Zimmerman trial, and vigilantism in general.

A funny thing happened to me while watching the Zimmerman trial.

Back in 2012, there was an incident.
I came home from the store one afternoon, and there was a suspicious unmarked white van out in front of the house next door. This was about 2 months after the family who lived in the home had moved out, having discovered that their home was under water and they would never be able to pay it off. Well now there were strange men lurking around the place, after there had already been 3 break-ins in the area, including my car. What should I have done ?


Some Options :

First:
Go into my home, arm myself and then call the police and say they were in there and they always get away with it, and I was following them. Ignore police dispatcher instructions to stay out, and go on in and demand the men identify themselves, shooting them if they made a threatening move.

Second:
Stay out in my front yard, in a position of relative safety, call the police non-emergency number, and explain my concerns to the operator. Wait patiently, observing only, with the intent of being a good witness if called upon. Calmly explain my situation to the officer who arrived 5 minutes later, telling him that the house was unoccupied and had not been sold and that I was afraid someone was stealing the fixtures and wiring (a common type of theft here in AZ) . Wait outside while the officer investigated and then when he told me it was contractors from the bank, who had the bank's permission to be there and were working up an estimate on repairs needed to restore the home to it's original blueprint condition, thank the officer, apologize for taking up his time and nod when he said "no problem sir, we'd much rather have to answer these calls than find burglarized homes later. "

Third :
Go in my house and play World of Warcraft, ignoring any strange noises from next door, and hoping that they didn't come into my house next.

One of those options is the proper response for a concerned citizen.

Note: this was originally published as a Facebook Note back in 2013, but I thought it worth re-posting here because it deals with an issue I think needs discussing, that of vigilantism vs self-defense. Feel free to contribute in the comments.