Wow. What a fine example of two sides to the story. Witnesses say he came up behind her, put his hand over her mouth (story says “behind her mouth”) and tried to abduct her. The sister of the accused says “her brother is nice man who would never try to kidnap anyone” and said the accused told her that “that he was trying to help her, to get her home”.

Makes you wonder what really happened. Needless to say, do NOT go walking alone at night, learn how to protect yourself, and follow your mother’s advice, do not trust strangers.

So here is a fine example of police response.

On the one hand, you have the police, all they have to go on is “man is brandishing a gun”, and not surprisingly, responded with a 7 squad “descent” according to the news article.

On the other, a boy with a super soaker.

So is the party at fault the officer? The boy? Or the person who called 911? The dispatcher?

In this case, I am in a position to speak with some authority, as I have had an entire police precinct out looking for me with guns drawn, based on a 911 call reporting a “man with a gun”. Mind you this was a holstered weapon, carried openly in keeping with MN state law. Too bad the caller failed to mention that it was in a holster. My neighbor called me describing the person they were looking for, me. I told him to flag one down, and I would be out in 20 seconds. They were polite enough to keep their guns at low ready, as the neighbor said I had a permit, and we cleared matters up in very short order.

So to break this story down, A boy brandishes a large neon squirt gun, and the worst crime I would really accuse him of is distracted driving. Sure, he was being stupid, but not seriously stupid. Someone calls 911 to report the brandishing of a firearm, (which is not a crime in MN – you can get assault with a deadly weapon, public endangerment, and a whole lot else, but there is no brandishing statute). Perhaps this person was legally blind, as at least that would be an excuse.

The dispatcher apparently did not ask questions about the incident, so I would go with poor job performance there. They joys of government employment.

Finally, the responding officers. With the information they were given, a totally appropriate response.

We need to realize that allowing our cities to degrade taxes resources, and then quality of life suffers. Government cannot police us; we must police ourselves, and utilize police as they were intended – as assistance for difficult and extraordinary circumstances.

Proof that you can obey the law, be an upstanding person, but have the decay in our urban areas still take your life.

Story here.
We need to stop pretending that the government can protect us, and take responsibility for our own neighborhoods, cities and states. The people who believe the police will protect them ignore a few points.

The police have no legal duty to protect you, they are there to “Protect and to Serve” the interests of the corporation called the city/county/state of ______________.

In Minneapolis, there are around 500 people for every sworn officer. Now divide by 3 shifts. thats 1500 people per officer. Now take in account desk jobs. The reality is the chances of a cop being anywhere near you when trouble starts are way past slim.

I have always preached awareness and avoidance, and this story is a reminder to be cautious in where you go and what you do.

Thankfully again, unsuccessful. The police in this story offer more comprehensive tips on child safety, but in this case they almost got a license plate number, and did get a vehicle description. Surprisingly, that was not enough for police to go on. One would think in the era of technology that a close approximation of the plate would get them a suspect or three.

Story here.

This is an example of what sometimes happens when street crime occurs, reminiscent of the uptown robbery a while back where a man was shot in the head after cooperating. Granted, most of the time if you are robbed, and you give them your stuff, this is not the likely outcome. But you never know.

This is why we teach that every situation is different, and that skills = options. If you initially cooperate and then like in this story, that is not enough, at least you have a chance to reduce your level of injury.

Whether it’s basic hand to hand / weaponless self-defense, or a permit to carry a firearm as taught by our sister company Pistolcraft, the more you know, the safer you are.

Story here.

So this is a clear example of how anyone can be a victim, although attorneys do have a higher risk profession, it is surprising the things that will cause a person to become violent. I have a number of instances of shootings over a parking spot at the local mall. The murder rate in Minneapolis and the deaths in MN from domestic violence are both running about double from last year.

It’s gonna be a long summer.

Story here.

This is probably more common than we know, I have to wonder how many of these attempts never quite happen, or don’t get reported. These girls did the right thing by calling 911, but if she “thought he was going to take us” a good addition to that would be running and screaming. License plate numbers are awesome if you can get them safely, but distance is one of the things we teach in our classes as a primary defensive tool, and FAR more important.

Story here.

Another interesting point with knives, as they are quiet they cause few to notice the incident, leaving a reduced chance of real witnesses. They also leave no ballistic evidence leaving the crime lab little to go on in many cases.

Story here.

There have been a lot of stabbings lately, and it is a real reminder that most street criminals have knives, fewer have guns. Knives are easy to obtain, have no background check, and can do much, much more damage than a gun.

Story here.

This is why we teach that these stores are a dangerous place, pay attention before entering to see if everything looks normal, and if not leave (and of course call 911 if necessary). We have a chapter on instinct and threat recognition that deals with this subject in detail, but in short – If it don’t feel right, get out.

This man was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, but getting involved in a situation likely caused his later attack. As we tell our students, “you are not a cop, use a cell phone”

Story here.