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For the OP, take from this what you want. I grew up on the wrong side of the tracks and often we were the only white family in the neighborhood. I learned street smarts.
Now, the homeless and other jerks really have nothing to lose, being arrested means nothing other than a warm place to stay and free warm meals. The county jails are overcrowded anyway, so most will be released within a few days. In my county, only those accused of murder are not released. It is so bad, even those awaiting trial for rape are released without bail, there is not enough room to hold them.
You on the other hand have everything to loose; your job, your family, your life as you know it, even your life. You do not want to spend even one night in jail. No law will protect you when you engage trespassers on your neighbors property. If you were armed and went to your neighbor's property to tell the trespassers to leave, and things went bad and you had to shoot, you could likely face some sort of charges such as manslaughter. A DA would argue you had no reason or legal interest to do anything more than call the police and wait. It was not your property to protect. I took a CCW class, and that was drilled into us, the gun is to only protect self and loved ones with us. It is not to be used to protect strangers, especially when we do not know the entire situation, nor is it to protect property of others. It sucks, but it keeps the CCW holder out of prison.
Next, when outside, no one should be using a cell phone for any reason. I am a high school teacher now. You would be amazed at how many cell phones are stolen because someone is talking and walking and people run up from behind and snatch and run. The victim cannot even begin to ID the actual thief, it was a mob and all they saw was the backs. The person did not have a chance to chase the mob down, they were pushed down to the ground in the attack. The SIM card is switched out and the phone is sold within a few hours. The phone says put away at all times.
The other reason the phone stays put away when in public is so you can keep your head on a pivot. Constantly turn your head in all directions and look an notice everyone around you. Make eye contact. That lets any predators around you know you actually saw them and took a mental picture of them. You can give a description of them if you needed to. They are more likely to leave you alone and select a different person, one who is not paying attention. It also gives you an idea if there is a predator searching you out as a potential victim. That gives you time to react to change the situation in your favor.
You can alter your path. Go somewhere more public. Go into a store. Turn around and go in a different direction. If driving, drive to the local police station. Pick a few places near home where you can pull into just in case you think you are being followed. Pull into those parking lots and let the following car pass and watch what it does.
Bluffing can be very bad. Bad guys are used to good people bluffing. It happens more than one would expect. Most people that have a gun, show the gun when they feel threatened. There is a way to show with body language that you are carrying a gun and you are getting ready to use it. It is not verbal in any way. Street smart criminals would respond to that and are more likely to back down than to a verbal threat of I have a gun. But if you play that game, understand, it could cause the BG to draw and shoot. Bluffs have risks.
When confronted, yell to get attention. You need to make it clear you are not the bad guy. The last thing you need is to have a bunch of strangers come along and think you are the BG and the predator is the victim. Some predators are good at changing the tables like that. Do not focus on what you are going to do to the person. State what you want the person to do. Loudly and clearly state, get back, get away, someone call the cops, this person is threatening to attack me. This person has a weapon. Someone please call 911. If you use a lot of swear words and say I am going to F you over and kick your a**, it will sound like mutual combat and the police arriving will treat it as such.
Finally OP, I am not saying this to harass you in any way. Your size does not scare most BGs. I know as someone who has lost a lot of weight and is still struggling with the difficult battle to loose more. For me it came down to I either did it or I would be dead in 6 months. That was 4 years ago.
The reason most would not be scared, especially those that understand anything about fighting, is you cannot move very fast and your knees are so stress from carrying much more weight than they were designed for a decent kick will destroy the joint and you will be out of the fight.
The guy arrested will likely not spend too much time in jail. The truth is he will plead out just to clear the backlog for the DA. Then he will be back on the streets in a few weeks. He will be back at your place and things will happen, like a rock through the window.
Your daughter needs to put away her cell phone when outside and pay attention. She can text when inside. She will survive. Do not engage trespassers in other people's yards. Call the cops. Better yet, put a fence around your yard and encourage the neighbors to do the same. That is what we did in our neighborhood. It did a lot to push the gangbangers and homeless out. They lost places to hangout during the day and we gained places to carry. Within a few months, the drive-bys stopped.
Now, the homeless and other jerks really have nothing to lose, being arrested means nothing other than a warm place to stay and free warm meals. The county jails are overcrowded anyway, so most will be released within a few days. In my county, only those accused of murder are not released. It is so bad, even those awaiting trial for rape are released without bail, there is not enough room to hold them.
You on the other hand have everything to loose; your job, your family, your life as you know it, even your life. You do not want to spend even one night in jail. No law will protect you when you engage trespassers on your neighbors property. If you were armed and went to your neighbor's property to tell the trespassers to leave, and things went bad and you had to shoot, you could likely face some sort of charges such as manslaughter. A DA would argue you had no reason or legal interest to do anything more than call the police and wait. It was not your property to protect. I took a CCW class, and that was drilled into us, the gun is to only protect self and loved ones with us. It is not to be used to protect strangers, especially when we do not know the entire situation, nor is it to protect property of others. It sucks, but it keeps the CCW holder out of prison.
Next, when outside, no one should be using a cell phone for any reason. I am a high school teacher now. You would be amazed at how many cell phones are stolen because someone is talking and walking and people run up from behind and snatch and run. The victim cannot even begin to ID the actual thief, it was a mob and all they saw was the backs. The person did not have a chance to chase the mob down, they were pushed down to the ground in the attack. The SIM card is switched out and the phone is sold within a few hours. The phone says put away at all times.
The other reason the phone stays put away when in public is so you can keep your head on a pivot. Constantly turn your head in all directions and look an notice everyone around you. Make eye contact. That lets any predators around you know you actually saw them and took a mental picture of them. You can give a description of them if you needed to. They are more likely to leave you alone and select a different person, one who is not paying attention. It also gives you an idea if there is a predator searching you out as a potential victim. That gives you time to react to change the situation in your favor.
You can alter your path. Go somewhere more public. Go into a store. Turn around and go in a different direction. If driving, drive to the local police station. Pick a few places near home where you can pull into just in case you think you are being followed. Pull into those parking lots and let the following car pass and watch what it does.
Bluffing can be very bad. Bad guys are used to good people bluffing. It happens more than one would expect. Most people that have a gun, show the gun when they feel threatened. There is a way to show with body language that you are carrying a gun and you are getting ready to use it. It is not verbal in any way. Street smart criminals would respond to that and are more likely to back down than to a verbal threat of I have a gun. But if you play that game, understand, it could cause the BG to draw and shoot. Bluffs have risks.
When confronted, yell to get attention. You need to make it clear you are not the bad guy. The last thing you need is to have a bunch of strangers come along and think you are the BG and the predator is the victim. Some predators are good at changing the tables like that. Do not focus on what you are going to do to the person. State what you want the person to do. Loudly and clearly state, get back, get away, someone call the cops, this person is threatening to attack me. This person has a weapon. Someone please call 911. If you use a lot of swear words and say I am going to F you over and kick your a**, it will sound like mutual combat and the police arriving will treat it as such.
Finally OP, I am not saying this to harass you in any way. Your size does not scare most BGs. I know as someone who has lost a lot of weight and is still struggling with the difficult battle to loose more. For me it came down to I either did it or I would be dead in 6 months. That was 4 years ago.
The reason most would not be scared, especially those that understand anything about fighting, is you cannot move very fast and your knees are so stress from carrying much more weight than they were designed for a decent kick will destroy the joint and you will be out of the fight.
The guy arrested will likely not spend too much time in jail. The truth is he will plead out just to clear the backlog for the DA. Then he will be back on the streets in a few weeks. He will be back at your place and things will happen, like a rock through the window.
Your daughter needs to put away her cell phone when outside and pay attention. She can text when inside. She will survive. Do not engage trespassers in other people's yards. Call the cops. Better yet, put a fence around your yard and encourage the neighbors to do the same. That is what we did in our neighborhood. It did a lot to push the gangbangers and homeless out. They lost places to hangout during the day and we gained places to carry. Within a few months, the drive-bys stopped.
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