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Comment by butvacuum | original | Lawmakers added $1 to car insurance policies. That money paid for Flock cameras
[−]butvacuum · 2026-08-30 Sun 05:27 UTC · link
First off- Texas has an explicit law making copper and catalytic converter theft a "Jail felony"- but if you break any other laws on the way, it's upgraded to a class 3 felony. See: https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/?tab=1&code=PE&chapter=PE... And. if you really want to play cops and robbers, a personally witnessed jail felony seems to be enough for a citzen's arrest.

Second: "(B) the use of force other than deadly force to protect or recover the land or property would expose the actor or another to a substantial risk of death or serious bodily injury." - YOU HAVE TO BE AFRAID FOR YOUR LIFE Texas gives citizens enourmous latitude in these matters, but it's not carte blanche for murder.

[−]dmurray · 2026-08-30 Sun 08:03 UTC · link
Afraid for your life if you were to confront the thief.

That reasonably covers pretty much all cases, especially in a state where lots of people have guns.

[−]crote · 2026-08-30 Sun 08:42 UTC · link
In other words: don't be an idiot and call the cops instead. That's what they are supposed to be for!
[−]redeeman · 2026-08-30 Sun 12:54 UTC · link
and the thieves got away
[−]NuclearPM · 2026-08-30 Sun 13:49 UTC · link
Texas cops? The ones that stop parents from saving their children during school shootings?
[−]derektank · 2026-08-30 Sun 15:45 UTC · link
The Uvalde police department exhibited both cowardice and incompetence, but can we stop pretending they are representative of cops everywhere?

Just a year later during the mall shooting in Allen Texas, cops took down the white supremacist, neo-nazi perpetrator in under 5 minutes, probably saving at least a co couple dozen lives (he’d already killed 9). You can watch the bodycam footage from that event if there’s any doubt

https://youtu.be/LWvKT5fHa0U

[−]ceejayoz · 2026-08-30 Sun 16:10 UTC · link
> can we stop pretending they are representative of cops everywhere?

"Here's another outlier anecdote!"