Neighborhood Watch:
Let’s Partner with Law Enforcement: Let’s Be Vigilant: Let’s Legislate!
By: Shelly Ray
Date: 07/15/13
Over the weekend, the nation watched and listened as the “Not Guilty” verdict was read for second degree murder and manslaughter charges in the case of George Zimmerman. Mr. Zimmerman is the 29 year old neighborhood watchman man and man who fired the fatal shot of 17 year old Trayvon Martin on the evening of February 26, 2012 in Sanford, Florida. The subject I will bring before you is that of a personal interest, for I live in a gated community that has a neighborhood watch program.
This case has captured the nation’s attention and has shined a spotlight in many areas of interest ranging from self defense to
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Last and certainly not least I respect and abide by the laws of our country. If each municipal local governing agency would pass legislation to ensure the safety of neighborhoods, communities, civilians, law enforcement and government officials under due proper guidelines, all will have knowledge of what can and can not be done as a neighborhood watch person. The National Institute of Justice prepared a report to the United States Congress entitled “Preventing Crime: What Works; What Doesn’t; What’s Promising.” The primary conclusion of the report found that in part enacting programs in different local communities sometimes work, sometimes don’t work in curving crime and in monitoring the effectiveness of community organizations and neighborhood watch programs. The report dug into the monies spent for federally to be used in local communities. In 1996, $1.4 billion was used in funding of local police by the Office for Community-Oriented Policing Services (COPS), and $1.8 billion in local crime prevention assistance funding of a wide range of institutions by the Office for Justice Programs (OJP). Although funding is still being received and legislation being enacted, it is primarily up to local communities to pass legislation that is in the best interest of all of the citizens in each respective community.
In Conclusion, our society has a fundamental principal that says “I am my brother’s keeper.” The Neighborhood Watch program
M-The case of Trayvon Martin vs. George Zimmerman. This was a case where a 17 year old African American, male was shot and killed within 70 yards of the home in which he was residing in at the time, located at Retreat at Twin Lakes Gated Community in Sanford, Florida, by George Zimmerman. George Zimmerman was a 28 year-old Hispanic male, who was a neighborhood watchman for the Retreat at Twin Lakes Gated Community in Sanford, Florida.
officers was on their way and told Zimmerman not to follow the allegedly suspicious person, but
Trayvon Martin lost his life on Sunday February 26, 2012 due to a gunshot to his chest shot by George Zimmerman in Sanford, Florida while walking back home from buying an Arizona and skittles from 7-11 at 6:34 pm. George Zimmerman spotted Trayvon walking through his neighborhood and found him suspicious and decided to call the Sanford police at 7:09PM. When he called the police he told them he found him suspicious, “I’ve never seen him in the neighborhood. I know all the residents. It was raining out and he was leisurely walking, taking his time, looking at all the houses.” (Linder, 2014). Police were immediately sent to his location but suddenly Zimmerman stated that Tyron had begun to run away and Zimmerman began to go after him. The dispatcher told him not to go after him and instead to meet the officers, “The dispatcher suggested that Zimmerman meet the arriving officers near the mailboxes.” (Linder, 2014) and he agreed to. Zimmerman later stated that when he was walking back to his car Tyron came at him asking what his problem was and he replied back saying he had no problem and Tyron then punched him in the nose after stating he had a problem now. The punch was what knocked him to the grass and Trayvon continued to punch him while Zimmerman kept screaming for help, “I started screaming for help. I couldn’t see. I couldn’t breathe.” (Linder, 2014). Tyron had been talking on the phone with a friend, Rachel Jeantel,
On February 26, 2012 an unarmed black man is shot and killed by a neighborhood watch captain. Trayvon Martin, 18 and unarmed, was strolling through a neighborhood when he was then approached by George Zimmerman, an armed neighborhood watch captain. Not all of the details are clear, but it is known the two had a physical altercation. Suddenly, Martin gets shot and dies. Zimmerman claims he shot him for self defense.
On February 26,2012, a 17 year old Trayvon Martin was shot and killed. He was killed at 7:16 PM at the Twin Lakes, in Sanford Florida, while Trayvon Martin was returning from a local store, where he bought an Arizona ice tea, and skittles. A 28 year old hispanic man name George Zimmerman spotted Trayvon Martin, who he thought acted suspiciously. Moments later, there were an altercation between the two individuals, which resulted in Trayon being shot. The most important question is, why was Trayvon Martin killed? This is an unjustified murder. This murder is unjustified because, Trayvon Martin was ttrying to defend himself, Zimmerman was watching the neighbor hood and spotted Trayvon, who he thought arousing suspicion, and Zimmerman thought he had to shoot Trayvon. Zimmerman was false for shooting him.
This paper will be covering the controversial case of the shooting of Trayvon Martin at the hands of George Zimmerman. This was a polarizing trial for it pitted gun rights activists against gun-control activists and people who were generally against the new gun rhetoric that is in Florida. George Zimmerman was the neighborhood watch for the gated community and would always do his job diligently. However, one night he witnessed someone in a grey hoodie walking on the sidewalk wearing a hoodie. Zimmerman thought this person was suspicious and continued to follow him. After Zimmerman called in that he was following this individual, he was told not to leave his vehicle. Instead, he followed the person into who knows where and the rest of the story is up for debate. The defense team stated that Trayvon had jumped out of the bushes and begun to attack Zimmerman violently to the point where he felt that his life was in danger. The prosecution believed that Zimmerman had initiated a fight with Trayvon and he was at the mercy of Zimmerman at gunpoint for a significant amount of time.
Even after two years passing, Trayvon Martin’s murder still escalates throughout the world. Trayvon Martin was shot and killed February 26, 2012 by George Zimmerman. Zimmerman was the neighborhood-watch and said he thought Trayvon looked suspicious as he returned home from the store. He called the police to report his findings but disobeyed protocol given by the dispatcher. Zimmerman was told to wait for police to arrive and not to pursue Martin. The actions of Zimmerman and Martin remain unknown after ending the call. Police arrived to the scene of Trayvon Martin shot and killed with a bullet wound to the chest. In Zimmerman’s trial he was found not guilty to the murder of this innocent seventeen year old boy, Trayvon Martin. He claimed he reacted in self defense. George Zimmerman did not deserve a ‘not guilty’ sentence because of his assumptions without proof, poor judgment, and stand your ground law.
Trayvon Martin was in the wrong place at the wrong time. On the night of February 26, 2012, in Sanford, Florida, United States, George Zimmerman fatally shot Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old African American high school student. Walking back from a 7-Eleven to the Sanford, Florida townhouse of his father's fiancée on a dark and rainy February evening in 2012. He was carrying a bag of Skittles and an Arizona watermelon juice cooler as he headed along a sidewalk in the Retreat at Twin Lakes townhouse community in Sanford. George Zimmerman, a 28-year-old mixed-race Hispanic man and a neighborhood watch captain in Sanford, Florida, calls 911 to report "a suspicious person" in the neighborhood. He was instructed not to get out of his SUV or approach
This case gave me an insight on things I never expected to be true I never knew a person could get away with murder/manslaughter. This case was greatly affected by race. George Zimmerman saw a young black man going home and for some reason thought he was a threat he probably sterotyped Trayvon, the moment he saw him. There was no reason to pull a gun Zimmerman was much bigger than Trayvon if there was a scuffle. Also since Zimmerman was never charged he has gone on to hurt other people such. George Zimmerman has anger issues and should have had more extensive screening. This has been proven by the following incidents:
leading up to the death of Trayvon Martin and questions if George Zimmerman was indeed guilty of second degree manslaughter. His lawyer, Mark O 'Mara, believes that the reason why this case had gone to court was due to Martin being black and Zimmerman being white. This leads us to question the reason why Martin was shot in the first place. According to O 'Mara, “George Zimmerman was never guilty of anything except firing the gun in self-defense.” Serving on the local neighborhood watch, Zimmerman felt it was his responsibility to protect his neighborhood from crime. The night of the incident, he called in the suspicion to the local authorities who did not authorize him to persue Martin. The events following his disreguard to this request are of debate, but the cuts found on Zimmerman 's head are proof that there was a struggle between the two; according to testimony Zimmerman claims that he was attacked by Martin who then bashed his head into the sidewalk. The lethal wound received by Martin was also considered in the verdict due to it being at an angle only capable if Martin had been leaning over Zimmerman. Although many speculate that that racial profiling was a key component of this investigation, the jury sided with Mr. Zimmerman and after being on trial for 16 months, he was released from custody following the hearing.
George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watchman, shot and killed 17 year old Trayvon Marin in Sampson, Florida on March 25th, 2012.In the police report, Zimmerman claimed to have followed Martin out of the convenience store because he looked suspicious and that is when the altercation between the two began. Some words were shared between the two that led Zimmerman to step out of his car despite the police’s order to remain inside the vehicle. Zimmerman also told police that Trayvon knocked him down when he punched him in the nose and repeatedly slammed his head on the ground and that he had only reached for his gun because he feared for his life. The incident ended when 13 year old Austin Brown saw Zimmerman lying in the grass moaning and crying for help. Police soon arrived after a 911 call about hearing gunshots in the distance from another neighbor (Gutman, 2012). Fine details from that eventful night that would later be used in the investigation and trial are still left unanswered.
On the night of his death, February 26, 2012, Trayvon Martin was in Sanford, Florida on a visit to his father's fiancee and her son at The Retreat at Twin Lakes. As Zimmerman noticed him he called the police non-emergency number to report a suspicious person in community, describing Martin as a very suspicious guy reporting that he had his hand in waistband and was walking around looking at homes. Also, Zimmerman is quoted saying that “he is just walking around looking about in the rain”, and “This guy looks like he is up to no good or he is on drugs or something”(Wikipedia). Although the way he described him led to think of what view Zimmerman had of innocent, unarmed Trayvon who seemed like any other teenager walking about on the way
Trayvon Martin was a 17-year-old boy that lived in Florida. He lived with his mother and often visited his father. While he had undergone some troubles, he overall was not a terrible kid. Although he was notably young and minded his own business, others did not. On February 26, 2012, the young boy’s life was taken away from him. The man who killed him was George Michael Zimmerman. He served as a neighborhood watch captain around the area where his old man lived. CNN stated that all he had was skittles and tea in his hand. Now tell me does that seem threatening to you? According to Zimmerman, he was claiming “self-defense” and that Trayvon was “a suspicious person.” Florida law states that one is granted the “stand your ground” law and that is what Zimmerman claimed to do in an act of defense. Zimmerman was arrested, but he was not charged or convicted of Martin’s murder even though people know that Zimmerman killed him for absolutely no actual cause.
Trayvon Benjamin Martin was a 17 year old African American from Miami Gardens, Florida. He was badly shot by George Zimmerman; a neighborhood watch volunteer in Sanford, Florida. Zimmerman called 911 to report that there was “suspicious person” walking through the neighborhood. He was told to not do anything, but he did anyway. As he approached Martin, he attacked him and shot him straight to the heart. According to CNN, “Zimmerman acknowledges that he shot Martin, claiming it was in self-defense.” (“Trayvon Martin Shooting Fast Facts”). When the case was taken to court George Zimmerman was found not guilty even after he
The State of Florida v. George Zimmerman was a criminal prosecution of George Zimmerman on the charge of second-degree murder stemming from the shooting of Trayvon Martin on February 26, 2012. This case has been regarded as one of the most controversial in a long time, sparking riots and new movements along with an opening of greater conversations about this country’s gun laws, legal system and racial profiling.