Randomly Relevant

For more than a decade, George Zimmerman dreamed of a life in law enforcement — but instead of becoming a real cop, he lived out his big blue fantasy by tracking down stray dogs, “suspicious” children and other intruders in his gated Florida community.

Before he gunned down unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin — an incident President Obama confronted Friday, calling it a tragedy — Zimmerman had been a nuisance to 911 operators. He would carry around with him a pistol and the hope that he would one day wear a badge.

… He had a license to carry a concealed weapon, and he started a neighborhood watch last September in his gated community in Sanford, Fla.

Well before that, he was calling cops for just the slightest, racially tinged suspicions.

As the watch volunteer at the 260-unit Retreat at Twin Lakes, he became a paranoid pest — peppering 911 with at least 46 calls. They varied in urgency, but in the last year focused mostly on black men or boys.

That included a “suspicious” 7- to 9-year-old boy with a “skinny build” and short black hair.