So our neighbors have been a growing problem for a few months now. They seem to be a flop house for six or seven people, most of them look high all day. They go out and Rev a Harley at 3am, they burn plastic been our houses in a fire pit, they have a new dog every two weeks because they keep getting out and getting hit by traffic in the busy street we live on, the current two have bit people. I’m not one to care how someone lives, but these folks make the rest of our slum neighborhood look downright utopian.
I’ve tried taking to them, they’re stupidly hostile. I’ve put in complaints with the city, noise complaints with the police, they don’t do anything about it. Does anyone have advice on dealing with this? I’m tired, at my wits end, and my small town tactics aren’t as easy to pull off in a proper city.
There isn’t a hell of a lot you can do to really get rid of them. I’d try to find out if they’re renting the property and see if you can get in contact with the landlord/property management company and tell them about it. Most lease agreements require that you disclose how many residents are staying there so there’s a good chance theyre violating that rule among many others. The other thing is (assuming that this is the US since no location given and that’s where I have experince) document absolutely everything. Make a notebook just for writing down the date and time of every stupid / possibly illegal thing you see them do. Take video / audio recordings whenever possible and avoid direct contact. Then every time they rev their motorcycle at 3am call the non emergency police line. Every. Single. Time. The cops will get tired of it, but they’ll be more tired of the likely rude/violent reaction from your scumbag neighbors. Also call animal control any time you see their dog running outside of their property or of it bites someone. Long term / extreme pettiness is what’s going to work. Most importantly though never confront them directly and never tell them you’re calling the cops.
In addition to this [already great] answer: if you get other neighbours on the same page of you, even better. Have them reporting the scumbags to the cops, documenting the shit that they do, etc.
I’m saying this because, from the cops’ PoV, it’ll sound way more serious if multiple people are reporting the same thing. So they’re more likely to act.
An important detail: don’t make shit up. It’s fine to report small shit, as long as it’s real; but cops have a professionally trained nose for bullshit, so don’t try to bullshit them, it’ll backfire.
I think this is a great answer.
I would buy a camera security system so it’s always on and you have an automatic record. Something with a hard drive.
Don’t say anything about it, just quietly set it up first pointing at your house. For “your security”. Then a few days later point those cams at their house / the street / their yard / etc. You may see more that you didn’t know was going on.
Video evidence goes a long way. More than a person’s word, usually. Sadly.
You’re upset the physical evidence is worth more than hearsay?
Human memories are notoriously unreliable, and physical evidence, like video footage SHOULD ABSOLUTELY be worth more than a person’s word.
Hm, so idk how I feel about this one.
I think everyone deserves privacy, even shitty neighbors, recording individual instances is one thing but literally setting up surveillance on someone’s home is a little yikes