I just returned from our Monthly Residents Association Meeting. We had a guest speaker from our local police department. We got briefed on crimes in our neighborhood. There were six break-ins just since January. The city has been very helpful working with us. A couple years ago our Association took over a local park that’s adjacent to us. It was run down, full of trash, and at night a haven for druggies and whores. We organized four different clean up Saturdays and the city provided a dumpster. We also had to repaint the Pavilion because it had gang graffiti all over it. The city also installed gates across the road and started locking access to the park at night. Now, our residents can go down there and use the Pavilion for barbeques and family outings.
A good deal of time was spent discussing our Neighborhood Watch patrol. We already have very strict rules they follow. No one ever gets out of their car. We have used video cameras a couple times to document drug trafficking at one rental house. We got eighteen license plates pulling up for a couple minutes and leaving in just three hours. The cops finally busted that dealer.
Bottom line is we’re trying to protect our families and our homes. There are neighborhoods within a half a mile that lost that battle. No one with a family would ever voluntarily buy a home over there. It’s just a cesspool. We may lose our neighborhood eventually. All the older residents are dying or moving into nursing homes. We had people that lived here for forty years. That makes a very safe and stable neighborhood. They become rental houses after they leave almost every time. Never any maintenance. Just rent them until they fall in. A lot of those renters only stick around a few months and then we get new ones.
Right now the hysteria over the Florida shooting is getting out of control. We are continuing to patrol at night. But we’re taking extra precautions. We really want at least two guys in every car. One with a camera to document anything we see and report to 911. Obviously avoiding any confrontations with anybody is top priority.
Have you discussed this at your Neighborhood Association meetings?