Officer asks for License for my Firearm in my Home

[Stoveman]

That's got to be the best security camera footage I have ever seen. Damn shame that probably nothing will happen.

 

[gruntz03]

Going back to the issue of the license, I'm no cop, but I imagine he just threw out a question about the pistol to see your reaction.

 

[zoostation]

A [xxxxx] breaking into a car???? I'm shocked!

Two months. Next time it's for good.

 

[j_h_smith]

In theory that sounds good, but I didn't lock my truck for the same reason and twice had the window broken and the papers inside rummaged through and trashed. The idiots were too stupid to check the door to see if it was locked.

I lived in Baltimore County for 28 years and never locked my car doors. In fact, we very rarely locked our front door and the back door was never locked in all that time.

I guess it depends on your neighborhood and the reputation you have in that neighborhood.

Remember to keep your friends close and your enemies even closer. I took in a local hoodlum as a friend. Helped him with a few things in his life. He sent out the message to never mess with his friend's (me) stuff.

That worked the entire time I lived there.

 

[DC-W]

Very nice cameras, op. Glad your layers of defense all worked and it was only the dog and alarms making the noise.

 

[Mr H]

Two months. Next time it's for good.

Your avatar change is strangely appropriate.....

 

[moojersey]

good grief ....

 

[PJDiesel]

Two months. Next time it's for good.

Ew man. I had a feeling earlier that wasn't gonna fly.........

 

[honda53s]

BTW - if anybody knows this guy, please PM me the information. He didn't take anything from my car since he was scared away by the alarm but he and his accomplice seem to have hit several other vehicles on the street (Montebello Terrace between Harford Road and Cold Spring lane)

Lol, This doesn't happen on a weekly basis with you living there?

 

[PO2012]

To the OP,

Unfortunately, you live in Northeast Baltimore. It's a fairly decent area but as far as Police districts go it is a City unto itself with over 100,000 residents. At any one time you'll be lucky to have 14 Officers on patrol. On midnight shift you probably have 6-9 Officers. Northeast District usually has between 20 and 50 calls for service at any given time. At one time Northeast District was a country club district - not anymore. No one in their right mind wants to be assigned to Northeast today. BPD is at least 500 sworn personnel short at this point. By this time next year, that shortage will probably exceed 1000. Hour long wait times are now commonplace for calls for service which do not involve in-progress violence and those wait times are only going to increase.

I would advise anyone who lives in Baltimore City to get steel or solid core wood doors, high security deadbolts, to bar or laminate their first floor and basement windows and to install quality security cameras as well as an alarm system. If you can legally own a firearm I would suggest that you get trained and purchase the most effective gun you can afford. Officers don't know the laws concerning handguns because the BPD Academy spends a very, very brief period of time talking about the statutes that relate to possession of firearms. Usually each district has a few enthusiasts on hand who field questions from other Officers as to what is and is not legal. No one wants to lock up an armed tax payer.

The gentleman caught on your surveillance footage has most likely been arrested before which means if he left even a single decent fingerprint a match will be made. At that point the primary Officer should contact you, show you a photograph of the subject and ask if he has ever been in your car legitimately or had permission to be in your car. If the answer is no you or the Officer will get a warrant for rogue and vagabond. Sadly, unless he's a notorious criminal he will likely receive guilty and a fine or a suspended sentence.

Good luck to you.

 

[fivepointstar]

If this occurred in Northern Harford County, we wouldn't have cared one bit. If you don't own a gun in Northern Harford County then I think theres something wrong with you.

 

[AntiGun]

To the OP,

Unfortunately, you live in Northeast Baltimore. It's a fairly decent area but as far as Police districts go it is a City unto itself with over 100,000 residents. At any one time you'll be lucky to have 14 Officers on patrol. On midnight shift you probably have 6-9 Officers. Northeast District usually has between 20 and 50 calls for service at any given time. At one time Northeast District was a country club district - not anymore. No one in their right mind wants to be assigned to Northeast today. BPD is at least 500 sworn personnel short at this point. By this time next year, that shortage will probably exceed 1000. Hour long wait times are now commonplace for calls for service which do not involve in-progress violence and those wait times are only going to increase.

I would advise anyone who lives in Baltimore City to get steel or solid core wood doors, high security deadbolts, to bar or laminate their first floor and basement windows and to install quality security cameras as well as an alarm system. If you can legally own a firearm I would suggest that you get trained and purchase the most effective gun you can afford. Officers don't know the laws concerning handguns because the BPD Academy spends a very, very brief period of time talking about the statutes that relate to possession of firearms. Usually each district has a few enthusiasts on hand who field questions from other Officers as to what is and is not legal. No one wants to lock up an armed tax payer.

The gentleman caught on your surveillance footage has most likely been arrested before which means if he left even a single decent fingerprint a match will be made. At that point the primary Officer should contact you, show you a photograph of the subject and ask if he has ever been in your car legitimately or had permission to be in your car. If the answer is no you or the Officer will get a warrant for rogue and vagabond. Sadly, unless he's a notorious criminal he will likely receive guilty and a fine or a suspended sentence.

Good luck to you.

Your posts are full of great on the ground factual tips but I can't help but to feel disheartened by the reality you often bring to the circumstances.
You have my great respect for the work you do and the no nonsense guidance you've been giving on board.

 

[jaybee]

To the OP,

Unfortunately, you live in Northeast Baltimore. It's a fairly decent area but as far as Police districts go it is a City unto itself with over 100,000 residents. At any one time you'll be lucky to have 14 Officers on patrol. On midnight shift you probably have 6-9 Officers. Northeast District usually has between 20 and 50 calls for service at any given time. At one time Northeast District was a country club district - not anymore. No one in their right mind wants to be assigned to Northeast today. BPD is at least 500 sworn personnel short at this point. By this time next year, that shortage will probably exceed 1000. Hour long wait times are now commonplace for calls for service which do not involve in-progress violence and those wait times are only going to increase.

Good luck to you.

you're right -- 30 years ago it was the country club. young LEO didn't want to work there because there wasn't any action to build up their resumes so they could move on to bigger and better things.

I guess the current dividing line is say joppa road. used to be erdman , then moravia, then northern parkway, then the beltway and it goes on

know the area very well

 

[nedsurf]

So you are the one flying the Gadsden flag on your house. PM inbound.

 

[BigBull]

Here is a video of the event that I just put up on Youtube

I would be interested in the hardware and software that you are using to record your security footage. That is really good security footage and props to you for having it up and working when you needed it most.

 

[TheBert]

Or it will let this guy know you are targeting him and now he will target you again possibly. And now that he knows where your camera view is so he can plan appropriately.

Why should we live in fear of criminals?

 

[Fishguy]

Two months. Next time it's for good.

I had no idea and had to google it after reading this post. Thought it was a reference to Spaceballs.

I need to get out more.

 

[C_IAM]

We have had a rash of "larceny from vehicles" in our Lauraville neighborhood in Baltimore City over the past year and have been meeting with community groups and police to try to stop this. After having some things stolen from my car, I had a Viper alarm installed and have been less than happy with it since it has some quirks and is still being "fixed" by the installer.

I awoke at about 12:25am this morning to the sound of my car alarm going off. I got up and pulled my XDM from my bedside safe and let the dog (german shepherd) out into the back yard. He didn't immediately see anything and I went to investigate the car. I cautiously looked around the yard and circled the car and found the drivers side door was open but nothing appeared to be missing. I shut the door and re-armed the alarm and pulled the video camera feed while calling 911 (about 12:33am). I printed the attached snapshot and waited for the police. At 1:06am, I called 911 again. At about 1:20am an officer arrived in front of my house. I put my XDM on my coffee table and took the photos to meet him in my front yard.

I'm not stupid enough to go toward the officer with a gun in my hand while he is responding to a call and if I left my yard, there is a legal issue. He asked to come in and noticed that I had the XDM on my coffee table. He wasn't alarmed but asked if I had a "license" for it. This is an odd question considering it was inside my home and a "license" isn't required (HQL for purchase is now required and regulated firearm transfers are registered but this isn't the situation). I responded that it was legal and he let it go. I could have seen this going another way if he had not believed me.

It seems that officers should have a better grasp of gun laws given the frequency of issues that arise in Baltimore City. I'm not naming the officer since I believe that may not have received adequate training in this area and he was otherwise professional and handled the situation.

After he arrived, he did some paperwork and about half-way through, I realized that he was under the impression that my car was stolen. I clarified that the car was entered but not stolen and he said that the dispatch put it out as a stolen vehicle. He fixed the paperwork and got another officer to get fingerprints from the door since it appeared to be clear where the suspect touched the car.

Bottom line:
Calling 911 for Police in Baltimore takes about an hour and two calls for 911 to get an officer to the house for a "stolen vehicle" call. I would hope this would be faster if the call was for an imminent danger.

This reinforces that I am my own first line of defense in the city.

Read your post and was curious to know what brand camera and software you were using for your video surveillance? The quality is amazing, and I hope they get the shit bird. Good luck and stay safe

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[jkeys]

Post the photo on Reddit asking for help identifying the guy.

www.reddit.com/r/baltimore

 

[AntiGun]

Post the photo on Reddit asking for help identifying the guy.

www.reddit.com/r/baltimore

Knowing the type that often post there, they are likely to find the guy and give him a hug.