Swat Called On Me Today....

[RedBowTies88 41]

You should at least file a complaint with the PD. Once they established your bona fides - which according to your chronology was before they took the serial numbers of your guns - they had no reasonable articulable suspicion to take your serial numbers. They trampled on your rights.

 

Just sayin'

 

Adios,

 

Pizza Bob

 

Honestly i believe they took the serials becuase they just didn't know what else to do and wanted to seem "offical" I will say something though to the chief when i see him next. But like i said...a small town and i don't want to ruffle any feathers... they decide to pass a "no discharge" ordinace and i'm screwed.

 

On your own land this was? I think Officer 'don't give me private property' needs some remedial training, as do the prosecutor. This is what happens when police forces get militarized. They go out looking for trouble when none exists. This srt of thing alone is a great argument for the 2nd amendment.

 

Yep my private property, the prosecuter didn't say a word the whole time pretty much.. i assume becuase he knew they were in the wrong and didn't want me to become an issue for them. I don't believe they were power grabbing just more of a gross overreaction. If they would of hunted for things to ticket me for and/or checked all my guns and mags I would agree with you.

 

were you bump firing the semi's?

 

Negative, but we were fireing silmutaniously at a pretty rapid pace.

 

You're a better man than me, taking this so well.

 

Think about it: you had GUNS DRAWN ON YOU BY A SWAT TEAM, guy! And for what transgression exactly? Because one of your shitbag neighbors wanted to make a statement of some sort.

 

Sorry, I'd have a lawyer laying a no-nonsense, "Cease and desist from further harassment of my client"-type letter on the C.O.P., pronto. Small town or no, at this point I'd be less interested in keeping the peace with these great pals of yours on the force, and more interested in not EVER being put in the gunsights of the local PD for a BS reason.

 

I honestly doubt it was a nehibor and was probably more of a passerby. its a populated area and its very much audible by dozens among dozens of houses as well as a major state route. The bigger guns can even be heard (faintly) from the walmart parking lot as ive been told.

 

A prosecutor was 2 minutes behind the SWAT team?

 

How long were you shooting for before they entered your property?

 

yep, and about 30 minutes

 

IMO, hold a NJGF fun shoot on your property. If they thought you guys were "automatic fire" , just wait....

 

Oh and I would also follow Pizza Bob's advice. You should have something on record as you being the "concerned citizen".

 

I would love too..but sadly i fear if anything went wrong (AD/NG/someone shooting over the berm) I would be in hot water

[ruger9 0]

I'll make the ten minute drive out there! We can have an automatic assault cartridge competition.

 

Followed by a "military-grade ammo" display.

[Sixtytwo327 14]

Maybe invite some some officers out to train with their carbines and shotguns & you can still make a good thing out of it. If the police are going to lose a free training facility, the department would be a lot more hesitant to back a discharge law... just thinking out loud. Good luck with it.

[RedBowTies88 41]

Maybe invite some some officers out to train with their carbines and shotguns & you can still make a good thing out of it. If the police are going to lose a free training facility, the department would be a lot more hesitant to back a discharge law... just thinking out loud. Good luck with it.

 

I offered it to them, but they were quick to inform they had pleanty of their own toys to play with on their own range

[bhunted 887]

I didn't say that for -that- reason. Call your lawyer and report what happened so it's documented. It needs to go no further. But if something does happen and you let it slide, you may end up with no defense. At least it would be on record.

 

I'm not calling any lawyers... its a small town here. I don't want to make any enemys unless im left with no choice. Plus I don't like lawyers or people who want to sue for everything.

 

 

Sent from John's iPad 2 via Tapatalk HD

Typos courtesy Apple...

[UNDERSCORE 0]

That NJ for ya.

[H.M. Murdock 0]

I would follow up with that prosecutor and the chief but that's just me -- a friendly but "not for nothing, sir" coversation. I would also install a couple trail cameras pointed at the access drive and the range to satisfy my own curiousities. I'm also curious where the SWAT is based out of compared to the location of your property and why a prosecutor has a better response time than my fire department -- but I'm not going to lose sleep over it.

[MarkWVU02 47]

Count me in! I'll make the 3-hour drive to Cape May County! Next spring!! A "BBQ/FunShoot"!! I'll make some homebrew for the occasion... what do you think....

 

Glock Grog?

Winchester Sarsparilla?

Savage Ale?

 

 

(before someone points it out, I'm OF COURSE kidding... I wouldn't bring alcoholic beverages to a "shoot", pantywaists...)

 

How about Assault Rifle Ale...wait the antis would probably try to ban you from making it

[Handyman 5,682]

This kind of jackassery is going to end in a shootout some day. Imagine what might have happened if you had not been able to clearly identify them as police. Or if you were someone who took their private property a little more seriously. There are going to be a lot of these incidents, and a lot of LEOs and civvies shot if this keeps up.

[Barms 98]

Did they have carbines or midlength?

 

(sorry.. just trying to lighten the mood...i probably would have crapped my pants..)

[PeteF 1,044]

You should absolutely let them know how much fun it was when they trespassed on private property and held load guns at you. Ask the head LEO how he would feel if he were in your shoes.

It wouldn't hurt to visit with a lawyer also. Maybe they will get the hint that that S&*t won't fly.

[Krdshrk 3,877]

Damn that's gotta be scary..... I'm all for a "F U stupid neighbors who panicked and called the popo" meet

[brocglock23 4]

What if you were in the middle of firing when they tried to interrupt you or they came from somewhat of a direction you were firing. That could have been really bad. I could see the headlines now. Shootout in Cape May County with deadly assault weapons owned by terrorist!!!

[tt-33 8]

road trip

[johnott 5]

Remember right after 9/11 when every-time you heard an airplane it made you look up. It seems that's the way everyone is right now about firearms, everyone's jumpy. I hope things calm down soon before something bad happens.

 

RedBowTies88... stay safe.

[silverado427 10,730]

I'd say is time to make an appointment with the police chief. Be polite, express your pleasure that the officers were polite when they figured out the situation, and discuss with him how such issues might be avoided in the future. We want to be seen as the law abiding, concern citizens we are, no?

+1 thats good advice.

[ChrisJM981 924]

You have 40 acres and within 30 minutes they were able to deploy a SWAT team, locate your position, AND have a prosecutor behind them??? I'm don't think I'm going out on a limb saying someone that knows where you shoot reported you.

[DirtyDigz 1,812]

Sorry to hear about your run-in with SWAT, glad it turned out mostly ok.

 

I've participated in 4 different group shoots at the same piece of private property in a Morris County town without a "no discharge" ordinance. The first time and the 4th time the police arrived about 2 hours into our shooting, responding to a called in complaint but we weren't drawn down upon. We set all the firearms down when we saw them arrive, they verified that we had permission to be on the property and asked if everything we had was legal, called in our "leaders" name to check for warrants and then told us to carry on and be safe.

[areacode201 4]

Glad everything turned out more or less OK for you.

 

Imagine what it's like in other states when paranoid libs call the police to report "rapid gunfire" in the woods and the police dispatcher responds "....and?"

[johnp 45]

Nope, you did nothing wrong. My comments would only roul-up some of the folks we have on here that believe the police do no wrong.

 

Funny, my first thought after reading OPs story, also would have upset the leo cheer-leading squad.

[Hawkin 0]

Thats sick. Sounds like the proscuter or pd did'nt plan anything out, just a knee jerk reaction. Someone cries wolf and all your rights go ot the window. No investigation by anyone. What if one of those highly trained officers tripped while taking aim on you and discharged his weapon. I have a real problem with someone pointing a gun at me when i have'nt commited a crime.

[JayWilling 33]

Unfortunately, our county is infested with libitards. The cops CAN'T ignore a call about gunfire. This sounds a little more to me like an "investigation and raid" than a "response". Like it was planned from previous reports, and someone was watching for you to return to shoot.

 

I'm down here and I know how "small town" it is, but you need to get something on the record so this doesn't become a tragedy in the future.

[woodentoe 14]

I don't now. I grew up on Staten Island where my house was bookended by cops. My best friend is nypd. I know cops who go their entire career without drawing their weapon. Isn't this a case of blatant improper threat assessment? Two guys who appear unarmed waking and waving? You have six armed officers? I'm not a cop so I can't speak to this. But, hand on gun say, "sir, since there's guns here can you put your hands up and turn around for everyone's safety?" You don't even need to say pretty please. But, my understanding that drawing your sidearm wasn't merely a function of a WILLINGNESS to shoot, but more of a function of necessity to shoot.

 

Again, I could be wrong but maybe someone needs refresher training.

[PDM 91]

The police are not the bad guys here. The prosecutor on the other hand... If this were a serious emergency, responding to reports of gunfire, how the hell did the prosecutor get involved so quickly? Would be helpful to have an LEO chime in. If it were me, I would most definitely have a polite sit down with the Chief, and then demand to talk to someone in the prosecutor's office to find out how/why he was there. You always have the option of filing a complaint against the prosecutor for misconduct.

[bbk 188]

Like others have said, pursue a meet with the officials as to at least have something documented. I would also inquire who is footing the bill for sending out the response team. If its the town, I would subtlety push that maybe they should consider billing whoever it is that called on you...

[johnp 45]

The police are not the bad guys here.

 

 

What? Did you even read OPs story?

[RedBowTies88 41]

I didn't say that for -that- reason. Call your lawyer and report what happened so it's documented. It needs to go no further. But if something does happen and you let it slide, you may end up with no defense. At least it would be on record.

 

 

 

 

Sent from John's iPad 2 via Tapatalk HD

Typos courtesy Apple...

 

I'm going to persue a meeting with the chief of police today (after I pick up my new gun at the FFL next door to the PD) Depending on how that goes i'll weigh if i need to consult my lawyer or not.

 

I would follow up with that prosecutor and the chief but that's just me -- a friendly but "not for nothing, sir" coversation. I would also install a couple trail cameras pointed at the access drive and the range to satisfy my own curiousities. I'm also curious where the SWAT is based out of compared to the location of your property and why a prosecutor has a better response time than my fire department -- but I'm not going to lose sleep over it.

 

I've considered, trail camera's...mostly for the reason that people had been going onto my range and wrecking the place...breaking target holders and stealing steel targets. My property is boardered by power lines so activity is somewhat high with dirtbikers and quar riders...as well as hunters on ajacent propertys.

 

This kind of jackassery is going to end in a shootout some day. Imagine what might have happened if you had not been able to clearly identify them as police. Or if you were someone who took their private property a little more seriously. There are going to be a lot of these incidents, and a lot of LEOs and civvies shot if this keeps up.

 

I absolutely agree. NO excuse for what happened yesterday...and after having all night to think on it I realized I'm definitely going to give the chief a piece of my mind..

 

Did they have carbines or midlength?

 

(sorry.. just trying to lighten the mood...i probably would have crapped my pants..)

 

Mind legnth I believe? The very short ones...shorter then my friends 16" m&p15 sport. I'm not well adversed in the AR world. And after shooting his m&p and my ak in the same caliber side by side yerterday I know for sure that isn't going to change.

[RedBowTies88 41]

You should absolutely let them know how much fun it was when they trespassed on private property and held load guns at you. Ask the head LEO how he would feel if he were in your shoes.

It wouldn't hurt to visit with a lawyer also. Maybe they will get the hint that that S&*t won't fly.

 

I'm going down to the PD today to give them a piece of my mind.

 

What if you were in the middle of firing when they tried to interrupt you or they came from somewhat of a direction you were firing. That could have been really bad. I could see the headlines now. Shootout in Cape May County with deadly assault weapons owned by terrorist!!!

 

Indeed, luckily they came up from a90* angle so they weren't downrange at any time.

You have 40 acres and within 30 minutes they were able to deploy a SWAT team, locate your position, AND have a prosecutor behind them??? I'm don't think I'm going out on a limb saying someone that knows where you shoot reported you.

 

Its a small town... the PD itself is only 10 minutes from my range... I could easily see all of them being able to arrive within 15-20 minutes of the start of shooting.

Sorry to hear about your run-in with SWAT, glad it turned out mostly ok.

 

I've participated in 4 different group shoots at the same piece of private property in a Morris County town without a "no discharge" ordinance. The first time and the 4th time the police arrived about 2 hours into our shooting, responding to a called in complaint but we weren't drawn down upon. We set all the firearms down when we saw them arrive, they verified that we had permission to be on the property and asked if everything we had was legal, called in our "leaders" name to check for warrants and then told us to carry on and be safe.

 

Even doing that much is unacceptiable IMHO....they have no reason to check for warrants or even look at you license or enter it in a computer.

Thats sick. Sounds like the proscuter or pd did'nt plan anything out, just a knee jerk reaction. Someone cries wolf and all your rights go ot the window. No investigation by anyone. What if one of those highly trained officers tripped while taking aim on you and discharged his weapon. I have a real problem with someone pointing a gun at me when i have'nt commited a crime.

 

No i do not believe this wa sin any way planned...liek i said before its was most likely a knee jerk gross overeaction. one of the first officers to draw down on us was a younf girl (maybe 20-23 years old) she was SCARED TO DEATH she could barely breath and couldn't remember any of her 10 codes or the phonetic alphabet at all. This girl not 5 minutes earlier had her gun drawn on me with her finger on the trigger.

 

 

Unfortunately, our county is infested with libitards. The cops CAN'T ignore a call about gunfire. This sounds a little more to me like an "investigation and raid" than a "response". Like it was planned from previous reports, and someone was watching for you to return to shoot.

 

I'm down here and I know how "small town" it is, but you need to get something on the record so this doesn't become a tragedy in the future.

 

Thanks, I do believe it was a response and not a setup but hey who knows for sure.

I don't now. I grew up on Staten Island where my house was bookended by cops. My best friend is nypd. I know cops who go their entire career without drawing their weapon. Isn't this a case of blatant improper threat assessment? Two guys who appear unarmed waking and waving? You have six armed officers? I'm not a cop so I can't speak to this. But, hand on gun say, "sir, since there's guns here can you put your hands up and turn around for everyone's safety?" You don't even need to say pretty please. But, my understanding that drawing your sidearm wasn't merely a function of a WILLINGNESS to shoot, but more of a function of necessity to shoot.

 

Again, I could be wrong but maybe someone needs refresher training.

 

I was under the same impression. we were unarmed and obviously friendly...there was no need to put our lives at risk the way they did.

Like others have said, pursue a meet with the officials as to at least have something documented. I would also inquire who is footing the bill for sending out the response team. If its the town, I would subtlety push that maybe they should consider billing whoever it is that called on you...

 

The swat guys arrived in a normal crown vic... they didn't bring out the armored troop carrier or anything like that so im not sure the bill would be any more then a normal police call..but hey who knows.

[Candide 0]

Consider installing a lockable gate on the driveway or access road.

[RedBowTies88 41]

Also I forgot to mention, while they were questioning my friend an I behind the truck they searched the truck without asking for any kind pf permission...Thet didn't rip out the contents of the consol/glovebox or any of that stuff but they checked under all the seats and stuff.