Scott Yamanashi could have died on his 38th birthday. But he survived being shot during his party at a Plaza Midwood bar. Now he's starting an armed patrol and stirring conflict in the community he aims to protect.

The patrol, called Neighborhood Watch Alliance, is comprised of some of Yamanashi's friends from businesses off Central Avenue. The group is still organizing, he said. But the plan is to patrol the area with handguns, flashlights and notepads.

“We can lurk in the shadows, watch people and report what we see,” he said. “That's not against the law.”

But the idea has alarmed some residents and concerns police.

“I'm glad that they're getting involved,” Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Sgt. Tonya Arrington said. “There's just some concern any time weapons are involved.”

Source: Charlotte Observer

Hat Tip: Jeff Taylor of The Meck Deck

Commentary

This is a good thing. Neighbors need to get together and protect their property and their lives, especially when law enforcement is at best minutes away when something bad goes down. The two robberies I foiled would not have been had I not been armed and trained to handle my weapon...if I had not been armed, I would have been merely a witness, or worse yet, a victim.