How do you rid your neighborhood of ruffians when the police don't do anything?

Pull rank, find the head douchebag and slowly roast him. they pay attention when you persist.

Good luck with the problem.

My mother is going to set an appointment with the Chief of Police since they are acquaintances. That might get the ball rolling faster than anything else.

As a cool bonus, my friend owns the local online newspaper, so if I have an issue, I write an article, have her sign her name to it, and it gets published. More people read her web paper than the real paper, and they give you the real paper like 3 times a week.

Every time I hear about trouble in the neighborhood I always think about this

Call your newspaper.

Take lots of pictures.

Win.

For the illegal arms dealing, snag a picture or something as proof and I'll make a call for you. Maybe get you stole help there

You can call, call, and call the police for whatever, but for the love of God, never get upset with the police in front of them. The last thing you want is to be known as a problem or anti-police home.

Move to Gainesville? Had my car broken into once. Aside from that, very little crime (that I saw,) hot college chicks, plenty of cheap entertaimnent. A couple exits north is even better. No "violent types," lots of farms, state parks, etc.

Got some spot lights?

I would get some huge ones "for the yard" and put them on a motion sensor set to only trigger when someone is at the fence line and have them pointed at the fence line.

Eventually they'll get tired of the light and either leave, or shoot the lights out (at which point you can call the police and they'll get to leave)

A co-worker and his neighbors go through this process every time the rental in their block rents to a drug dealer. They document the cars coming and going (times, plates, pictures if they can) call the police whenever they spot something that is worth calling the police over, etc. Call the land lord, etc. Eventually the dealers move on as they get tired of the microscope treatment.

Best advice.......buy a safe. Keep valuables in there.

Hungary Bill wrote: Every time I hear about trouble in the neighborhood I always think about this

wow. quite the read.

damn shame a group of Rangers couldn't have done more damage.

What about a little bit of "unintended acceleration" into the house where they live?

IMHO, having lived in L.A., New Orleans, and a few other "large" cities, either deal with it or move. Seriously.

I grew up on a farm in PA. We left our keys in the switch of our cars because it was a good way to not lose them. If we left the house on vacation and forgot to lock the door, we wouldn't turn around to go back and lock it.

Then I moved to Los Angeles, and I'm not talking about a nice part... downtown in Lincoln Heights. The first time my truck got broken into I was a mess. I felt so violated. After the 3rd time I got over it and just made sure my insurance was paid. When I lived in Austin, someone stole my cheap stereo from my Impala. Everyone was so amazed at how calm I was about it. I didn't care about the broken window or the missing stereo. I just made a claim and took my check.

I also have a bit different personality than most. I can make friends with anyone. The best defense against your hoodlum neighbor is to become friends. If he/she respects you or likes you, they won't steal from you. They might even be an asset if someone else steals from you. I lived two doors down from a chop shop in L.A. He and I both loved the same Tequila. If something was stolen from me, he usually knew who did it and was able to get it back. He was a powerful friend to have.

Curtis, I am friends with some of the bad crowd for that reason alone. That's how I managed to recover the items I did recover. They've gone straight and they want me to install a security camera system at their house like I did around mine. Two other neighbors want them as well. Maybe I should start a business doing this.

I live in a completely crappy hood myself, and the local LEOs here only seem interested in parking tickets and their Roscoe P Colertain inspired speed trap. For what they get paid, I probably wouldn't even get out if bed, so I don't completely blame them for not putting out the effirt to oppress the badies. Oh, and some of the badies are politically connected.

I have always kept at least one of these in my house and have never had a break-in.

novaderrik wrote: move.

I second this.

This is the only respectable way to change. Only you can change yourself; can't change anyone else.

turboswede wrote: Got some spot lights? I would get some huge ones "for the yard" and put them on a motion sensor set to only trigger when someone is at the fence line and have them pointed at the fence line.

A very large number of break-ins are committed durring daylight. I have a huge light on the back of my house, the hoodlums use it as a work light.

^Note: I'm not saying that a light is useless, just that its effectiveness may be limited.

HappyAndy wrote: I have always kept at least one of these in my house and have never had a break-in.

We've got a Great Dane/Lab mix. She's all muscle and when she jumps up is over 6' tall. Our front door has an eye height window, and when people knock she launches herself at the door, usually barking and growling in a manner resembling thunder. If we don't feel like answering the door for the random sales person, door to door religionist, or politician, we just let her bark and growl. People usually leave.

She has scared my mother off, and my mom loves the dog. She can be the sweetest dog in the world, until she decides not to be. I haven't seen it too often, but when a friend followed me into our house at an unexpected time of day for she cornered him and got in between him and me. Once I let her know he was cool, so was she. Perfect mix of OCD, territoriality, and friendliness.

That said, we still have an alarm system, deadbolts and everything else.

Derick Freese wrote: The police oppress the law abiding populous by allowing the outlaws have their way.

hence why people like me get arrested for not having mudflaps on their trucks and joe drugdealer on the corner goes untouched.

i say you go all charles bronson death wish on them

one of my co-workers.. an electrical and A/V genius.. wired up his house with cameras. When he bought his place 20 years ago, it was a nice neighborhood across from a good school. Now it is drug central and the school is one of those places kids go to get a diploma.. even if all they do is show up.

While the Cameras did not stop the crime.. he made them obvious enough that the drug dealers, vandals, and the like moved their activities down the block away from his house. Now he no longer comes home to broken windows, snapped off fence pieces, and syringes in the grass.

What is cool.. he can access the cameras from work over the net..

Sorry to hear about the stolen wedding ring.

Sometimes you can come up with other ways to screw with ruffians, particularly if you can get a few neighbors involved. Find something they are doing and find a way that the neighbors can get together to prevent it. For example, my brother moved into a house in a neighborhood that had some teenage troublemakers. For some reason - it seems to have been a shortcut to where they bought drugs - they had a habit of walking through everyones' back yards and across a creek like they owned the place. My brother organized several neighbors to get together and put up a large wooden fence along the creek, which put an end to that.

Solutions like that depend on just what sort of lowlifes you're dealing with, what they are up to, and how many good neighbors you can enlist to help you out.

Dogs are good, up to a point. It's surprising how zonked they get on a hamburger ball with a sleeping pill ground up and mixed into it (hooligan acquaintance in high school did that to break into a motorcycle shop).

Motion detector lights are good, but you want to shield them because a pellet gun will take them out quick. Word to the wise: use a infrared detector mounted remotely from the lights and make it difficult to spot.

It requires a community effort. Without the community's support, you may as well pack up and move.

curtis73 wrote: The best defense against your hoodlum neighbor is to become friends. ... He was a powerful friend to have.

Which makes you a known associate. That could come around to bite you one day.

donalson wrote:

Derick Freese wrote: Oh, and the guy that came out yelling at me is an illegal arms dealer and my neighbor to the back.

call the ATF?...

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It couldn't hurt to nuisance them with other calls too. code violations on the house, deface when you hear them yell at each other. Whatever you can think of. Outlaws don't like eyes on them if they can avoid it. Just be ready for retribution on your property (or person) if they know it is you.