Sounds to me like it was a troll, albeit an organized one. Maybe even the caller is in on it. At first he asks if it's legal, then he says he knows it is, and he goes on to query about what they're going to do about it?
The cops were probably set up, and walked into it.
Stretchman,
When I read this it sounds like you are saying that you believe the VCDL set this whole thing up to "test" the police. Is this, in fact what you are saying? If so I would ask that you please do a little more research into the VCDL, what it is trying to accomplish and what its modus operandi has been in the past.
And who cares what they said in their e-mails? E-mails are not posting in a public forum.
First off, where I work we are reminded every month that we shouldn't put anything in an email that we wouldn't put on a billboard by the side of the road. My employer stresses HARD that even internal-use email could become public at the drop of a hat. Anyone who thinks otherwise is not being smart.
Secondly, I care what they said in their email. They were on the job and that -should- mean professional. Showing this kind of slack and bad attitude when they think nobody is looking is evidence of deeper rot in the system. If they are behaving that way on a city computer system, which is (obviously) subject to review they are really being pretty stupid and are setting themselves up for, at minimum, an internal review.
And who knows how they really responded to the officers one they were on the scene. Hey, if he got called out to a restaurant, and there were guys carrying weapons, legal or not, and he didn't do a warrant check, then he'd be in deep trouble from the same crowd for not doing the job if they turned out to be felons.
Your writing is vague but I'm guessing by context that the first "they" means the VCDL members. Now I don't personally know everyone involved but for the ones I do know we are NOT talking about a group of reactionary hotheads. As for requesting ID and doing a warrant check, you are wrong. In point of fact I, as a rookie cop, was in a similar situation in Alexandria a number of years ago and got my A$$ chewed off for pressing a citizen who was open carrying legally.
Having listened to the dispatch call I don't fault the officers for responding en-masse as the only info they had was "six-men with guns". The dispatcher should have been much more clear in describing the situation as she knew it. However once they arrived and saw that no laws were being broken they should have pulled back immediately. Maybe sit in the parking lot and observe for a while but there was really no cause to even engage the VCDL members in conversation.
Besides, since 9/11, IIRC, you have to produce ID if a cop asks for it. Not an issue.
That is incorrect. We don't (at least not yet, some people are trying) live in a society where we must produce papers simply at the whim of law enforcement. You may feel comfortable with random, unsupported, violation of your fourth amendment rights, I sure don't because it's an extremely slippery slope.
