Once again my ol’ hometown is about to make national news.  Good ol Stockton CA..

Amidst big budget cuts that may include laying off cops, a 66 year old retired truck driver and Vietnam War veteran name Alan Pettet is planning on putting together a vigilante Super Friends.

Wow. Part of me wants to belittle this guy and tear him a new one for trying to relive Nam’, and possibly beat up some colored folk.  But another side of me is realizing lots of the country is falling into shambles and the state and local governments are CUTTING funds for cops, which is going to make the cities even worse.  With Stockton being a huge bastion for violent crime, laying off even 1 cop in Stockton would be one too many. The place has only gotten worse as far as crime is concerned, and every time one side of the government tries to kick start the place, such as with a soccer team, hockey team and AFL team another side of the local government tries to kill it again.

So with Stockton in freefall this guy Alan Pettet has wrangled together 18 other guys, some ex-military, to actually patrol crappy areas of Stockton if the police officers do get laid off July 1st.  Apparently they will wear armbands to identify themselves and drive with 4 men per car armed with rifles, and some non-lethal weapons.  Dear god I hope they wear a cape and cowl like Batman.  For those of you familiar with guns, or Nintendo 64′s golden eye, (fuck, that game was awesome) Pettet plans to carry a Desert Eagle pistol.  This is a beast of a handgun folks; it could punch through a guy’s chest.  Yet even with devastating weapons, he says when they patrol they only plan to detain suspected criminals and call the cops.

So your telling me with an arsenal of weapons at your disposal these guys will be acting like gated community security?? BUUUULLSHIT.  Pettet did say if anyone opens fire on him or his super pals they will return fire, but what happens when the first little punk gets all uppity and shoves one of these guys to run away?  “Ahh shucks Jimbo, he’s getting away”… not a chance.  I don’t think he’ll pull the desert eagle on some kid breaking curfew but, a nice tazer blast to the throat could be executed.  I just see lots of bad stuff happening with this set up.

The Mayor and vice mayor and other officials are saying Stockton isn’t at the point where it needs an armed militia, but Pettet has already set up an acronym for his boys “S.A.M.” Stockton Armed Militia. So once an acronym has been established, everyone knows it’s an official agency… EVERYONE. It almost makes me want to get a cowboy hat and yell Yee Haw from the dukes of hazard car and shoot a couple of Yosemite Sam pistols into the air.  Who else would be down to do this?  I would,   Id get a sweet ass code name like Iron Hawk or Lazer Thunder and get to shoot somebody or tazer scum, straight up Saturday morning cartoon style.

I mock this old guy because it all is pretty whacky to actually organize a militia in 2009, but at the same time there’s never been an economic dive like this in my lifetime and sometimes crazy times call for crazy solutions.  The guy has done his homework and realizes the constitution allows citizens to form a militia, and has been getting advice from his attorney friend Ron Stein.  So he’s doing everything by the book and plans to get permits to carry concealed handguns.  Stein seems just as determined as Pettet about the police being laid off and even said “We are in the wild, wild West when you take people who are supposed to protect us off the street.”

I’m definitely conflicted about a vigilante fighting force for Stockton.  Do I think bad things will happen if they organize a militia? Yes.  Do I think bad things will happen without the militia and 50 less cops on the street? Yes.  But which is worse?  Hell if I know.  Honestly if some old school bad asses that fought in Nam’ wanna go clean up the streets, all the power to them.  That takes some balls.  They may accidentally shoot a little kid with a fake gun, pummel a minority on video camera, be caught up in a drug scandal or any other incident cops get into but Id rather have more people on the street trying to do some good then less of them to let crime grow.

What do you think?