Officer Clark in Response to 7-11 Posting

First of all, you should not feel badly, it is not an easy thing to do when you
point your finger at someone and accuse them of committing an crime.

In a situation as you described, you, as the individual have to weigh the risk
against the reward.  What are you risking when you have a thief inches away from
you filling their pockets?  This thief is in your personal space, you don't
know anything about this person or their capabilities and you could subject
yourself to a physical attack.  But your reward is having the thief caught
and/or punished for their thievery.

In an uncomfortable situation such as this, you could finish your purchase,
walk to the magazine rack and browse.  When the thief and their buddies have
left the store, immediately approach the Clerk and tell them what you witnessed.
Most stores should be wired for video and the images should be easily
retrieved.  The Clerk can choose to call Police or eat the loss.  If you wish to
be a witness, that may need to testify in court, leave your first name and
preferably a cell phone number with the Clerk in the event a Police Officer
needs a statement from you.  Odds are, with this type of crime, the Officer can
make due with the video tape / CD in order to convict the thief.

As far as the students sitting and spitting on your lawn, this too is an
uncomfortable invasion of your personal space.  You can call the Police and ask
that the Officers move the teens along.  But, this is a low priority call for
Police response and a high priority for you, the homeowner.  With a call like
this, it will take a minimum of an hour for a Patrol Officer to get, and you
will be driving yourself crazy looking at the kids and waiting for the Police.

If this happens at a relatively routine time I would look for other ways of
dealing with it.  One way could be to have your lawn sprinklers operating at the
time school is letting out and maybe this will dissuade the disrespectful
students from using your yard as a lounge.  If the students become assaultive,
you have a right to protect yourself, just be reasonable when doing so.  And, as
soon as you can, call "911" and tell the Dispatcher that you have
violent or assaultive trespassers on your property.

If you wish to e-mail me directly with your address, I would be happy to pass
this information on to our School Resource Officers (while we still have a
couple) and the Beat Officer to provide you with some extra Patrol when time
permits.

Brett Clark #436, Sergeant
Community Liaison
Vallejo Police Department
2 Florida Street
Vallejo, CA 94590
Office (707) 553.7218
FAX   (707) 649-3519
E-mail BClark@ci.vallejo.ca.us