Basically, I’d go out Friday, get arrested and get home sometime Saturday.īE: Do you have a certain gift, a “super power”, if you will, that defines you or sets you apart from the other members of your group? They’d arrest me, never file any charges, and let me go within 24 hours. My first year of fighting crime, I got arrested like 40 times. PJ: That’s the point we’re at now, but it wasn’t always like that. Our suits are also equipped with really bright LED lights that are designed for signaling cops.īE: Have you and the local police come to an understanding of sorts that you’re trying to help them and will continue in your crusade regardless of what anyone tries to do to stop you? When we’re there, we keep our super suits hidden until we actually have to stop crime, in which case we reveal them after we’ve intervened and need to identify ourselves to the police. When we’re in Chinatown, we wear hoodies and don’t let anyone see us, because the Chinese gangs are rough, and those guys will hit you with something or stab you with no warning at all, just because they know who we are. However, when I see a regular citizen, they’re typically glad to see me, and will come up and converse with me in a friendly manner. In Belltown, there’s a lot of crackheads, and they don’t really acknowledge me at all. PJ: It’s a healthy mix that kind of depends what area of the city we’re talking about. I also carry a net gun, a stun baton, and pepper grenades.īE: What does the Seattle public think of you in your own view? It’s a company that sponsors me, and it does all sorts of things like launch pepper balls, rubber balls, fires tasing darts…it’s got all kinds of cool gadgets. I also carry a net gun, a stun baton, and pepper grenades. Once accepted formally, they get a logo and can choose a superhero name. Eventually it becomes black pants, black sweatshirt. Once they go from filming to shadowing, they wear black pants and a blue sweatshirt. When they start out, they wear black pants and a yellow sweatshirt. When you’re in a dangerous situation with a person who has no weapons, you learn what kind of person they are really quick. At that point, we vote you in or vote you out. By the time those processes are complete, about a year has gone by. You go through shadowing all those positions for a period of time. If we really have a problem that requires more guys, that’s what Position 5 does. Position 4 is our camera guy and Position 5 is our backup call-in. Position 3 is the medic, because we have a medic on call with us at all times. Position 2 is the guy who watches the first guy’s back. The first position is the guy who takes care of the violent crime. From there, you start shadowing one of the positions from the group and you get a uniform. You have to nothing but film for a certain period of time. PJ: When you start out on our team, you don’t get to carry a weapon, you only get to carry a camera. I’ve still been going out, but not as much in the lead-up to my fight, but the others are still patrolling regularly.īE: What’s your screening process for accepting new members to the team? Before I signed with WSOF, I was out at least 5 nights a week. Depending on my schedule, I could be out there every night of the week. PJ: Thursday through Sunday, there is always a group of us out. If you’re in the hood doing something wrong, we’ll probably see it. Really, we’re on every street in the hoods. Those areas are only 4-5 blocks a piece, so with 17 guys out there, you can have one on every street. You’ve got Capitol Hill for muggings, Belltown for violent assaults and robberies and Chinatown for most of the drug crime. Having a whole bunch of pepper grenades and bullet-proof vests in your garage is less cool than you think.īE: Do you walk a regular beat like police officers do? We meet there, suit up and head out from that point. We rent a little U-Haul storage place where we can put all our gear. It’s crazy because the legal implications are more severe for handcuffing someone than for knocking them out. Once they’re asleep, I don’t have to detain them. The most common thing we do is either knock them out or choke them out. We do carry handcuffs and zip ties, but we only use them if someone has stabbed a person or beaten someone. PJ: Once you start restraining people, you run into legality issues, because you are technically kidnapping or illegally detaining someone. PJ: Part of it was through donations, but I ended up taking out a loan and I also put a portion of it on my credit card.īE: Do you carry any weapons? Do you have handcuffs or any other type of restraints? BE: Where did you get the money for your suit?
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