Alert RVing and Protestors

[Gizmo]

That is probably the best course of action. I will have to check my insurance policy because my business insurance states damage is done during a war, civil disturbance, or riots is NOT covered. I called around and that seems to be common in most policies.

 

[Buly]

And what you do when they slash your tires, than smoke start coming in? These days cops are not eager to rush into these mobs and help . It is a bad situation no matter which way you look at it.
God help you if you harm one of the looters. You will be going to the Big House pronto, or worse.....

 

[Neal]

my business insurance states damage is done during a war, civil disturbance, or riots is NOT covered

Well that's interesting and I have no idea what my policy states (National General). Best to avoid these areas even if having to add camping stops IMHO.

 

[Neal]

And what you do when they slash your tires, than smoke start coming in? These days cops are not eager to rush into these mobs and help . It is a bad situation no matter which way you look at it.
God help you if you harm one of the looters. You will be going to the Big House pronto, or worse.....

Camping in the Big House is not desired

 

[TJ&LadyDi]

Camping in the Big House is not desired

"Camping in the Big House" or a long-term stay in the cemetery is kind of a coin flip, isn't it? Avoidance of potential demonstration locations is certainly a wise choice.

TJ

 

[FL-JOE]

There can be no good come from a political discussion on this forum. However, I do believe it is possible to post opinions/observations of these current national events in a civil and nonpartisan fashion. We all come from different backgrounds, different careers, and have had different life experiences.

I observed two things on National news yesterday that should have each and every American concerned about the future of this country. I won't even go into the third thing that brought me out of my chair (this nation's most notorious uncharged traitor Jane Fonda's statement)

First off, in recent days the BLM (Black Lives Matter) group has started a campaign to "defund" police agencies. This began with them simply painting it on some of their signs and yelling about it during the protests. It immediately caught on and yesterday the Mayor of LA went in front of the cameras and said he was asking to shift millions of dollars away from their police budget to other programs. Officials in NY have followed suit.

To keep this in prospective you have to roll back to 2014 and go to Ferguson Missouri. Michael Brown was gunned down in the middle of the street and all the major news agencies were there. Everyone immediately jumped to the conclusion that this poor unarmed "kid" was gunned down while having his hands raised in the air. Our president at the time even jumped to that conclusion within hours and made inflammatory statements. The riots began and Ferguson burned and was looted. It turns out that Officer Darren Wilson was almost killed by Brown while still seated in his squad car (he choked the officer and tried to grab his gun). After Officer Wilson broke free Brown took off and was pursued. When confronted on the street Brown bum rushed Wilson in an attempt to overpower him and that was when the officer shot Brown multiple times to stop the assault. A State Prosecutor tired to indict but was unable to get a Grand Jury to go along with any charges on the Officer. Even after that the current administration sent in a stacked federal team to get Officer Wilson charged with civil rights violations and were unable to pull that off. In other words, Officer Wilson was defending himself and the shooting was justified. This was when BLM was organized, as the result of a justified police shooting.

I really am not interested in conspiracy theories about the group ANTIFA. Maybe they will turn out to be true maybe not. Maybe investigators will find out there are some interesting folks out there giving them hundreds of thousands of dollars and maybe they won't.

What common sense tells me, and should tell everyone, is that if current undermanned big city police departments are downsized, or in some cases dismantled, those cities will become war zones. It may not happen overnight but within a year or two most of the law abiding citizens of the larger metro areas will attempt to migrate to other parts of the country. The cities will be left to the gangs and thugs to rule completely. Make no mistake, just because you don't own property in NY, LA, or some other large metro area doesn't mean this won't effect you. The millions of folks who have to flee these lawless gang controlled cities have to go someplace and your city of 100,000 will be the perfect place.

In 2016 and 2017 Chicago had two of their worse years for homicides. There were 248 and 244 killed each of those years. They began driving those numbers down and in 2019 the city bragged about only having 192 murdered. They got the numbers down by hiring over 1,000 new cops in a 2 year period and paying more attention to community based policy strategies. They also spent some needed money on cameras and gunshot detection systems in the city. They understood that the vast majority of these homicide victims were young black males and they also understood how to slow the slaughter down.

I don't think Chicago will be one of the major cities willing to cut their police budget anytime soon.

Anyway, sorry for the long rant. My main point is there is a real threat currently out there. I am taking more and more precautions as it pertains to coach/home defense. We will not be traveling anytime soon by coach, car, or motorcycle. I hope everyone stays safe and stays alert for changing conditions.

 

[CoreyinWP]

What is scary is that it isn't just a movement or fringe group calling for this....now you have major city mayors, council people, HRC campaign spokesman and former DOJ spokesman Brian Fallon calling for defunding.

Amazing times we are living in....I just want to go RVing!

 

[Neal]

I have no issues with these types of discussions and appreciate your post @FL-JOE. Let me put in perspective on how to judge what's allowed on this forum and not. As you all know, I'm not into heavy handed moderation, I am into RVers communicating with one another, we are family here by proxy (RV). Think about what we may chat about sitting at a campfire. We would discuss this type of thing but we would not go down a path of discussions that may offend someone's point of view such as their political affiliation and beliefs, religious beliefs, etc. If you're going to try to sell your position or counter another persons position and belief then that is your threshold of what's wrong vs. acceptable to discuss. Notice in the forum rules I do NOT have restrictions on gun talk either. Obviously no threats but it's okay to discuss self-defense and how guns integrate into your RV lifestyle whether for sport or defense. I just wanted to clarify this in case anyone feels this thread is going somewhere it shouldn't. This is RVForums.com where I welcome RVers to openly discuss matters in a respectful and productive manner.

For those that haven't seen this video I recommend it. I do realize this person has political affiliations as we all do, but I think this video is objective and worth watching all 18 minutes of.



Here are the rules from the Terms section of this site to reinforce what I wrote above:

RVForums.com Rules:

1. The language of this forum is English
2. No nudity or sexually explicit content of any type
3. No politics
4. No religion, racism, sex/gender
5. No hate, harassment, or bullying
6. Be respectful
7. HAVE FUN
8. SHARE THE RV LIFESTYLE

 

[CoreyinWP]

yup...that video is making the rounds!

 

[Neal]

What is scary is that it isn't just a movement or fringe group calling for this....now you have major city mayors, council people, HRC campaign spokesman and former DOJ spokesman Brian Fallon calling for defunding.

Amazing times we are living in....I just want to go RVing!

I think common sense will prevail. Be cautious with your exposure to news and social media and yes, let's all get in our RV's and enjoy the very wise decision we made to enjoy this lifestyle "disconnected" from these things. I feel for the children growing up such as not being able to have a graduation and now living in fear. Most of us have not experienced war on our soil, I think what we are seeing now is war on our soil. I think the pandemic "may" have been bio warfare, we will never know, and now this rioting situation again. We are changing our plans as a result of this situation, for some of us, that means this is a battlefield we are avoiding. My $.02.

 

[Neal]

I do not understand the rationale of defunding police when we need protection and this is the one thing I think our country is way short on (law & order). To see people climbing statues here in VA and not having no worry of the police arresting them is disgusting and despicable. To be able to riot and loot without worry of getting caught is another sick thing we are all witnessing. The reality is like many other things it's out of our control, there is nothing we can do about it. As I alluded above I had wondered when the good cops (civilians) would step in to counter the bad (rioters). At some point the population needs to be the barrier if the police and/or military cannot do it. Again, this is something we can't do anything about other then show up at elections and hope our vote counts and helps matters per our beliefs.

 

[TJ&LadyDi]

I do not understand the rationale of defunding police when we need protection and this is the one thing I think our country is way short on (law & order).

It is a simplistic attempt to solve a complex problem; e.g. "If there were no police there would be no police misbehavior." It overlooks the fact that without police, there would be lots of misbehavior from all sectors.

The creators of these slogans go for something catchy without thinking through the ramifications. It could just as easily be "If there were no people, there would be no crime." A true statement, but it doesn't pass the rationality standard. The same is true for "Defund the Police."

TJ

 

[FL-JOE]

Thanks for posting the clip Neal. I wish NY would have that looped in on all their huge outdoor monitors playing 24/7 in the downtown area for the next week. That little girl was spot on.

It has just been a bad few days on several fronts. As if seeing the VN memorial wall defaced with spray paint wasn't bad enough then Hanoi Jane crawled out from under her rock to make a public statement.

 

[Joe Hogan]

IMHO, If forced to travel, there are many Phone Apps that will provide 'real time' road conditions. If I had to travel during this time I would be checking those apps routinely several times during each leg of the trip. Avoiding large city centers and be done traveling each day by early afternoon, before 3 p.m. Over the years I have noted that traffic and people movement increases significantly after 2:30 - 3 p.m.

Also, there is a risk of folks throwing objects off over passes which is very real. The radical elements of our society have taken to prepositioning easily thrown objects near places of unrest.

My first plan, plan A if you will, is always to avoid issues. Making a concerted effort 'to avoid' is typically all you will need, if well executed. That said have a plan B ...... and C and D should plan A not work out. A well worn axiom, "no plan survives first contact".

Things don't always end well waiting for 911 to respond., especially when police are scattered tending to other 911 calls.

The Reginald Denny story is top of mind of many professional drivers. As a result of the Reginald Denny event I believe, Truck drivers have specific laws that protect them from people that knowingly put themselves at risk near their rigs. The risk of injury reverts to the individual who knowingly puts themselves at risk of injury near a Big Rig.


Attack on Reginald Denny - Wikipedia

 

[Neal]

It would probably be wise to stock up on pepper and/or bear spray. I hear sales of these items are peaked so may be hard to get.

 

[GlampDaddy]

If it was me I'd say stay in the coach with doors and basements locked, shades down, and call 911. I would make sure you have access to any self defense you may carry in the "slides in" configuration. i.e. I keep one "thing" under my bed, that won't be the case right now. I do have another "thing" in a cabinet forward of the bed. Just be prepared is my advice. Avoid confrontation, remember you have insurance, let whatever happens happen as long as you and your other passengers are safe. The RV is a "thing" and it can be fixed or replaced. Loss of lives or prison sentences are not a desired end result of anyone in your RV.

Good advice. And, travel with "things."

 

[jmltech]

I’m not in favor of defunding. But, I am in favor of smarter funding and non-police oversight boards for purchases and conduct reviews for police complaints. My concern with the police is; 1) why do we have police “uniforms” that look like they are battle ready and about to be deployed? (I’m not speaking of the current protest situation) We have community police in towns and counties across U.S.A that are dressed in full military looking “uniforms”. I believe that sends an unconscious message as soon as a police officer steps out of their car. Also, police vehicles that look “military” 2) Why do we have police, police themselves? Whenever a citizen makes a complaint on an officer, it is their colleagues that “look into it”. How many serious allegations have been swept away by their own internal reviews?

 

[RandyB]

My opinion is that many, many lives would have been saved for following a simple word...compliance. When a person of authority tells you to stop, get down or get in the cruiser, comply! Now. With respect. If you're innocent, it can be worked out. If you're guilty, at least you're alive.

 

[Neal]

My opinion is that many, many lives would have been saved for following a simple word...compliance. When a person of authority tells you to stop, get down or get in the cruiser, comply! Now. With respect. If you're innocent, it can be worked out. If you're guilty, at least you're alive.

I agree, all of us sane people here agree. Police officer aggression is a result of aggression IMHO. Criminals are not polite when they are facing arrest. We all know this. Common sense does not prevail in our society, sadly, and we all suffer as a result. Welcome to RVing aka isolation and getting away from insanity.

 

[Neal]

Well, this is interesting. I was looking on Amazon to stock up on pepper spray for my upcoming trip. Found this, at first I said umm no, now I'm thinking this is actually wise to even keep in the coach for self-defense regardless of the current events.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N5TIY3J/?tag=rvf01-20



Otherwise I'm at least getting a few of these:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0007VM8UC/?tag=rvf01-20