therealdeal said:
I agree, the police must investigate when receiving calls from the public.
WHY?
See my post #16 in this thread. Why is the "investigation" not carried out by the dispatchers? As Al Norris pointed out to Conn. Trooper, that which is not illegal is ... legal. If a state wants to make open carry UNlawful, they pass a law saying that open carry is UNlawful. If they want to allow open carry, they don't pass a law saying open carry IS lawful, they just DON'T pass a law saying it isn't lawful.
So, if open carry is legal (which it is in your state, Conn. Trooper), then why must a police officer be sent to "investigate" a call of a many with a gun? If the caller cannot enunciate some activity that's at least possibly illegal, why are we wasting police resources "investigating" lawful activities? And, further to the point, if an officer (or two or three or ten) is/are dispatched, once they verify that there is no illegal activity ... why are they harassing the person?
Conn. Trooper (and everyone), here is Connecticut's statute on "Creating a Public Disturbance":
Sec. 53a-181a. Creating a public disturbance: Infraction. (a) A person is guilty of creating a public disturbance when, with intent to cause inconvenience, annoyance or alarm, or recklessly creating a risk thereof, he (1) engages in fighting or in violent, tumultuous or threatening behavior; or (2) annoys or interferes with another person by offensive conduct; or (3) makes unreasonable noise.
How can exercising a lawful right by engaging in an action that is NOT unlawful fall under the purview of this statute? Note that before this statute can even come into play, the actor must have the
intention of disturbing or offending the public. It might (or might not?) be a stretch to apply this law in the case of an event organized specifically as an open carry rally, where the intent would be to draw people's attention to ... open carry.
Maybe it could be argued that this connotes an intention to upset people.
But ...one or two people sitting in a coffee shop, eating breakfast? Their intention is not to annoy or cause alarm, their intention is to exercise their Constitutional right to bear arms so they have a means of defense against assault.
Conn. Trooper, if THIS is the statute you guys are using against open carry, I hope your agency and any cities that follow your lead have deep pockets.