Tag Police officer

• By Spencer Ackerman
• July 16, 2010  |
• 2:07 pm  |
• Categories: Bizarro

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VHeKCOcx4Q
Mark Millar and John Romita Jr. asked a simple question in their 2008 comic book (and 2010 movie) Kick-Ass: Why don’t fanboys actually suit up and try their hand at being superheroes? As it turns out, a bunch of fanboys are in fact suiting up. Hundreds of them. Face front, true believer.
Cosplay is nothing new. Its variant, Real Life Superheroes, are somewhat next-level. Check out TheRLSH.net, a message board where aspiring supes — costumed adventurers who describe themselves as doing “humanitarian work” or otherwise generically helping those in distress — can discuss tradecraft, assemble into makeshift Avengers and escalate misunderstandings into internet brawls ahead of the inevitable team-up.
Seriously. On this thread, for instance, a crimefighter called the Dark Ghostrallied his fellow champions of the innocent to find a seven-month old baby kidnapped in Tennessee. Amazonia, the Minuteman, Gadgetastic and the Sparrow pledged support. (As it turned out, the vigilante community didn’t need to get involved, as law enforcement found young Drake Boyd’s abductor in Florida.)
Now, obviously these dudes don’t have superpowers. But come on — neither does Batman. So like Batman, what they lack in meta-human ability, they make up for in weaponry.
Take, for instance, a Brooklyn team called the New York Initiative, profiled this week in New York Press. The four members of the Initiative –a reference to Tony Stark’s post-Civil War, pre-Secret Invasion efforts to put a superhero squad in each of the 50 states? — act like bodybuilders with a purpose. And then they pack (non-lethal) heat.
Initiative member Z brandishes “giant ax handles bound with duck tape” and a cane that doubles as a club. He’s also got — in reserve — a legally dubious arsenal that includes ninja throwing stars and what author Tea Krulos describes as “stun knuckles (that make a loud zapping sound), throwing knives and spiky hand guards that look like something Genghis Khan would brawl in.” A battle ax appears to be merely for display.
The team’s gadget whiz, who goes by the unfortunate name Victim, is testing out some polycarbonate squares for durability against knives. Because being a hero means you’re going to get stabbed.
Factoring out the body armor, it appears to be a fairly cost-effective approach to adventuring. Take Z’s stun knuckles. Zapping someone with 950,000 volts in the course of a single punch should run you around $50.
Plus, that is, whatever legal costs you incur after your supervillain sues you. Chances are your local municipality doesn’t look kindly on vigilantism, andless so on vigilantism armed with zappers. What’s more, courts haven’t been so keen on police use of non-lethal weapons like Tasers, and you’re sure not an officer of the law.
Speaking of the cops: According to Krulos’s piece, when the New York Initiative asks the police if they can set up a patrol by downtown Brooklyn’s Fulton Mall, a member of New York’s finest tells them, “Naw, fuhgetabout that. You’ll get shot. The guys in this neighborhood, they’ll shoot you and no one will tell us who did it. There’s a strong ‘no snitching’ rule out here.” We know that in the comics as honor among thieves.
So, be careful out there, champions of right: Come strapped and stay on the right side of the law.
See Also:

• Court to Cops: Stop Tasing People into Compliance
• Taser to Cops: Never Mind the Courts, Keep on Zappin’
• Da Vinci Code Scribe Takes on Tasers, Gets Zapped
• High on the List of People Never to Taser: Grandma

via wired.com

Originally posted: http://www.columbiadailyherald.com/articles/2010/07/04/top_stories/0viper.txt
By SKYLER SWISHER
By day, he’s a mild-mannered college student studying chemistry. But at night, he becomes the Viper, a superhero looking to stamp out crime in Columbia.
Christian Tyler Hardee, 20, caught the attention of Columbia police officers when they spotted him wearing a mask and green-and-black tights about 12:30 a.m. Wednesday near the Bicycle Shop on the Square.
But the aspiring superhero assured police he was working for good not evil. He told officers he was on the prowl in search of crime to report.
Hardee, a self-professed comic book nerd, said he knows he’s just a regular college student without super-human powers, and his behavior might be viewed as strange by some. But for Hardee, dressing as a superhero is a way to inspire the community to stand against wrongdoing and perform acts of charity.
“I am just a guy trying to do what is right, in tights,” he said.
During his patrol of Columbia, he donned under armor, carried two plastic sticks and wore a utility belt. On the belt, he stowed a screw driver, wrenches and a cell phone to quickly call police if he stumbled across crime. Officers also found ninja throwing stars inside his car parked near the Bicycle Shop, according to a police report.
Columbia Police Lt. Michelle Jones said the department does not need the assistance of a superhero to keep the city’s streets safe. She discouraged the public from patrolling the streets while dressed in costumes.
“We always encourage the public to be good witnesses but not actively get out and look for crime,” she said.
Police determined Hardee was not breaking any laws, other than a city ordinance that prohibits wearing a mask that obscures the face in public. He was advised of the ordinance and was not cited.
Jones said detectives interviewed Hardee and encouraged him to stop his patrols. Investigators are worried he could frighten the public or hurt himself or others.
Hardee said he will continue to look for crime but without the full costume. To date, he has not stumbled upon criminal activity.
The 20-year-old studies chemistry and art at Union University in Jackson. He hopes to land a job with his chemistry degree, make some money and then embark upon a career as a comic-book artist once he is financially secure.
“I am not out of touch with reality. … I am just a normal guy,” he said. “I know what happens in the movies doesn’t happen in real life.”
He also wants everyone to know he is not trying to inspire children to follow in his footsteps, and he did not don the costume in search of publicity.
“If I wanted attention, I would go streaking or something,” Hardee said.
 

By Thanatos
If your going to collect evidence remember, most anything you collect is not going to be admissible in any court of law. However it can be used by police to establish what is referred to as ‘probable cause to suspect a criminal activity and investigate’.
If you are going to collect evidence and want it to be useful you have to follow rules and procedure as best you can. you want to be able to prove, to the police if to no one else, that you took the correct procedure on collecting it. this allows them to be able to say that evidence was given to them by a trusted source of information. that’s you.
in another thread is a breakdown of a simple evidence collecting kit. you don’t need everything all at once to get started. read up on proper procedure, found all over the internet and apply it to what you do.

First set up a proper system of keeping track and logging the evidence. you should be able to tell police where you got it, when, how and how was it handled after collecting. being able to show pictures and logs and notes goes a long way to convincing police how professional you are trying to be. trust me, it helps.

Get a separate book to keep track of anything you collect. also keep good notes on all of your activities.

I picked a very loud cover so it wouldn’t get left out. the black envelope is what I use to transfer evidence to my police contact.
Who says we can’t do things in style and still look good?

Forum discussion: http://www.therlsh.net/the-bat-cave-f21/evidence-collection-t3003.htm

I don’t take Law Enforcement into MY OWN HANDS, as far as bein “judge, jury, and executioner”. I just do what I can do. Therefore I ain’t sure if I really fit the dictionary definition of “Vigilante”. I think that’s more of the Guardian Angel’s category.
In the past I have fit that definition, but my new code is “stickin to the books” as much as possible. Therefore how am I a vig?
Besides fighting in self-defense almost a month ago, I haven’t “laid hands” on any “perps” whatsoever.