Being a good witness

[unforgiven]

Yesterday a skinny young black man came knocking hard and ringing the dorrbell to the house.Looked out the peephole I saw this person,went and grabbed my pistol and asked him thru the screen what he wanted.He tried to get my name and on the third time I said "what the fornicate do you want" he ran off down the block.I called the po-po but could only remember all the exact details he was short,skinny,with a white shirt.They were gonna dispatch a car.He ran north on my street.Called back was told other neighbors also called in.He came back by the house going south then I took a better look and saw he was also wearing kakhi pant black dress shoes and some sort of I.D. clipped on.Then I saw a new Mercedes with a caucation women behind the wheel going down the block slow with papers in hand on sterring wheel seem like she was bird dogging for this kid yet I didn't get the plate.Officer stopped I pointed to the direction he was going anther officer intercepted the kid.Told the officer I grabbed my pistol and asked the kid what he wanted and the kid bolted,officer laughed and said good "I'm all for the 2nd ammendment".Women next door said this guy had been knocking on doors for about 4hrs. earlier and was a little shaken.Bottom line was I didn't have ALL the imformation I should have.The who,what,where,when with better discriptions.I blew it things happened quickly as I'm sure the L.E.O. here have heard countless times before.Being a good witness is as important as being able to shoot.I blew it but will be more prepared next time.Rene

[Robocop1051]

LE survival tip: Don't believe anything you hear, and only half of what you see. Trust no one. Have a plan to kill everyone you meet.

99.9% of the time you will not be an active participant in a situation. Your ability to be a good witness is based on your conscious recognition that you are in a position of safety/advantage. It's very easy for our minds to swarm with ideas and plans for the "what if's". As those thoughts build up, they block out things like simple observations. I can't tell you how often I get a call about a "man".

What did he look like? What was he wearing? "I don't remember"

What race was he? "I don't remember"

Which direction did he go? "I have no idea"

Thanks sir/ma'am I'll be sure to be on the lookout for a "man"... Btw, you're an idiot.

Rene, you did better than most. Your recognition on the need for improvement is on all of us. I'm not exempt either. Thanks for this post.