Have you ever had to deal with drug activity in your neighborhood? What did you do?

For the last several years (it seemed like it started when someone tried to break into our house in 2012 in middle of the night), our neighborhood, and very, very close to my own residence, there has been drug activity and it doesn't seem to matter how many times anyone calls the cops, there is always something up. I don't know if it goes on anywhere else in the neighborhood, but two houses down from me, one to the south, and four houses to the north of me seem to harbor drug activity. People during the day or in middle of the night walk back and forth from house to house, going up another street (west) past our house sometimes yelling at each other, or talking out loud to themselves as if they've been on drugs.

Often times there'll be cars parked out on the street when they shouldn't be. While it doesn't bother me too much, too often, when it gets closer and you know something in view is going on it can make me nervous. Because of this, it seems there is a number of homeowners that banded together to try and fight it when possible, but nothing has really come about in fixing the whole issue altogether, and it honestly just seems to get worse with new faces coming about. I have the feeling the woman in one house and the guy from the other (both in their 50's and older) need to get out of there. From what I understand, it's their parents' houses too.

Has anyone else dealt with this before and actually fixed the issue? I hate to bring up the cliche thing by saying our neighborhood is a nice place, but it really is and when we moved here in 2009, it, at least to me, felt like a nice quiet place to be in comparison to where we were (which was fine itself though), but now it seems even worse. It also just sucks to me personally because I walk to work and often in the middle of the night since I work at a clubhouse five minutes away, so I can't really escape walking by a house that has people doing untoward things.

The only answer I ever get is 'just keep calling the cops', but that really hasn't worked. There seems to be one cop that peruses the neighborhood around my area every once and while.

If people go from house to house in my street (especially westward and/or noisily) I just go out dressed as Big Bird with an egg and explain to them the dangers of drugs.

Sorry to hear you had a break in attempt but if you're sure they're doing something that's illegal and it's bothering you all you can do is call the police, if they're not changing anything I don't think you'll have any luck doing so either. If it's a genuine problem and it's getting worse, I'd sell up and move away before it does and your place isn't worth shit.

People are gonna do what they want in the end no matter what you say/do. Not very helpful I suppose...

There's nothing you can do. If there are continual problems for years on end and the police aren't helping, it's time to move. If for some reason you can't move then you will probably just have to deal with it.

If you can get a dog and have the time and will to look after one, get one. Having a dog reduces the odds of getting broken into by a lot. A drug addict who is desperate for cash will pick the easiest route, they do not want that kind of hassle.

Get some cctv cameras outside and put up some very clear signs that you have cctv on your premises. You can get the signs on amazon. Even the big fake cctv cameras with the blinking lights can work. It's all about making your house seem like the most hassle. Floodlights with movement sensors are also a good idea, they are not as expensive as you might think.

In terms of unsavory characters, there is not much you can do really. If they are not doing anything specifically illegal, the cops can't do shit. If its not so much addicts that are the problem but people who are selling, you may be surprised as to how much they don't want anything to do with anyone else. I dunno tho, it's a weird situation.

@ntm: You call the police. I get that you don't like that answer, but that's the right answer and it's the only actual solution. I work for a city administration, and the city I work in has a drug problem, as do most cities of at least 50,000 people or more. The neighborhoods that get cleaned up and straightened out are the ones who call the police and work with them to make progress.

It is important to note that calling the police does not mean calling 911. If you call 911 you will get someone who is there to deal with an emergency, and to be honest, it's often not someone who is going to deal with a long term problem like drugs. You need to find the non-emergency number for your police department and call them. Ask to speak to someone in their narcotics unit, if they have one, or if they don't, ask if you can speak to the police chief directly. They will talk with you. They will work with you, and if you and your neighbors work with them, the drug dealers really will leave. Even if they don't get arrested they would much rather be someplace where the police aren't paying attention to everything they do.

The City I work for has about 60,000 residents, so it's not New York or LA, but is pretty representative of average non-major cities in the US, and even we have a narcotics unit and a SWAT team (although here they are call it the SORT team). Every one of them passionately loves to bust drug dealers, and I am confident the same is true for where you live. They aren't going to ignore you or blow you off or not pursue it. If there is any chance your info can help them ruin a drug dealers day, they are going to be all over it. You will be amazed how much many of them have personalities like TV characters, and further amazed at how the way they act is absolutely NOTHING like you see on TV.

If you don't get the response you need, call your mayor or city administrator and talk to them. You'd be surprised how helpful we can be. Just please, please, for the love of Pete, don't start the conversation with the phrase "I'm a taxpayer!" A) many times that's not actually true, B) the person you're speaking to is ALSO a tax payer, C) it's their job to help everyone so tax status is irrelevant, and D) most importantly, starting a conversation with a threat or implication of a threat has never facilitated progress.

Also, Block Watches are great for curbing this activity once your drive out the drug dealers. Talk to your neighbors and City administration about it. Most cities will support it with training, meeting rooms, signage, and police assistance. No, they won't arm anyone and likely will not allow anyone to arm themselves, but having a public presence that says "hey, we're watching everything that happens on this block" will keep most criminals away.

Long story short: work with the police. They can't fight the drug dealers without your help, and vice versa. I hope I don't sound like some preachy jerk. When I was a kid I was absolutely one of those "Fuck the pigs!" kids, but after spending enough time around the narcotics guys and watching drug raids up close, I have a genuine respect for what they do.

@splodge: Oh, not so worried about that anymore honestly with the camera's and what have you. We did that a long time ago when someone tried to break in in 2012. Some are fake, and some are not. The fake ones I know fool people since a neighbor drove by and said he noticed we put cameras up. And I have a dog, but not a guard dog and don't really want one for those purposes. I, as well as many other people in the neighborhood (or I should say, at least in the vicinity around my part of the neighborhood), are not so bothered by it that we feel we have to move as if our life is in danger, it's just a nuisance that we'd like to see go away. I only know of one family that wants to move, and one person that has. And yes, I know the people that are sitting in their cars selling or doing drugs are less threatening than one might think (although I'm not so confident about walking up to their car and telling them off, which is probably just idiotic).

They're more scared of what the homeowner might do if they are noticed, which is often why when I or a family member just walks outside and looks toward their car they leave after a while. They also have to assume we're calling the police, which isn't always the case mind you. The only time we really call is if they were there longer than we'd like, park their (most likely stolen) car and leave it there, or hear arguing/crying for an extended amount of time. Although it's not a huge ordeal that'll make us do something drastic (like move), it is as I said, a nuisance. I just find it ludicrous that the police come, may or may not take someone, put someone in jail and then a few months later they're back at it again. I think most of them would go away if the two houses that had the two 'older' people had left or got kicked out.

I am just curious if anyone does or has gone through the issue, and if they dealt with it in their neighborhood. I feel, at least in my situation, that moving is one of the last things to come to mind and would be an excessive move. Lastly, although someone attempting to break into our house in 2012 has changed the way I feel secure, I am not as concerned about it nowadays and isn't really the topic at hand, but sure enough, when it happened we went through most of the processes to make it feel more secure. I was angry, shocked and shaken when it happened, and how it happened is just freaky to me. I made a thread the night it happened. Someone standing in our backyard looking in the bathroom window, the guy notices it and instantly runs to our locked carport door and tries to open it by vigorously shaking the handle. That's as far as it got, but it was enough.

I'm still a little surprised it happened all the way back in 2012.

@ltcolumbo: Yeah, I know not to call 911. The entire thing has been discussed at our HOA at my place of work, with police there (although, I honestly had no idea it was a thing until after it happened, so I didn't go when it happened). Also, I don't dislike the police or disregard them. Heck, it's weird to say but I actually like it when they're in the neighborhood! I just don't like the way things work, where (and to no fault of their own) take someone, and then a few months later the same person is back at it again. I just wish the homeowners of the houses that attract the people doing drugs weren't there anymore and something got done about that. If those houses could be renovated if need be, and sold to some nice families, then everything would be okay I want to assume. I don't have an issue with police around here. Sorry if that's what I made it sound like? Also, I kind of know the answer to the question of how to deal with it, I was more curious if anyone had gone through it and if they overcame the issue. I have thought about the idea of block watch, but I don't know who'd be up for that. And um... sounds like you deal with a bunch of assholes honestly, ha ha. Oh, and I don't want to get too specific about it, but we live in Washington State.

My old neighborhood had drug activity constantly. Hell, half of my friends were either dealing or buying. It never really stopped and my parents moved us out for a number of reasons (someone starting our bush on fire for no reason kinda gave us a kick).

That was 15 years ago and things never really changed there. Gotten worse in some regards. I go down there a few times a month and the drugs and gangs and guns are still noticeable.

It was a good place to grow up, I would've even considered it "nice." But apparently this stuff was always around and we just weren't aware. If it's really bothering you it might be time to move on.

Have you ever had to deal with drug activity in your neighborhood?

Yes.

What did you do?

Drugs.

On a more serious note, yes, I currently live about a block away from a crack house. I've had my bike stolen, and my car was broken into at one point. It sucks. There's not much you can do. The police are well aware that there's a crack house, and yet it still exists.

y @jackanderson221 said:

what the...I just posted and deleted a very long post and now a robot has posted my first sentence of that post+spam...freaky.