be car bomber attempted to highjack a get-away vehicle at gunpoint,...