So GZ was going to the store. Not acting in NW Captain capacity. No reason not to have his permitted concealed-carry gun of choice with him.
He did not self-identify as part of or Captain of the NW in his call to the non-emergency number (and now I have to go back and see if we can discover whether he usually did or did not self-identify in his previous calls). But so be it. He's a citizen who cares about his neighborhood, who's going to the store and notices a potential suspicious person and calls it in to the non-emergency line.
For me, this is where the line blurs. Clearly he chose to do much more than watch and report; he left his vehicle and tracked and followed.
Now--for a non-NW-member citizen, IMO this decision could be written off as foolhardy bravado on the part of someone who just didn't understand that it's better to wait for LE.
But for someone who apparently started the NW program in that small community and was an alert and attentive Captain of that program (as evidenced by prior suspicious activity calls and his interactions with his neighbors)... IMO, for that person to leave their vehicle with their weapon, despite the dispatcher saying "OK we don't need you to do that" (and remember that GZ did not self-identify as a NW Captain on the call nor did he or was he required to reveal that he was armed, so the dispatcher had limited info upon which to base how strong his "we don't need you to do that" message was)...
It seems to me that
- GZ was not "on NW patrol" when he called the non-emerg # that night & was acting in his capacity as a private citizen (failure to self-identify as NW)
- Although acting in his capacity as a private citizen, GZ had knowledge of NW procedures that a non-NW resident might not have had (report, don't intervene)
- Despite acting as a private citizen, GZ chose to violate rules about NW that he surely knew; he followed someone he thought was suspicious, and had his weapon on him. He started the NW program. He knew the recommended courses of action.
I guess I really want to know what was going on in GZ's mind that night, and prior... Did he ever not see himself as Neighborhood Watch Captain when he drove around the complex? Was he ever "off-duty"? Did he expect to make a quick trip to the store and then got himself involved in a situation where he switched from regular resident reporting suspicious activity into NWC tracking down a "suspicious" figure?
Too many questions without answers yet, I know. :sigh:
