Tag Illegal drug trade

Went out this weekend with Zero aka Z, Three, Blindside, Samaritan, Peter Tangen, and a reporter and photographer from a magazine. We went out to Washington Square Park on Friday night; the park has a history of being a haven for drug dealers. I have been out in the park, taking on the drug dealers for a few years now.
Samaritan had walked through the park before meeting up with the rest of us and was offered drugs by two dealers. I like to get confirmation of who is selling drugs and what they are selling before I take action in the park. I got ready to go undercover, wearing my bullet and stab proof vest and a wired microphone under my jacket.  I walked through the park with Peter a good distance behind me with a camera. The drug dealer approached me and began mumbling something to me. I looked over and said, “what’s up”? He asked if I wanted to smoke. I asked him what he had. He said, “nickel or dime bag”? I then asked what else he had. He said I would need to pay a buck or $150. I asked him again what he had. He responded, “I got eight balls, but it will cost you, you got to spend to get”. I said I would have to check with a friend and see if I can get the money and walked away outside of the park.
After I walked away he spotted the cameras. He walked back over to me outside the park. I was standing with the people from the magazine. He asked if we were filming him. I said, no my friend is a photographer and he always has his camera. The drug dealer then threatened to break the cameras if we were filming him. The dealer has shown to be dealing some serious drugs and now to be confrontational and violent.
The drug dealer went back into the park where; Peter, Zero, and Three were, and began to confront them. Both Blindside and Samaritan were across the park keeping an eye out, in case the situation would have escalated.While the dealer was nearby Peter, Zero, and Three, I then approached a police officer. I told him that there was drug dealer in the park and that I had audio and video of him dealing. The officer said that I had to send it over to the narcotics division. I told him that the dealers were over by my friends. He asked if I was worried about an altercation, and I said yes. After the police officer finished writing a ticket, he came over. The officer asked us what was going on. The dealer started rambling about being filmed, and that we needed permission to do so if it was for commercial filming. He continued to ramble on about it. I got pissed and said, “you are dealing drugs out here and can not do that”! The cop informed him that we could film whatever we want, and that he can not keep dealing out there. The dealer did not respond and kept rambling on about commercial filming. The cop left and we stayed in the park. The dealer kept going on about filming and I yelled at him, “you know what we are going to do , send this over to narcotics”! He responded, “do I look fu**ing scared”? We had an exchange of words, and I told Peter to keep the camera on this scumbag. I yelled at him,” sell your drugs now”. At this point, we were not ready to let this situation go, so myself and Z got our gear on and, the rest of the group joined to patrol the park, with flashlights and cameras. When everyone came together the dealers got scared. We managed to take the park, and the dealers slowly left. I shined my light on a few of them, mouthed off a bit, and they all eventually left.
After being there for a while about 5 cops came into the park. They did not bother us, they were actually very cool and told us to stay safe. We left the park in their hands and went off to do homeless outreach. We did not come across many homeless, hopefully this was because they had places to say. We did give out some blankets and supplies to a few people, which was good.
 

From Dark Guardian
It was a beautiful April Night. It was clear and warm. A perfect spring night, possibly the nicest day of the year.  On this great night I decided to take on the drug dealers of Washington Square Park. I had been going up against them for some time now.  I had been calling and reporting them to the police and even taking it to the level of direct confrontation.  I was going up to them and kicking them out of the park.  When doing so I would make sure to have at least a small group of people with me and some lights and cameras to deter violence.
This night I was going to make a big statement, not only to the drug dealers, but to my community and the public at large.  I was going to take the park back from the dealers and let everyone around know the dealign will not be tolerated anymore.  This is something I could not do alone, so I got a whole group of real life superheroes together for it.  Many real life superheroes traveled in to back me up and help out.

Every time I go in and do something against the dealers I make sure they are selling.  I send in someone undercover to make sure they are dealers and to find out what exactly they are selling.  This night we sent someone in and they got them offering to sell them eight balls of coke.  A pretty big order to be selling outside in a park.  We scope out the operation they have out there and we were looking at a twenty plus person operation that night.  We know they are dealing and we know who they are.  A group of us gather together getting ready to swarm the park, take it back from the dealers, and kick them out.
As we get ready to go in I hear someone say, “hey you we want to talk to you”.  Two police officers are walking over to me.  I say yes officer, they say they want to speak with me.  I explain to them that I do not break any laws and they tell me that I am not in any trouble, but the Lieutenant wants to speak to me.  They asked that Cameraman and I come down to the precinct.  I comply with the officers request.  We get in their car and drive off to the precinct.  We chat with the officers about the dealers and the problem in the park.  They explain that that they try hard to get the dealers out.  They arrest them constantly and have undercover ops in there.  They say they appreciate what I am doing but don’t want to things to get violent out there and do not want me or anyone else to get hurt.  They tell us they can’t just go in and pat the dealers down or just tell them to leave.  We had a good conversation with the officers.

We arrived at the precinct. It is the special operations precinct.  We walk in and everyone in the precinct knows who we are.  I get various comments like “look who it is”, “Superhero”, and a female officer says “I thought you were taller”.  Cameraman and I sit down in the office and we talked with an officer and the lieutenant.  They know who I am, they have seen videos of me, and know what I do. We talk about the park and the dealers.  There main concern is for my safety. They explain that they have arrested some of these guys 50-60 times and they are back out there.  The one big dealer Carmello who I had been up against was shot in the head before and is still out there.  He talked about how many of them carry weapons and guns.  We talk for a a bit about things.  I explained what I do and why I do it.  They respected what I was trying to do, but did not want to see me or anyone else get hurt.  They said I can contact them if I had any information.  I left them my information and got the lieutenants card.
Cameraman and I left the precinct and had to take a cab back to meet with the rest of the team.  I was a little shaken up after getting picked up by the police and brought in.  I was a little hesitant to get back out there.  I had all these people out here to get my back and help me out.  These dealers were out of control and brazen.  I knew I had to do it and still take on the dealers.  The team gets together and we head out to the park.

We first get in and confront the dealer.  We actually have a conversation about the drug problem out there.  I get on my bull horn and start calling out over it “NO MORE DRUGS IN THE PARK”, “THIS IS NOT YOUR PARK”.  We work our way to the center area of where the dealers were selling.  They back away from us, some start yelling and cursing at us. One dealers starts yelling at us in Jamaican.  We force the dealers out of the park and onto the streets.  Some leave and walk away, many hang out at the outskirts of the park talking with each other, looking over at us, and threatening us.
We took their spot and were out there with cameras, lights, and a bullhorn.  We were messing up their business on a real good night to sell.  We probably cost them thousands of dollars that night.  It got so bad for them that we witnessed their leadership come out.  A man came out and started yelling at the dealers who were forced out of the park.  He was yelling “What the f**k is going on out here”, “You going to let these people bitch you like this”.  He looked over at us yelling threats. We held steady control over our area of the park. A dealer from afar lifts up his shirt flashing a gun at us.  We do not move and he walks away.  We were out there for hours locking down the park and hurting their business.  Most the dealers had left the area. We decided after while to leave.  We had made a big statement and hurt their business bad that night.  We cautiously exited the park as a group.  We walked through the city for a while making sure we were not being followed.

A couple of us hung out for a while after.  This was one of the craziest nights for me in being a real life superhero.  We took a stand against against the dealers and hurt their business bad for the night.  We also called attention to the problem in the park. I’m happy to report that those dealers are not in the park anymore.  I am thankful to everyone who helped out that night. They had my back, put themselves in danger, risked serious injury, and even death to come out and make a difference.

Some people just can’t seem to understand the difference between being vigilant and being a vigilante. One is a responsible citizen, doing their part to make their community a better place. The other is a criminal, no better than those they seek to stop.
A vigilante is someone who sets out to take the law into their own hands, to enact justice on their own. When someone steps outside their door fully expecting to use force on another person, that person is premeditated in their use of force. They aren’t just prepared to use force, but are hoping to. They are looking for the opportunity to kick some ass.
If you set out to fight crime through the use of force, then you are going to break the law. Let me clarify this. If you are planning on.. not preparing to use force to defend yourself or others.. but actually planning on the use of force to make criminals pay for their crimes, then you are planning to break the law.
If I am on a neighborhood patrol and I see someone being mugged, and the victim is in danger of harm, then yes, I will step in and use force to protect the innocent. Legally [in my jurisdiction] I am allowed to use whatever force is necessary to stop the criminal. What’s the difference you ask? If I know I may use force against a criminal when I go out on patrol, aren’t I planning on kicking someone’s ass? No.
Just because I acknowledge that there may be a time and place for the application of Hard Power (the use of physical force), does not mean that I am planning ahead of time to go out and stomp a criminal into the pavement. While a vigilante mindset not only sees the need for violence, but is looking for the chance to use it. Where I might seek to use alternative methods to violence, if circumstances allow, a vigilante is already predetermined on their course of action. Their intent is clear. They are out to exact justice and mete out punishment.. and break the law while doing it.
Let me give a very famous and clear example of what I mean by being prepared to use Hard Power (physical violence), but choosing to use Soft Power (non-physical means) to de-escalate a situation. If you watch the video of Dark Guardian as he enters Washington Park and confronts a drug dealer, you are witnessing a true superhero at work, not a vigilante. He confronts the drug dealer, the situation gets tense, the moment could erupt into violence at any moment, but it does not. Even had the drug dealer not backed down and left the park like he did, Dark Guardian did not escalate the situation to where the use of physical force would have been needed. He would have stepped away and called the police. At no time was it Dark Guardian’s intention to jump the dealer and punish his wicked and evil ways. However, during the entire situation, Dark Guardian was prepared to use his martial arts to defend himself if needed.
Without a doubt Dark Guardian’s approach in the video was confrontational. He approached the dealer with the clear intent of forcing the crook out of the park, but he wasn’t planning on putting the boots to him to accomplish his goal. This is different then the vigilante mindset. He wasn’t going to enact his own brand of justice on the dealer, even though he was being confrontational. He wasn’t going in looking to pick a fight.
In the vigilante mindset, one sets out to accomplish their goals through the use of violence to exact punishment. Their goal is not to chase bad guys away, or to call the police to report a crime. Criminals must pay for what they have done, and the vigilante is going to collect on those debts. The vigilante is judge, jury and executioner, even if they leave the punks tied up in front of the police station for the cops to find. They pick fights. They want to engage crooks in combat. They escalate situations unnecessarily. Their ends justify their means. But their ends put them on the wrong side of the law, and they are no more morally superior then the criminals they confront.
Additional-
Yes, it is possible to use force and not be a vigilante. It is the intent that makes a vigilante. A vigilante wants to go out and purposely use force to stop crime.
Someone might break the law unintentionally while stopping a criminal from hurting someone, but that does not make them a vigilante. Nor does it make them morally wrong. Yes, the law was broken (maybe they used too much physical force, or whatever), but just because they broke the law does not make them a vigilante
I can not, nor will I, ever condone the intentional commission of a crime in the fight against criminals.
 

One of the lesser known but irresistibly fascinating trends that has arisen in the wake of the economic crisis is the growing number of superheroes. Not superheroes in a metaphorical sense, but actual, real-life superheroes, who hide their identities behind brightly colored costumes and have names like Mr. Ravenblade, Mr. Xtreme, and Dark Guardian. According to this CNN article, these superheroes are usually not vigilantes who have read too many comic books, they respect the law, and their activities include various good deeds like helping homeless people or patrolling rough, high-crime areas.
There is an organization, Superheroes Anonymous, with the stated aim of “bringing superheroes together in the real world to affect [sic] positive change”. They organize public-relations-friendly events and group activities for superheroes and help to promote the positive work done by real-life superheroes. Most interestingly, the web site is also involved with an ongoing documentary about chronicling the real-life superheroes phenomenon, check out clip after the jump of a superheroes confrontation with a drug dealer:
Superheroes Anonymous – Dark Guardian confronts a drug dealer from beginnorth on Vimeo.
http://www.toolazytodoit.com/2009/07/real-life-crime-fighting-superheroes.html

When ousting a local drug operation, remember that the kid on the corner is the most expendable. Breakin down and or disorganizing a “set” is the way to do damage. This forces then to try and move to an easier spot to sell thier product, but in the process, usually many will be caught by the Police. You will probably quickly find that the Police become a great “tool” for you, and vice-versa. What you don’t have the manpower and or authority to do, they will.

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But the the Police need certain info to get the job done. If you don’t give the local precinct enough so they are workin w/ somethin the FIRST time, don’t expect them to listen to you next time. This is where recon comes in.

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The most important of these being: (in drug trafficking situations)
1. Street address
2. Busiest time of day for the spot
3. Crew or gang name if you can provide it, if not, at least crew colors.
4. If possible (at your own risk) find out who runs the spot (street name is usually good enough)
5. Through survelliance, try and find out WHEN they bring the drugs to the spot.

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Notes:
1. When you report drug activity, you may not SEE any police response. The area or individuals you are reporting on may already be the subject of an on-going undercover investigation. Also, since drug transactions seldom involve danger to participants or bystanders, crimes that endanger someone must have first priority for available officers.
2. Your reports are very important. They let the police know there’s a problem, and you provide a reason for police to start an investigation of a person or location or provide vital information for an on-going investigation. Laws do no allow police to stop or investigate people without a good reason to believe they may be involved in illegal activity. Your information may be vital to meeting this demand of the law.

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What the Police want to know:
• What makes you believe drugs are being sold?
• Do you know what drugs are involved? Have you seen any drug paraphernalia?
• How long has the activity gone on?
• Have you reported this activity before? If so, when?
• What is the address where the drug activity is occurring (including the apartment number) or the closest intersection.
• What type of building is it? (single family, home, business, apartment)