Well, that pretty much sums up the question. We have a police force trained mostly in writing traffic citations, not to solve crimes. My wife's engagement ring, wedding band, and watch were stolen. I found out who did it and recovered the engagement ring and watch, but the wedding band is still missing. Long story short, I started looking for the wedding band and some ghetto berkeley come out of his house and starts screaming at me for being on (not his) property.
Anyway, the cops showed, told me to leave and I did. No big deal, but the cop was a douche about it. Oh, and the guy that came out yelling at me is an illegal arms dealer and my neighbor to the back.
When we made the initial report to the police about the missing jewelry, they said there was pretty much nothing they could do unless she told them that she stole it.
So, outside of firebombing the whole neighborhood, which is something I don't see as a good idea, what can you do? Our citizen's watch group is about as effective as an HOA at keeping crime down. What legal options do I have? Am I just screwed here, or is there something that can actually be done. The ironic thing is that I feel safe in the bad part of town, because they concentrate all of their efforts on that area alone. The rest of the city is going to E36 M3, and all I can do is watch the world burn around me.
alex
UltraDork
8/6/12 6:21 p.m.
This
(Well, maybe some of this...
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Then the void gets filled with another section 8 reject that sets up a meth lab or starts selling guns with the serial number filed off.
The police oppress the law abiding populous by allowing the outlaws have their way.
I wish I could help. Every situation I've ever been in (or heard of, with one exception) like that, I just got shafted. Even the exception I mentioned didn't fix the neighborhood. I know one guy who got his stereo back because the cops busted the thieves breaking into someone else's house before they had taken the stuff to a fence (garage full of stolen goods).
Seriously stinks that it's her wedding ring.
I know, and the cops couldn't give a berkeley. They treated me like a criminal for looking for her ring.
Get annoying with the police. Report every crime you see the neighbors commit. Write down tags, etc... Document your calls and the outcomes. If those don't work file a complaint in writing. If the complaints don't work write a letter to the paper. Sick code enforcement on the house. Whatever you can do to be a giant PIA.
This comes to mind but as we know, it does not end well.
It is FL. Stand your ground.
This is a long shot, but bring your issue to the town board? Not once, but several times. Explain how the police won't do anything and the fact that these types of people are living in your neighborhood causing problems and such. It may not work, it may work, who knows.
I know someone here would have every reason why this wouldn't work, but it's worth a try. It wouldn't be immediate, but it could be effective in the long run.
As you said, the police allow the scum to do what they want. So go above them.
just remember one thing.. you become the squeaky wheel.. you are going to attract a lot of attention.. both the kind you want and the kind you don't. I can see the scum around turning on you quickly.. and the cops turning on you for making them look bad.
SyntheticBlinkerFluid wrote:
As you said, the police allow the scum to do what they want. So go above them.
Just don't ever do anything wrong or need the police to assist you! They may not be doing anything now, but once you start to point it out publicly, you'll never get a break if you get pulled over and they may have to finish their donuts and coffee before they roll on a call to your house. I vote for harassing the criminals by filing frivolous complaints about code violations, HOA violations, parking violations, underwear malfunctions, etc.
The problem the police have: everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty. The street cops jumped on you because they have to extend him the same respect/courtesy that you are accorded and if they didn't the punk/dope dealer would have a lever to use on them.
They also know if it escalates then someone will get hurt or killed. Not only do they not want to see that happen for the usual humanitarian reasons, there is a bunch of paperwork that goes with it. So they will do whatever it takes to keep the battling parties separated.
There should be detectives in your local PD, contact them. Explain how you recovered everything except the wedding ring and turn them loose. It's why they are there, the local beat cops are not really supposed to get involved with that kind of detailed work. It's how I recovered some stuff from a break in a long time ago and more memorably a set of wheels and ties.
Mr. Joshua's approach is a good one, too. A two pronged attack: detectives on the one side, then a metric E36 M3 ton of photos and phone calls on the other documenting whens and wheres could get rid of your problem.
In reply to Curmudgeon:
He may need to go as far as the County for a Detective. My town is small enough that they don't have one.
Good idea though.
In reply to Derick Freese:
Check out the local pawn shops and jewelry stores for your stolen goods. This happened to my neighbors recently, they did the leg work and found their antique jewelry at a couple shops in the area. They contacted the state police, SP got the perps and a shady dealer at the mall.
The city cops didn't have the manpower to pursue it, basically they just did the paperwork... and the goods were found out of their jurisdiction as well.
love the pawn shop idea>>>>>>>
Don't admit to anything. You recovered some of your stuff, but never told us how. I suspect if you tell a detective your story you may end up in trouble.
Karma is a bitch. Call every enforcement agency that you can on them. Watch for patterns of movement from them. Note night outings when they could be impaired, doing a "deal" and call in a drunk, or suspicious car. Keep your stuff locked up, get a camera system to keep an eye on things. It will take a while, watch your back.
I have a camera system, but it's not comprehensive enough to cover my whole yard. I need about 20 cameras to do that due to some blind areas. I was talking with several neighbors, and they want me to install camera systems for them as well. I think I'm the only unarmed household on the block, for what it's worth. We own a .22, but it needs a good cleaning, and really doesn't have the stopping power needed when the other guy has a gun, too.
I know I'm making enemies in the neighborhood, I always have. I can't stand idiots.
I do plan on being a squeaky wheel, however in order for me to do things like call code enforcement, I need to get rid of all of my unregistered cars so that it doesn't come back to bite me in the ass. I do still have 2 halves of an RX7 in my back yard, along with the unregistered Honda. I need a trailer to haul everything off with, and now that the Jeep is off the road, I need something to pull a trailer with. Catch 22 for now.
What about if the remaining good neighbors join together and do the same thing? We managed to shut down a school board warehouse operating in an old school, which was zoned residential, so I know the group can organize. That way there's more than one squeaky wheel, it's a whole block of people. It sounds more effective to me, but does it to you?
If you can get your neighbors involved that's even better.
As for recovering the things I recovered, I simply found out who the perp was, saw her in the front yard of her residence, confronted her, she panicked, gave me the engagement ring and told me she threw the watch in the trash can. When I pushed on about the wedding ring, she barricaded herself into her house and got the police involved for the second time that day, now that I had evidence that she was indeed the person that stole the jewelry.
Ultimately, I don't trust the local PD in any way, shape, or form. The county Sheriff's Department, OTOH, is pretty thorough. As a matter of fact, the good Police Officers often leave the PPD and work for the PCSD and take about a 20% pay cut in order to do so. That's gotta say something about the integrity of our local PD.
Sorry for the triple post, but this is a slightly different train of though.
In theory, if you rid your neighborhood of ruffians, how long does it take to fill back up with ruffians?
This all makes me want to live dead in the middle of about 1,000 acres.
Code enforcement is selective and slow. Most likely they will only go after the property complained about. If the do end up going after you you are willing to eventually fix the problem and follow proper channels so that isn't that big of a deal. The neighbors being involved is pretty cool. You say that it isn't the thief's property? What are the landlord rules in your area? In some counties a landlord gets fined for code violations by the tenant.
