Tag California

Going on Patrol…or Missions?

So…I thought about pulling the Supermobile out tonight for a road patrol or driving to St.Pete for a foot patrol.
And I thought to myself “how much have I really accomplished doing that?”  Sure I’ve had random instances over the years of being in the right place at the right time, but they’re few & far between. A car fire here, a mugging there…a drunk guy in a Hover Round here…a lady with here head busted open in a parking lot there. But for the amount of times I’ve struck oil there has been many nights of absolute boredom…or as I said it in a panel at a con a few years back “95% Boredom for one minute of sheer terror.”
So anyways I see Zimmer Barnes wrote awhile back about doing Missions instead of patrolling. I’m beginning to think this may be sound logic.
EVERY time I’ve set out with a specific mission in mind I’ve pretty much accomplished it, or figured out how to accomplish that goal for the next time.
95% of the times I’ve headed out on patrol I’ve ended up Driving around or stopping to pose for pictures with Collage girls or explaining What the Hell I’m doing dressed like this.
There might be something to this whole mission’s thing, Get specific tasks done, be it Philanthropy or Recruiting or gathering information on a known Dealer or sitting in a specific park that’s having a rash of assaults, however you roll you might be better planning it out then just jumping out the front door in your gimmick & saying “All right Evil! Here I come!”
It’s just food for thought.
OSH
 

 

Originally posted: http://www.komonews.com/seattlepulp/blogs/phoenix-jones/126086459.html
By Jennifer Kuglin Jul 24, 2011
Phoenix posted this note on his Facebook page about Hope 2011:
“Hope 2011 is an event run by Razor Hawk that will be taking place in California. At my request, a news publication that recently featured me provided a majority of the funding for Hope 2011. I assumed I would be able to attend the event and be able to help with the homeless outreach but I am the only superhero that has been banned from this event. I’ve never communicated with Razor Hawk directly, but I’ve heard via a third party that I am too controversial because I confront criminals directly and detain when necessary until the police arrive.
When I first became a superhero I was excited about joining the RLSH community and was quickly disappointed when I was banned before I ever even had a chance to make a post. I was notified by email the reason for my exile from the online community is because I lie about my deeds and there was no proof I was actually fighting crime. I would be fine with that if everyone else on the site had to prove their actions as well, but they are taken at their word. In the past few months through news media sources, guest patrols with other RLSHs, video, Phoenix Cam, and police it has been proven I patrol on a regular basis with a purpose to fight crime and stop acts of violence.  I am offended that I am still ridiculed and put down by this community. I have more documentation and actual crime interventions than any other ‘superhero’ other than Master Legend of course.
I have not participated in the online bashing and gossip that consumes a lot of superhero’s lives. But there has been media publications quoting me saying less than favorable things about certain members of the RLSH and of that I am guilty. Most of the comments I have made come from feelings of resentment that have arisen from being so discriminated against by the community. I have identified myself as a Rain City Superhero Movement member as opposed to an RLSH for three reason: 1, Certain members of the RLSH hacked my FB and deleted it and told me not to use the RLSH term because I was not one. 2, Most of the RLSH I know focus on humanitarian work and crime fighting second. 3, RLSH is a broad term and I wanted something more city specific to what we needed in Seattle.
I have always felt that the most effective outreaches are done in safe environments. I know a RLSH in Seattle who was robbed of his handout food during an outreach. If they would target him, I can only imagine what they do to the people receiving the food after I have left. If I am able to take away the violent offenders in these areas our homeless outreaches will be a lot more effective.
The point of this message is that we are all masked human beings trying to better the environment that we live in, each in our own specific areas of expertise. Hating each other, bickering and slandering, and banning people from events is ridiculous (I will enclose links that support my statements). It just minimizes our effectiveness, corrupts the message, and takes up valuable time that we could be using on the streets. I have tried my best to stay out of this drama but from this point on I am not participating in any way, shape, or form. I think its important to live your message, so here it is, I AM SORRY.
I am sorry if I have said bad things to you directly, I am sorry if I have sad bad things behind your back, I am sorry if you haven’t understood or were offended by my crime fighting methods. But most of all, I am sorry that we had to make this public. I forgive anyone who has said anything bad about me. From here on out all slates are clean as far as I am concerned. We are fighting each other when we should be fighting the evil in this world.”

 

Talk about stereotype busters!!!!! Talked today on New Orleans Canal Street to a young man named Patrick whom I consider the dean of downtown Black skateboarders.
I asked him did he know tomorrow ( June, 21st, 2011 ) was Go Skateboarding Day and his response was yes and that he will be videotaping it. From there a great conversation developed.
 
It’s become common place to see them noisily zooming along in that area. When I was their age, Skateboarding was a White, California or suburban thing to do.
Fast forward to the early 21st Century and young side walk surfers from the inner city have carved their niche in this dynamic sport’s culture.
As an activist I asked him about run-ins with police; how adults can help, etc. since this sport takes place in the central business district or ” the CBD ” in localese.
 
I quickly realized Patrick has the calm delivery of a presidential spokes person.
We talked about the stereotypes they defeat ( i.e. ” Black boys don’t skateboard! ” ) and the money-making potential if some of these kids go pro one day.
 
While our topic was skate boarding broader topics therein were liberty; individuality and all these other lofty topics Black boys, alongside peers everywhere should explore.
 
When I see them zooming down the sidewalk, doing things that would likely injure lesser beings, it tells me the inner city hasn’t been beaten, not yet.
 
Not with great men like Patrick on the scene.
Happy Go Skateboarding Day!!!!!!!
 
 
*** This post isn’t a racial thing by the way, it’s a celebration of the freedom and creative expression that comes from healthy individualism.
 
NADRA ENZI AKA CAPT BLACK promotes finding your “super” through creative crime prevention; homeless outreach and political advocacy. (504) 214-3082.  
 

Public Office Hours Flyer
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Leslie Reyes
1(619) 866-7932
April 25, 2011
DEPUTY MAYOR RUDY RAMIREZ TO HOLD PUBLIC OFFICE HOURS ON RAISING AWARENESS REGARDING SEX OFFENDERS AND RELATED TOPICS
Chula Vista, CA- Deputy Mayor Rudy Ramirez will host his “Public Office Hours” on Monday May 2^nd in Council Chambers at City Hall, 276 Fourth Avenue, Chula Vista.
Due to recent tragic events that have occurred throughout San Diego County involving sex offenders and related topics it is essential to raise awareness in all of Chula Vista and neighboring cities. It is highly encouraged for residents throughout San Diego County to attend this informal discussion at City Hall on creating a public consciousness concerning sexual predators and related topics.
The Public Office Hours will provide members from the community an opportunity to grasp very important information that the Chula Vista Police Department, Deputy Mayor Rudy Ramirez, The Xtreme Justice League, and Mr. Pinnick will present in order to defend and/or prevent any sort of predator attack. The Xtreme Justice League is a group of superheroes that are dedicated to defending our city from evildoers. They will attend this event as guest speakers, presenting their reasons and forms of protecting this wonderful community. Mr. Pinnick is a local martial arts instructor that will hold a demonstration on basic self defense moves in order to teach those that attend how to protect themselves from any sort of attack.
Deputy Mayor Rudy Ramirez holds “Public Office Hours” each month to address issues of importance to Chula Vista and its residents. He welcomes all community members to his “Public Office Hours” and will meet one-on-one with anyone desiring a private meeting. For more information, please contact Deputy Mayor Rudy Ramirez by email at [email protected] or by phone at (619) 585-5717.
Deputy Mayor Rudy Ramirez represents the entire City of Chula Vista
###

The Guardian
As a member of the community, patrolling San Diego from the shadows, I as the Guardian and our Street Team are now blogging to keep you, our neighbors, “in the know” regarding matters of security and patrol.
Feel free to join our Street Team, whether costumed or not, and make a positive difference.
 

Originally posted: http://www.10news.com/news/26650555/detail.html
Xtreme Justice League Helping Fight Crime In County
SAN DIEGO — A series of attacks in the Chula Vista and College areas have caused a local group to take action. They’re armed with bulletproof vests and mace — and they’re pretty hard to miss.
Mr. Xtreme, who is dressed in a full superhero costume complete with a helmet, a cape and a bulletproof vest, said that he’s tired of seeing people become victims, so he and his crew patrol the streets.
The Xtreme Justice League is dedicated to protecting innocents from villains – villains like the man who attacked a woman near Campanile and Montezuma, by the San Diego State University campus, while she was walking home at 3 a.m. last week. The bruise on Haley’s eye is still visible after she was punched in the face by the man.
“As he punched me I got out of his grasp and ran away,” Haley, who doesn’t want us to use her last name, told 10News.
Attacks like the one against Haley and the recent actions of a serial groper in Chula Vista motivate Mr. Xtreme to spring into action. He calls himself a real-life superhero and he and his crew are on a mission to stop these villains from attacking again.
The Xtreme Justice League wants to stop violence against women so they posted flyers near SDSU and Chula Vista featuring sketches of the man suspected of attacking Haley and the man responsible for groping at least 13 women and girls in the Chula Vista area during the last four months.
Mr. Xtreme has a message for villains: “If we see you out there and you even think about committing a crime, we are going to stop you and we are going to place you under citizen’s arrest. We will slam you on the ground and bring you to justice.”
Mr. Xtreme and his pals are armed with a mace gun, a bulletproof vest, and a Taser. They said all of their weapons are legal, and they’re not afraid to use them.
SDSU student Joel Garcia said, “At first you might think, ‘is this man a mad man?’ but after a while he looks okay,”
The Chula Vista Police Department is remaining neutral on the group but they don’t encourage anyone to confront suspects.
Haley said she’s not the first of her friends to be attacked and although she’s not familiar with the XJL, she’s grateful for their actions.
“I’m glad that people are taking action near the campus to make sure that other students are safe,” she said.
Mr. Xtreme said that he doesn’t have a law enforcement background but he has worked in security before. The so-called superhero said he’s been in a few violent situations but it’s not his intent to harass anyone.
He and his group are patrolling the College and Chula Vista areas into the weekend.

Originally posted: http://www.gizmag.com/real-life-superhero-gadgets/16862/
By Ben Coxworth

Yes, there are real-life superheroes. And no, we’re not just referring to firefighters, paramedics, and other heroic people who we’re used to seeing coming to the rescue of others. We’re talking about costume-wearing, identity-concealing, cool-name-having people who fight crime, pollution, or other evils in their own communities, on their own time, and at their own risk. Many of them actually patrol the city streets, ready to intervene if they see trouble brewing – and being ready includes having the right tools. Given that none of these people have Bruce Wayne’s budget, however, their gadgets tend to be less like Batmobile clones, and more like… well, read on and see for yourself.

Off-the-rack items

First of all, there are some household products that are popular in the RLSH (Real Life Superhero) community, including flashlights, first aid kits, mobile phones, cameras, and zip ties, to use as handcuffs. When it comes to preparing for physical confrontations, some not-so-household ready-made devices come into play, such as Kevlar vests, body armor, pepper spray, and telescoping batons. Moving up the ladder to the realm of “Is that even legal?”, a few RLSHs carry tasers, wrist rocket sling shots, and blast knuckles, which are shaped like brass knuckles and deliver an electric shock. Interestingly, we could only find one superhero who said they carry a firearm.

The Eye’s Custom Gear

Just as Spiderman is known for his web shooters and Wonder Woman for her golden lariat, so many RLSHs are known – at least within their community – for their custom-made gadgets. One in particular is The Eye, a kind of Dick Tracy-esque superhero who watches over the streets of Mountain View, California.
“Being a professional electronics tech from way back in my history, and being born and raised in Silicon Valley, I take great pleasure in the creation process, the sub-system testing, the final result, and a device’s final effective usage in the field,” he told Gizmag. His mostly light-based doo-dads have a decidedly steampunk appeal, and include things such as…

• The Wrist Blaster: a wrist-mounted and -activated camera strobe, which temporarily blinds assailants when fired at night (a similar device, The Eyeluminator, incorporates a five-LED flashlight)
• Finger Devices: these include a finger-mounted butane torch, laser pointers, and the Dragon’s Eye Ring, which contains a high-intensity white LED
• Sonic Screamer Tube: this one uses the electronics from a personal body alarm, transferred into a sound-concentrating steel tube
• Laser Wand: a toy Harry Potter wand, retrofitted with a 95mW green laser module – useful for pointing things out to the police, or letting troublemakers know they’re being watched
• The Nightmare Cane: inspired by a cane used by TV vampire Barnabas Collins, it sports an LED light, rare earth neodymium magnets for picking up metallic objects, a retractable claw hand for grabbing other items, and a video camera mount for peeking over obstacles

Master Legend and the Master Blaster

Over on the Southeastern U.S., Master Legend patrols the streets of Orlando, Florida. One of his trademark gadgets is a handheld cannon known as the Master Blaster. “The Master Blaster will shoot so high in the sky you won’t see it come down,” he told us. “It can also blow a hole through a door. I can put anything in it that fits.”
He also uses custom body armor plates made from steel plating, and a closed-ended steel cylinder that slips over his hand and forearm, which he calls the Iron Fist. According to Master Legend, the device is capable of hurting somebody, or smashing a door down – not that he necessarily wants to hurt anybody. “Scaring someone is better than beating them up” he said.

Artisteroi – Just tell him what you need

Unlike The Eye and Master Blaster, the gadgets that Artisteroi makes aren’t for his own use. He has a degree in mechanical engineering, develops engineering software for a living, and has become one of a select group of people whom other superheroes turn to when it comes to getting devices made.
He is currently chief engineer on the Iron Rad suit project, in which several RLSH “gadgeteers” are collaborating on developing a sort of real life Iron Man suit. Mega-Rad, one of their fellow superheroes, is funding the project. According to him, some of the key features of the suit will include ballistic protection, light weight, strength amplification, sensory enhancement and non-lethal weaponry.
“Iron Rad is a bid to function in reality as a full time superhero, actually rescuing people, disrupting violent crimes, and doing some form of outreach toward the next generation of people (who could become bad guys) to try and help motivate them to become constructive and awesome members of society instead” he told us.
Right now, the suit is still largely on the drawing board. “All the parts of the Iron Rad suit are essentially existing tech that we intend to repurpose and shoehorn together into one system,” Artisteroi said. “We are just finishing up the ideation phase and beginning design and prototyping.”
Some of Artisteroi’s recent projects have included a fog gun, and a fighting staff that folds down into a compact carrying case. He is currently working on the Mega Claw, a spring-loaded mechanical hand for use in Iron Rad, that will be controlled by Mega-Rad’s own hand via cables attached to a control glove.

Putting it all to use

It’s obviously a lot of fun acquiring and/or fabricating these gadgets, but… do they actually end up seeing any use?
According to The Eye, absolutely. “My cane, the Fedora Light, the Eyeluminator, and the Dragon’s Eye ring are common-wear items, that I wear/use some combination of on every night patrol,” he said. “The Laser Wand I once used to spook some public park vandals away, by scanning it near their location.”
“As for the more offensive but legal items that I often carry, that I did not create, such as stun guns and pepper spray and such, I certainly hope I never have to use them, but am glad they are there if needed… I am always more pleased when my photonic, self-created devices are able to diffuse a situation before it escalates.”
Geist, a RLSH based out of Rochester, Minnesota, told us “I use a cell phone, flashlight and a can of gray spray paint all the time. The spray paint is to paint a neutral color over gang graffiti, thus reclaiming the neighborhood for the people and not the gangs. It’s supposed to be a lethal insult to the gang (meaning they have the ‘right’ to kill you for doing it.).”
“I’ve not used my offensive or defensive weaponry and prefer I never do. I’ve talked down a lot of tense situations using diplomacy and reason. I’d really prefer that everyone just goes home and sobers up, rather than anyone going to jail.”
Artisteroi believes that the consumer products such as flashlights and body armor find use quite often, but the more exotic stuff – not so much. “That is a good thing, really,” he added. “The real world is a lot more stable than the chaos of the comics. If we had to use these expensive tools all the time, being a superhero would cost a fortune.”
Special thanks to the administrators and forum members of Real Life Superheroes.org for their help with this article.

Two
Years old
Too young
To die by a gun
He
Shames us with his loss
He
Challenges us with its cost
Is
Private brutality
The inner city’s daily destiny?
DEDICATED TO THE BOY ( JEREMY GALMON http://www.wdsu.com/mostpopular/25208919/detail.html ) RECENTLY MURDERED BY GUN FIRE AT A SUNDAY SECOND LINE PARADE IN CENTRAL CITY, NEW ORLEANS.
-NADRA ENZI AKA CAPT BLACK
SAFETY RIGHTS ACTIVIST
http://www.captblack.info
 

From Motor Mouth:
For those of you in California, Arizona, & Nevada, I have a surprise for you…
I’m holding an RLSH Workshop, BBQ, & patrol on Saturday, the 28th of August.
– Mega-Rad is going over information gathering techniques.
– Med-X is going over medical first responder training.
– Kingsnake is going over teaching body rolls and anti-gun defenses.
– Motor-Mouth (oh, that’s ME!) is going over public relations & dealings with the police.
A BBQ will coincide with this and later in the evening, everyone present will uniform up and hit the streets of San Francisco for a handout then a patrol.
Anyone that wants particulars (as in the address it’s gonna be at) can just hit me up privately on here.
Also, if you’re coming from out of town, no worries for a hotel/motel room. I can’t promise you a bed but I can offer couch or floor space for sure.
Hope to see some of you beyond my local team there!
– MM
Get in touch with Motor Mouth
Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=100001241867072&ref=ts
Myspace – http://www.myspace.com/motor_mouth_sf