My 20 year old neighbor, who lives with his parents, has been dealing drugs in front of my house for almost a year now, and it is only getting more obvious.Im tired of this going on in front of my house. Im also not the only one who knows about it on the block. what is the best way to handle this, keeping in mind that I like where I live. Ive already called the police, and nothing has changed.
Thanks for the help.
Drug dealing punk
I had a similar problem with one of my rental properties. One of the tennants (actually it was her brother) was selling drugs out of the appartment. I went to the police department and filed a report. I also spoke to my management company and they figured out an easy way to get rid of the problem. The drug dealing brother wasn’t listed on the rental agreement, so we had a good reason to ask them to leave.
I would try going to the police again. The more times you talk to them the more serious they will take your situation. Also, try to talk to the right officers. I’d try to speak to someone in the drug unit.
I don’t know if this would be a good idea, it would ruin your anonymity, but have you tried talking to his parents? I know this sounds nuts, but the parents might not know. Sometimes parents ignore the obvious because they’d rather not know the truth about their kids.
Good luck getting this resolved. I stinks to live in a nice area and end up with a situation like this.
Before runining you anonymity (sp?)
I waould say going back to the cops would be a good idea. Go to the station, in person. Talk to the highest level officer they will let you speak with. Get their nam and the name of the commanding officer. Do this in a pleasant but matter of fact manner. If nothing is done, make an appointment with the commanding officer and explain the situation once again. If nothing is done then you go right to the chief or commsioner or mayor with the names and dates. Once you start going up that high in the chain of command they usually jump right on it. If they think you are going to be a a pain in the ass to them they start to worry about things like media exposure. At no time should you loose your cool or threaten any of them just be persistent. Unfortunately sometimes we have to play games to get people to do their jobs.
Alternate thinking: They might be keeping tabs on this guy to go after a bigger fish. Sometimes that takes a while. If they say they are “looking into it” they might be telling you the truth as far as they can without jeopardizing the investigation.
Ed
Pictures or maybe some video
Deterrents
1. A barking dog
2. Foul oder such as ammonia, sulfur, bleach.
3. Bright spot light (for nights)
Strength in numbers !
Get a few neighbors to file complaints also. Just one person is easy for them to ignore.
Video…
the deals,and give a copy of tape to the police.Zoom on the deals,and try not to get to much of the neighborhood details,but a street sign,distant house to identify your neighborhood,but not give away where the video was taken. It makes it safer for you if the tapes go to court,and the accused view the tape. They can’t argue with video.If they fail to act, take the video to a town council meeting. Embarassing the police in the public eye gets real fast results.
Happy Paddling billinpa
True story
About 8 years ago, in a quiet rural area
On a quiet cul de sac one condo occupant (a renter) had drug activity going on (very late night 10-20 minute “visits”, people who didn’t live there parking in the reserved carports “sampling”,etc. This was not speculation, but witnessed.
Block captain for Neighborhood Watch contacted
county sheriff.
A handful of people living in the same cul de sac took pix, jotted down license plate number, descriptions of vehicles, “customers”. Block captain phoned or e-mailed collected info to sheriff.
These were all women, retired, homemakers, and working people on different shifts, who decided to get involved.
Raid two months later (w. dog & officers in kevlar vests) found drugs, guns & cash. All sufficient to convict without any one of the “watchers” names being revealed.
The owners of the condo lived outstate. They defaulted, and the lender auctioned the condo. A young single woman bought the condo & continues to be a good neighbor there.
The block captain was me.
record plate numbers
of people who drive by and deal with him, if you can. Give these to the police as well. If they know they are being watched they may go elsewhere.
Know your local police
Like anything else in life, people will pay more attention to someone they know. Get to know at least one police officer in your district–it’ll make a big difference when you need their help.
Also, schedule a time and meet with your local city/county or whatever representative–before you need to ask them for help.
I’ve never found someone who wouldn’t meet with me, and I’ve always found it makes a difference to know them when I need to ask for something.
suggestions
Police generally have a lot more to do than they can do. They necessarily ignore lots of things that people care about because they have more important things to attend to. For example, I live in Michigan and know something about the Detroit police force. You can exceed the speed limit in Detroit and never get pulled over. They have their hands full with crimes like murder, attempted murder, assault, armed robbery, etc. Pestering them about a drug dealer in your front yard won’t accomplish anything. It is analogous to having your house burglarized. The police will go through the motions but basically they have no intent of trying to catch the burglars. Insurance covers problems like that. Your only hope is go go out and confront the young man and say something like “take your business to some other place or I will call in the police.” That probably won’t work and may be dangerous. So I don’t recommend it. But don’t do anything that has been suggested above.
If
your county,sheriff,local,or state police has a drug enforcement agency check with them,that’s their only job. Do NOT confront anyone,they may be dangerous,after all you are cutting into their profits.It will also point them directly to you for retaliation. Video is a lock ,and can be shown to any police agency.Have neighbors also video,get license #'s ,faces, and cars. If you know someone in law enforcement it will help also.
Happy Paddling billinpa
don’t confront
Dr. Disco, I respect what you said, but don’t agree that the person here should go up to the dealer and confront him. That is wrong for many reasons:
It gives the dealer too much personal info.
He now knows the person’s face. He can figure out where he lives, what vehicles, identify other family members. They really know how to use the latter.
IF anything interferes with “business” the man is going to get blamed for that regardless of the actual reason.
Drug dealers (or actually their enforcers) are notorious for taking quick violent revenge. And nobody will report it out of the same fears.
I’ve worked in Detroit for 7 years. I’ve had to brake & stop on sidestreets while money & drugs were exchanged. What did I do? My windows are tinted & always rolled up in the City. I blast music & bounce. I play dumb & survive.
Our project managers, one always carrying a licensed handgun, go in pairs to certain jobsites, especially at night. Dealers work in the building alcoves, parking lots, in the bleachers near the athletic fields.
My advice is NOT to confront. Observe, back away, and decide how much can be documented. The more documentation you can give, the easier it is for police to make the case.
Assuming they want to. Detroit is an especially bad example as it is a crime infested hellhole with nightly violence and random gunfire, where 40% of all murders go unsolved, populated largely by people who do not trust the police, a shrinking number of good cops, and a stifling corruption and xenophobia that absolutely cripples the most basic city services.
Any city would be better.
read what I wrote
I did not recommend confrontation and said it was dangerous.
Do nothing?
Is that what your saying? What people do in there own house is one thing, but not on the street corner. Maybe post a note on his car late at night.Tell him that he is being wacthed.
Keep things in balance
Do you really want to get a 20 year old into the criminal justice system? That could literally be the kiss of death for him. Is relieving your annoyance worth that? I there another way? Where are his parents in all this? I ask these questions just to get you thinking about options besides the police. As I indicate in a previous post this in not likely to be high on the scale of priorities that the police have. It is almost certain they knew about him before you contacted him. Maybe they are trying to get his supplier but it is likely they already know that. The best outcome would be to extricate this young person from the situation before some serious law enforcement activity happens.
call the fire (!!) dept and
– Last Updated: Feb-25-07 9:01 PM EST –
tell them you suspect a methlab in some neighbours garage and now you see smoke coming out of it- you'll wonder who else is coming besides the fire trucks....
might be a good idea to use a payphone for the call, though.....
Yes, it’s correct
http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/anonymity
So, you’re “looking for a sport that is less weather dependent” than skydiving. Man, I know what you mean. My other sport is Hang Gliding, and I’d venture to say that it’s much more weather dependent than skydiving. If you only want a short flight it’s probably the same as skydiving, but if you want to be up for a while and fly crosscountry for a bunch of miles, it’s extremely weather dependent. It wouldn’t be so bad, but of course, you always want that long (in time and distance) flight.
The other aspect of it, for me, is that I don’t want my son to even think about flying hang gliders.
Welcome to paddling.
Pedro Almeida
Go above the fuzz- they’re on the take
Call the FBI.
Get a pellet gun and peg him …
…anonymously from your basement window.