Suggestions for improving neighborhoods

A lot of people, including me, don't live in the greatest of neighborhoods. Sometimes it's the area in general, sometimes it's one problem house. For me, it's somewhere in between. The problem house is next door, and while the rest of my street is ok, if you go one block east or west it gets rough again. Tonight is a good example of what happens. The house next door is a flop house for a half dozen young adults. Not old enough to be legally drinking, but old enough to be out of school. At 0130, these idiots decide it's the perfect time to go out in their poorly lit back yard and start beating the hell out of something, all the while pretending it's a person. After listening for a bit and looking as best as I can I can't judge if it's real or vicious pretend, so I call the police and describe the situation. My luck, by the time the units roll up, the idiots have decided playtime is over and they've gone back inside. An hour later, I hear a loud argument break out the next street over. I can't even come close to judging which direction it is due to the presence of several large metal buildings which echo everything, so I leave it to people who are closer to call that one in.

I don't want to be known as "That" neighbor, the one who always calls in the false alarms. That said, what other ways are there to deal with this type of situation? I'm not about to scream out the window at these idiots. That would draw a target on my back, and I wouldn't put it past these guys to toss poisoned meat over the fence for my dogs. I would honestly love it if that house were condemned and knocked down.

I know I'm not the only one in this type of situation. I want to be able to feel safe sleeping with my windows open at night. I've talked with the woman who owns the house and that was less than productive. She and several of her relatives are up on drug charges already, they don't care what these jerks do. So what say you guys?

I know the officers in my city would set up special enforcement and scope it out for a few days. I totally understand living next to horrible people...only difference is, mine was a grown man who liked to vandalize my car, I could just never prove it.

is there anything that they are doing at the house that is a code violation? If so maybe code enforcement can take action. If they tenants don't take care of it they will go after the landlord. Once it starts costing her alot of money she may do something about it. Other then that keep calling the police. Be willing to sign a complaint if they need it.

Be ready to defend yourself and yours if need be. Nothing will change their mind like several .45 or 5.56mm rounds through a chest if someone comes in your house.

I was thinking code enforcement as well.

Anything from a weedy or unmowed lawn, cars parking on the grass, poor paint on the house, trash piling up, etc, are all code problems in most/many cities. We have a LOT of rental properties in my city, and anytime I'm in a problem house I check for broken/damaged/missing sprinkler heads, battery powered smoke alarms, smoke alarms without power, lack of egress windows, etc. I report that stuff to the city code enforcement, and they come down on the landlord. Our city code allows the revocation of the rental license if the property isn't maintained, which means the landlord is out a LOT of money if their renters cause problems. Often times, it results in the landlord evicting the renters.

I did the code enforcement on a neighbor that decided when he got rental furniture the old furniture could lay around the yard. (two bedroom sets and a living room set) Not to mention the constant 40000 decibel yelling/domestic abuse happening. I ended up getting my truck vandalized.

Continue to call. The local authorities need to use your complaints for action they may not be able to find on their own. Advise the call taker of the reason you need to remain anonymous. If my shift get continuous calls on a certain area we use a saturation patrol to bust their ass if we find something.

Every house in this neighborhood probably has some code issues, theirs just goes above and beyond the call. Their back yard is covered in trash, old furniture, etc. They had an old window unit that is now broken into pieces and the copper removed. There are several mattresses mouldering, and the jokers next door had gone so far as to throw up a shanty made from scrap wood and box spring parts in which to go smoke their weed. I told the owner about that being a definite code violation and told her point blank that it would cost her several thousand dollars in fines. It eventually got taken down, now they have a junk car in the back they go smoke in. The officers know about that, but like many things, they need PC to be able to go bust them. As the owner and the previous occupant both have been arrested for drug and other charges in the last few months, they are aware this house is a problem. The call this Friday was the second one I'd had to make in just over a week. I don't think the jerks living there even pay rent, the owner just lets them flop there because they're friends of relatives. I'm to the point of taking pictures and seeing if I can't find someone to which to send them.

I like Captain America's solution of bath salts. A gift of bath salt brownies. Maybe they will eat each other and all you will find is a bucket of bones.

Go above the code enforcement and get the Mayor. I am sure they would not want the media getting a hold of that. ;)

Is there a Community Oriented Police team in your local agency? We have them here...(COT) teams and they receive work orders from the neighborhoods and go into neighborhoods keeping the pressure on. If not, just keep calling and get LE involved enough so that they will see that your particular neighborhood needs some additional attention.

Do they have utilities ?? It's against city ordnances for anyone to occupy a residence here without utilites. If they do have utilties go with the bath salts and body lotion laced with bbq sauce gift set.:biggrin1:

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Originally Posted by Captain America

Do they have utilities ?? It's against city ordnances for anyone to occupy a residence here without utilites. If they do have utilties go with the bath salts and body lotion laced with bbq sauce gift set.:biggrin1:

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They have utilities, I could watch their oversized TV through their window if I were so inclined. They have no vehicle of their own, and only one of the group is over 21, so the whole lot of them walk the quarter mile to the local stop-n-rob for the one to buy a case for everyone. It's pissing me off that I know the stuff they do, but that I can't do anything about it. Somehow I think I'm preaching to the choir. If I were of a criminal mindset, I'd say "fuck it" and toss a molitov through their window. My luck is that it would blow over and torch my place. Karma loves paying attention when I'm naughty. :doh:

OR party at Ducky's = problem solved

:p

Also, if the local cops aren't taking it seriously, keep calling.

The more calls they get, the more annoyed they'll get, and they'll start coming down on them because they get tired of getting called.

I think they're taking it seriously, it's more a matter of catching them in the act. What doesn't help is they have a lookout that lives a block or two over who calls them whenever they see units in the area. Next time I'll request that they come up the other side to see if that makes a difference.

The local officers have always been really nice and personable with me. I don't want to become a pain in their collective asses about the neighbors.

Can you document their actions yourself with video?

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Originally Posted by Five-0

Can you document their actions yourself with video?

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Not really, they do most of it at night when video wouldn't do much more than record dark. I could give it a shot and maybe get audio though. Sadly, I'll likely have plenty of opportunity to do so.

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Originally Posted by jmur5074

Also, if the local cops aren't taking it seriously, keep calling.

The more calls they get, the more annoyed they'll get, and they'll start coming down on them because they get tired of getting called.

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Something else... Give concrete descriptions of the activity. We've got a place in town where one resident has essentially ended up running a flophouse to make ends meet. She had one person living there who had substance abuse issues, and was essentially straddling the line between prostitution and having a sugar daddy. She'd get men to pay her rent or other bills in exchange for her company... There were other issues, as well. One thing led to another, and I found a creative solution in a old local code where I charged the owner with maintaining a nuisance based on the volume of calls. The one person moved out, and was gone for a year. They returned, and I started getting calls from residents on the street that she was back. Well... she was no longer breaking the law. Meanwhile, the chief gets inquiries from council members about it... Because one neighbor really doesn't like the situation (which I can understand...) and is stirring up problems. But nothing is documented. Nothing is solid. There are no calls. I've checked the place repeatedly, at all hours. No problems. The person in question is becoming paranoid about cop cars driving buy. And every time we get a sideways complaint, I end up tracing it back to the one same neighbor; the people bringing the complaint up end up admitting that it was because Ma'am said there's a problem. I've talked to Ma'am repeatedly. No concrete, supportable things beyond "Honeytail's back."

Just to be clear -- you're certainly describing a real problem. I'm just encouraging you to put it out in a way that gets that across, and doesn't come back down to "Oh, it's just... they still don't like..."

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Originally Posted by Jks9199

Something else... Give concrete descriptions of the activity. [...]
Just to be clear -- you're certainly describing a real problem. I'm just encouraging you to put it out in a way that gets that across, and doesn't come back down to "Oh, it's just... they still don't like..."

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As you can imagine, articulation isn't a big problem for me. And I don't call in the absence of an active problem because I want these idiots caught in the act. I couldn't care less if they're hanging out in their yard playing music during the day. It's the idiocy and dangerous stuff that could endanger me and mine that I object to. Repeated, meaty-sounding thumps combined with racial slurs and other sounds of fighting at 0130 when I can't actually see what they're doing? Yep, the police main line gets a call. Screaming arguments breaking out in the street between them and another group of people? Yep. I don't give a rat's southern end about their health but I don't want a drive-by happening. They don't bother to aim well enough.

I am going to start making a log of dates, times, and detailed activity as well as video recordings if I can get it. It'll just feel like I'm at work. :doh: