Our legal rights in a gated community

[speedsix]

...legal advice is best obtained by digging it out of the law for oneself...or paying a lawyer...us just folks types tend to throw in a little wisdom and life experience...and you're welcome...

[Beiruty]

I know what is a wise thing to do.

I am asking what my legal rights are.

Read the CHLer booklet for the second time, maybe the third time. If you are confused about anything, cut and paste and ask a specific question.

Removing a trespasser by force is question I asked my CHLer instructor a Police Officer, I was confused about his answer, so I am not forcing a trespasser to leave. I will call 911 to take care of it.

[jmorris]

There are different "official" programs such as National Neighborhood Watch (http://www.nnwi.org/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;) and National Associations of Citizens on Patrol (http://www.nacop.org/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;). Whoever is setting this up should check with city police or sheriff and see if there's a requirement to coordinate with local law enforcement. Our HOA does this with the San Antonio PD. They run (IIRC) weekly class for six weeks before you're allowed to participate. Part of that is a ride-along.

That said, one thing they state over and over is that you do not replace the police. You are the eyes and ears for the police force. If you see anything suspicious you do *not* take any action whatsoever. You call it in.

[Stupid]

I know what is a wise thing to do.

I am asking what my legal rights are.

Read the CHLer booklet for the second time, maybe the third time. If you are confused about anything, cut and paste and ask a specific question.

Removing a trespasser by force is question I asked my CHLer instructor a Police Officer, I was confused about his answer, so I am not forcing a trespasser to leave. I will call 911 to take care of it.

I was not suggesting removing anybody by force. I am asking if I am within my rights to question and ask the non-resident to show proof of residency. If not, can I ask him to leave. If he doesn't, would police come by and remove him?

Furthermore, am I allowed to follow the person?

[gdanaher]

Your legal rights are defined and limited. You can defend yourself. You can defend your personal irreplaceable property. But as Charles Cotton has pointed out in other threads, you are not a sworn officer, you don't know the situation, and you are better off leaving it to the guy who gets paid for it if humanly possible. Think about the security guard chasing a shoplifter through the parking lot.......

[mamabearCali]

I was not suggesting removing anybody by force. I am asking if I am within my rights to question and ask the non-resident to show proof of residency. If not, can I ask him to leave. If he doesn't, would police come by and remove him?

Furthermore, am I allowed to follow the person?

IANAL so this advice is not worth much. However if you chose to do that you had better know every person and their kids in your community. I live in a community with hundreds of homes and I know maybe 10 families so far. If someone came up to me on the play ground that i did not know/had never heard of and asked me to prove my residency my response would be to go away and leave me alone. After which I would get my kids and go home in a hurry. Could you legally follow me home....well it is a free road, but you had better believe I am calling the cops to check you out.

Don't be foolish, don't get yourself in a bad place. Just cause you can does not mean you should.

[Beiruty]

I know what is a wise thing to do.

I am asking what my legal rights are.

Read the CHLer booklet for the second time, maybe the third time. If you are confused about anything, cut and paste and ask a specific question.

Removing a trespasser by force is question I asked my CHLer instructor a Police Officer, I was confused about his answer, so I am not forcing a trespasser to leave. I will call 911 to take care of it.

I was not suggesting removing anybody by force. I am asking if I am within my rights to question and ask the non-resident to show proof of residency. If not, can I ask him to leave. If he doesn't, would police come by and remove him?

Furthermore, am I allowed to follow the person?

You can ask anyone, what is the color of the moon if so you desire. However, do not expect an answer. You can ask him to leave, he might ignore your request. If you call 911, they can remove a trespasser from personal property if the owner of said property wish so, not sure about semi-private gated community road, what authority do you have to ask LEO to remove someone (a visitor maybe?) from shared-private road?

[Heartland Patriot]

I would have the non-emergency number saved for instances such as this instead of calling 911.

Nothing personal, but I have to disagree. NOT calling 911 was one of the things they used to beat up GZ in the press...that if it were actually SERIOUS, he would have called 911 instead of just the local PD desk. I'll let the 911 dispatcher tell me to hang up and call whatever number...that way, its on THEM and not on ME...sorry, but in our wonderful modern society (which is not run by laws, but by the mainstream media as evidenced by this business in Florida), its all about the "cover your backside". I didn't make this world, I just have to live in it...once again, nothing personal against you intended at all.

[WildBill]

I know what is a wise thing to do.

I am asking what my legal rights are.

Read the CHLer booklet for the second time, maybe the third time. If you are confused about anything, cut and paste and ask a specific question.

Removing a trespasser by force is question I asked my CHLer instructor a Police Officer, I was confused about his answer, so I am not forcing a trespasser to leave. I will call 911 to take care of it.

I was not suggesting removing anybody by force. I am asking if I am within my rights to question and ask the non-resident to show proof of residency. If not, can I ask him to leave. If he doesn't, would police come by and remove him?

Furthermore, am I allowed to follow the person?

You can ask anyone, what is the color of the moon if so you desire. However, do not expect an answer. You can ask him to leave, he might ignore your request. If you call 911, they can remove a trespasser from personal property if the owner of said property wish so, not sure about semi-private gated community road, what authority do you have to ask LEO to remove someone (a visitor maybe?) from shared-private road?

Especially about the color of the moon.

[Stupid]

I was hoping some of you can point me to a specific law or some cases.

[speedsix]

I was hoping some of you can point me to a specific law or some cases.

I know what is a wise thing to do.

I am asking what my legal rights are.

...why didn't you just SAY that??? I don't know of any off hand...

[Excaliber]

I was hoping some of you can point me to a specific law or some cases.

Just about anything you might want to know can be found in the Texas Statutes.

[Stupid]

In other, previous threads, we have discovered that you are not obligated to show identification to a LEO, unless you are driving at the time, or even identify yourself, unless being detained (?).

If a LEO cannot legally force me to show ID, why do you believe you could?

That is fine. I wouldn't force anybody to show ID. If they don't, I'd simply call police.

[Lambda Force]

I know what is a wise thing to do.

I am asking what my legal rights are.

...why didn't you just SAY that??? I don't know of any off hand...

The subject line is "Our legal rights in a gated community"

What part of that didn't you understand?