I think I have some telling clues in my digi camera and now I should talk to a detective.
I have a city job which takes me into neighborhoods of this smallish city. THe house in question is a sadly neglected rambling victorian with 3 or 4 units carved into it. The place is a shambles, hole in the roof, cardboard in windows rotted eaves, no steps, garbage filled garage with fallen in roof. Rotted siding broken windows and on and on plus junk and all the rest of it. People actually live there. No deposit no credit check. Pay as you clean out the previous tenant’s crap. Im taking pictures of this property and up comes a youth and we chat about the house. No one who lives there has a job, the landlord leaves all property maintenance up to his tenants. He lives in town but doesnt lift a finger and collects rent and pays shit in taxes.
CLues: byproducts of “illicit drug lab” production?
bags of red dyed fabric something in plastic garbage bags. Thought maybe its pink insulation. BUt why would’nt the tenants throw it towards the pile of rubbish outside their door?
Windows boarded up
Garbage never gets to the curb, was told that the basement is filled with clothes and rags and garbage.
The Senior citizens who rat out this house every frcikin month complain of odors too, acrid odors at night.
The youth i talked to was nice, somewhat informative but toatlly trying to gloss over the condition of the place. guess he didint want to lose his nonexistent lease! I gave him my card, He was a freak in appearance. sorry freaks
I just want to talk to a detective I guess… Theboss is a weasel Im on my own :dubious:
chela, slum lord? Absolutely! Crack house? Well, the stuff you’re saying doesn’t add up to that in my book (not saying that it isn’t a crack house, just that nothing you’ve posted would point me in that direction). I served for five years as co-coordinator of our little city’s Crime Watch, and we’ve been instrumental in getting a dozen crack houses closed down (I’m not bragging, just telling you what my credentials are). The main thing to look for in crack houses (or drug houses in general) is a steady flow of traffic. The people that come and go never stay for long, and there are different people in and out all the time. Also, look for people living in homes like this but driving moderately expensive cars, or having pricey clothing and gear.
Seems like you’re only basing your suspicions on the fact that none of these folks have jobs. But they may be on public assistance, or receive child support. A lot of times, at least around here, there’s a long wait between receiving cash assistance and receiving HUD. You don’t have to be a drug dealer to be broke. In fact, the only drug dealers who are broke are the ones who use as well as sell.
Perhaps as a city employee (or even a good citizen), he feels that it’s his duty to investigate whether or not anything illegal is going on (sounds like a lot of code violations to me) and, if there is something illegal going on, getting it shut down.
Live and let live is one thing, but allowing something Wrong to go on is something entirely else. The drug dealers who lived down the block from my old apartment weren’t causing any disturbances, at least not until they beat some guy to death.
Of course, my question would be, why hasn’t anyone done anything about it? If the police are there and they haven’t shut it down, I’d wager one of three things: 1) they don’t care or 2) there’s some gross miscoordination between city agencies (like they never told the building department) or 3) They’re working on it but are caught in red tape.
As for causing disturbances, you should reread the OP.
And when this blatant firetrap goes up in flames and surviving relatives start crawling out of the woodwork to sue the city for not enforcing fire codes? I would guess that a city employee’s business includes looking into such matters (to keep down the taxes supporting insurance and legal fees, if nothing else).
Natto I would mind my own business but its my job to answer complaints about nuisance properties.
I just happened to notice by zooming in with my camera certain clues which combined with a lot of other information could be a tip to something sorta dangerous. I did find a list online of household chemical products and lab items that are used to cook meth. This stuff can be manufactured in a hotel room or in the woods, anywhere.
What I did do today was pass the address to the publicsafety officer, who said he’ll drive by and check it out. This is Small town rural midwest America ,nah one would never find drugs here :smack:
OK, I didn’t get that from your OP. But even if that’s true, what business is it of yours to snoop into anything beyond the condition of the house and yard? You’re a code inspector, not a criminal investigator. Poor people have privacy too.
WHo is snooping? I am standing on the sidewalk in the middle of the day aiming my camera at overturned garbage cans, bags of garbage piled in the yard, and the burn pits in the yard and at the junk cars with flat tires and busted out windows filled with crap in the driveway. There are plenty of poor people who keep their places tidy and some well off slobs who do not. I dont give a rats ass if they’re poor or not, they need to clean up their shit!
Just so happens it is also part of my job, if I see something out of my jurisdiction, I pass it on to the proper authorities, i wont turn a blind eye. shrug
Sounds like you did the right thing - you passed the information you have, which you obtained through legal means, onto someone who can do something about it. Done.
Whether or not the authorities do anything about it may be another matter. They may have already investigated and found nothing. They may be waiting for a warrant. They place may even be under watch by someone even higher up (DEA, for example) and the local police have been told to stay away lest they ruin a potentially bigger bust planned for the future.
In short, you did good. No longer your problem. Don’t freak out if nothing happens.
