Kids in the park

[The Goose]

So as the weather begins to get warmer and the days a little longer I occasionally get to pursue my favorite activity, smoking a cigar on my front porch. The other day I am sitting out watching the kids play in the park directly accross the street. So I notice these 2 older kids, 12 - 14 or so and it looks like they have guns. At almost the same instant I realize that they have paintball guns. They are shooting at trees and the trash cans etc. and I am thinking that this does not really look like a great idea, but I figure what the hell. Next thing I see is they are shooting paintballs at the younger kids on the swings and the kids are crying. I yell over and tell them to cut the crap and of course I get the one finger salute and a "hey, mind your own f***ing business" back. My first thought is to go over and slap the ???? out of the little turds, but then I remember that these days that will land you in jail. So I do the next best thing and call the cops and tell them that there are 2 kids with paintball guns in the park. In less then 5 minutes my street is all over cops. The cars are lined up and the officers are behind their cars with guns drawn. One guy gets on the loud speaker and orders them to put the guns on the ground and then lay down on the ground. The kids are laughing and think this is a joke. Then it sinks in. One kid puts his gun on the ground and lays down the other kid is still mouthing off and walking forward with the gun still in his hand. The guy on the loud speaker keeps repeating the same commands, but with increasing intensity. Finally the other kid gets it and complies. All the cops come running up on them and the kids get cuffed. There is some brief discussion which I cannot hear and the kids are placed in squad cars. As they drive away I am smoking my cigar and the 2 kids are bawling their eyes out. If they had just cut the crap in the first place it all could have been avoided. Hate to sound like an old guy, but when I was a kid if I had talked to an adult that way I would have gotten smacked by the adult and then by my father when he found out (and he would have found out). Afterwards I felt a little bad that I had called the cops and the whole thing escalated, but then I thought a minute and realized that I did not feel all that bad.

 

[Penforhire]

This may belong in S&T but it sounds like you did the exact right thing. No way it would work out if you continued to confront them personally. And they could have seriously injured someone else in the park. Gotta love the poilice draw-guns response. I mean, it must have been obvious these were paintball markers

 

[TrapperReady]

Now that the weather is getting better, I'm just waiting for something like this to happen. About a half block away there's a family with a couple Jr high aged kids. They're not really bad... but they can be lippy and disrespectful. They've had a couple run-ins with some of the nearby parents, and unfortunately, their folks haven't done jack to discipline them.

Anyway... the other day I drove past and saw them running around in their yard with a couple paintball guns. I figure it'll take about a month of warm weather before they get into trouble with them.

 

[mtnbkr]

Afterwards I felt a little bad that I had called the cops and the whole thing escalated, but then I thought a minute and realized that I did not feel all that bad.

Don't feel bad. Paintballs hurt and can even do damage. They had an opportunity to stop when you yelled at them.

Chris

 

[flatrock]

Calling the cops was the right thing to do.

It sounds like the cops dramatically overreacted, but maybe that will have the effect of scarring some sense in to the idiot teens. I doubt it, but you can hope.

I do think the world was a better place when an adult could go over and forcibly remove the paintball guns from their possession, and tell them to have their parents stop by to pick them up.

There was a time where you could count on the parents to show up, appologize profusely, and make sure their kids didn't do it again.

THese days the parents would sue you for interferring with how they are bringing up their children.

 

[Red_SC]

You did right. In college, I knew of a guy who got hit in the eye with a paintball from the old low-power markers. Put him flat on his back for weeks, unable to move because he might rip out something they'd fixed during surgery. Not fun. They are fun toys, but proper safety equipment is critical.

 

[mtnbkr]

Gotta love the poilice draw-guns response

It was a bit extreme, but notice how it still took time to get the one kid to comply. Think he would've listened to a single beat cop? Also, a well placed paintball can take out an eye, or at least temporarily blind someone. I wouldn't call it life threatening, but it wasn't risk free either.

Chris

 

[Andrew Rothman]

I would have called the cops before and instead of yelling at them.

Shooting at little kids? That's low. You can lose an eye or an eardrum to to a paintball pellet. There's a reason that serious paintball players wear all that protective gear.

I'm glad the cops scared the wits out of the little punks.

 

[Amadeus]

That'll learn 'em!

Brats need to learn respect for their elders and take responsibility for their actions so they don't grow up to be whiny indignant liberals.

 

[Andrew Rothman]

I do think the world was a better place when an adult could go over and forcibly remove the paintball guns from their possession, and tell them to have their parents stop by to pick them up.

My wife told me after the fact that a couple of teenage kids were running through neighborhoods yards, past younger kids, shooting each other with Airsoft guns.

Had I been there, I would have taken the guns and handed the kids my card, telling them that their parents could come pick up the guns.

Shooting paintballs or pellets on public property, or others' property, or even near one of the above, is typically illegal within city limits.

Taking away the guns, while technically illegal, falls under the legal doctrine of "lesser harm," and handing over the card further shows that it is not intended as theft.

Hillary was right (hey -- even a stopped clock is right twice a day!) -- sometimes "It takes a village to raise a child."

Or at least to smack some sense into their parents.

 

[Eskimo Jim]

Goose,
You did the right thing. The 12-14 year olds weren't using the paint ball guns properly. They were committing assault and battery to the other kids and the pre-teens were acting in a dangerous manner. When my nephews play paint ball, they have masks, goggles and helmets on for protection. I bet the kids on the swings didn't have the protective gear on and I bet they didn't want to get shot at with the paint ball guns.

If parents don't want to properly discipline their kids, then the state will step in and the consequences could be worse than a spanking/grounding from parents.

-Jim

 

[Standing Wolf]

I'd have called the police. Today's young hooligans are tomorrow's leftist extremists.

 

[Chipperman]

You definitely did the right thing. I hope the Cops seriously scared the crap out of those punks. I'll bet they let them sit in a holding cell for a couple of hours before they even called the parents.

Did the Police take any statements from the Victims? There could be a lawsuit if any of the kids had big bruises.

 

[XLMiguel]

Ya did fine, calling the cops was the right thing to do. Cops' response was only a little (meybe 5%) over the top (one never knows what's in them paintballs, eh?)

[Punisher Fantasy/on]
Ferget the cops. Go over with large friend or two and disarm the little twerps and then pepper them point blank with their own guns. Then snatch 'em up & go see parents and explain that said twerps were shooting little kids in the park.

If parents are agast and upset with twerp behavior and in mode to punish same, turn 'em over to the 'rents. EOJ

If 'rents catch an attitude, pepper them point blank until they're on the ground, then smash guns and make it very clear that if they don't control their brats, 'it'll be taken care over by someone who can'
[Punisher Fantasy/off]

Some say a have a big of a mean streak when annoyed . . . but I can dream, eh?

 

[killermarmot]

that's like the kid we have living up the street a ways he's been under house arrest for robbing local houses, dealing drugs in the middle of the day right out in plain sight and no one will do anything and the police told us to get video tape of the drug deals. I keep the shotgun loaded when those brats are around

 

[Penforhire]

You know, my Punisher fantasy on this situation was, "hmm, do I know any burly 13 year olds who could go beat some sense into 'em?"

 

[MaterDei]

There was a time where you could count on the parents to show up, appologize profusely, and make sure their kids didn't do it again. These days the parents would sue you for interferring with how they are bringing up their children.

There are still parents that would behave properly. Thing is, their kids generally don't act like these little twerps.

If one of my kids had been involved you would not have seen me apologizing profusely but you sure as heck would have seen them apologizing profusely while I was standing at the curb supervising. You would also have noticed that the kid would be walking funny and wearing loose fitting pants.

 

[Logan5]

Actually, lots of paintball organizations offer rewards for doing exactly what you did here. For example:

http://www.lofpb.com/Htms/PAINTBALL VANDALISM.htm

Googling for "paintball vandalism reward" it seems to be between $200 and $500, possibly more.

Idiots like that make life a lot harder for responsible people to have any hobbies at all, left to their own devices they'll eventually get everything from woodworking to model trains banned or restricted. Thanks for getting them stopped.

 

[greyhound]

but notice how it still took time to get the one kid to comply.

What the hell is it with kids these days?

When I was 12 or 14 the thought of lipping off at the cops would be the farthest thing from my mind.

Personally, I think the "rap culture" that almost all kids buy into has a lot (but not everything!) to do with it, i.e "being hard", "not giving a ****", etc.

But lots of other things play into it, too.

 

[spacemanspiff]

hypothetical question for everyone regarding the use of bb/airsoft/pellet/paintball guns in your neighborhood.....

suppose you looked out your window and saw me in my back yard with my pump pellet rifle, shooting into a trap. would you ask me to stop? i would if it made anyone nervous, and i know that its 'illegal' to discharge even an air rifle within city limits, but if i'm just in my own yard doing what i do in a safe manner, would you have any problem with that?

cause plinking with a pellet gun is fun! using metal light poles as targets is also fun.

lemme tell ya a little story. last summer i was housesitting for my boss, and i brought my pellet gun with me cause he usualy has a trap set up in his garage. well he didnt so i had to 'improvise'.

i opened up the window and could see up and down the street for cars. i'm taking shots at a light pole about 30 yards away, hearing that satisfying 'ting!', when i see two people walking down the street. i completely spaced out that people might be walking down the street instead of driving. course, i could see them far off enough, but they too heard the 'ting!' and saw what i was doing. well immediately i stopped and decided i didnt want to be nowhere near the area should they call the non-emergency police number to report some yahoo shooting pellets.

so i leave and came back a few hours later, started watching tv. i go to the kitchen to get a soda and i see across the street a police cruiser, just sitting there. i'm thinking 'Whoa! oh man i hope this is only a simple misdemeanor!'
the cruiser eventually drives down the street, and i breath a sigh of relief. then he comes back and parks in the same place. now i'm back to feeling guilty and nervous, and i see TWO more cruisers pull up! they get out and start talking, then all three officers start walking towards the house i'm in!
now i'm in a state of panic, wondering why they need 3 officers to respond to a simple guy plinking with a pellet gun.


turns out they were going next door to the neighbor that has family that are gangbangers and police regularly stop by to see if one of their family members has been around.
moral of the story is: DON'T BE WRECKLESS WITH EVEN SIMPLE AIR RILFES!

 

[Greg L]

When I was 12 or 14 the thought of lipping off at the cops would be the farthest thing from my mind.

Especially mouthing off to cops who have their guns pointed at you .

 

[Atticus]

I think you showed a lot of restraint...and calling the cops is about the only thing you can do these days...if there are witnesses.

 

[hksw]

You did alright.

Always good to prune them when they're young so they don't grow in the wrong direction.

I'm sorry to say, though, that if they were shooting at my nieces and nephew, I think I would have ran them down, rough them up a little (no punches), and brak their paintball guns before calling the police. You had shown considerably more resraint them I would have.

 

[fslflint]

thats good that you called the cops. I have been an avid paintball player for a long time. I have couple of nice fields st up on the land that we own that has woods and such. before we load the guns (we have about 20 of them and teach people to play) I give them all a safety lecture. it sounds allot like the lecture that I give to people I take shooting for the first time. safety is very important. it really sucks that these kids had to learn the hard way, better that they learn though. I would have called the cops just the same way that you did. these are the kind of kids that give my sport a bad name.

 

[Tierhog]

The police response was probably because when the radio call went out the only words heard were "Kids, Guns, Park"