We’re right on the outskirts of a little town . . walking distance. Vince had to run down to the storage building this morning to get something so he ran by their local police station. The Sheriff’s Department yesterday sent our call to them and they know exactly who it is. It is the guy the sheriff’s department mentioned after the first incident. They said he gets arrested often and is back on the street immediately. He’s stolen from numerous homes and businesses around the area. Vince gave them all the pictures. They know exactly where he lives so the police were going to go by his house and see if that bicycle is in plain sight.
The police told Vince . . we can arrest him but he’ll be back on the streets by dark.
I’m bringing all this up to tell you that no matter how safe you feel you are in your little community, things have changed and are changing rapidly. Things have changed here in the one year we’ve been here. Many courts (and often it’s an edict from the state) have instituted “no bond” policies and criminals know it. They’ll get picked up and be right back out . . no cost to them or their family, and no lesson learned . . except that crime pays. Purely my opinion but when elections roll around in your area, there are consequences for everything so listen carefully to what’s being proposed and think about how it may affect you and your community. No bond means criminals are back on the street instantly. Lack of police mean there’s no one coming or long delays when you make a call. The end result is that criminals win and home owners trying to do the right thing lose. Here we are now spending way too much time and money trying to figure out ways to keep ourselves safe in a home we bought and paid for and had hoped to live in peacefully for the rest of our lives. Now, ONE guy who is a habitual offender, has kinda blown that for us.
Our little town seems quiet and respectful for the most part but it just takes a few bad apples to ruin it. Just this week two officers responded to a call and ended up in a brawl. One of the officers was injured, one of the people in the other group was shot. Who would have thought that would happen here? I’m not going to say there’s NO respect for law, police, people’s rights but it’s declining at a rapid rate. If it isn’t affecting you now, it will.
If you think the police in your area are responding to calls rapidly, I’d recommend talking to an officer off the record if possible. It the answer is yes, we’ll be there immediately, good for you but my guess is, those places are few and far between.
We knew living in the county came with risks – mainly slow response from police. We didn’t expect NO response but again, I’m not blaming them. They’ve been put in this position. Every time I see a police officer, I want to say “Why are you doing this?” I’m thankful for them but if Vince or Chad were police officers, I’d do anything I could to get them to change careers. Why this guy has targeted our house, I’ll never know but I have a feeling he’ll be back.
There’s about 6 or 8 old guys (some not so old) who get together once a week and Vince is now part of that group. He took the picture to one that’s his friend and he said he’ll show it to the other guys and they’ll be watching for him. I have a feeling by the time all is said and done, the guy may avoid our area but who knows what will happen before he gets that message.
Kim Webb says
I think the no bail or bond thing is pretty common now or at least it is here in NY unless it’s a violent crime.
What will they arrest him for? While intent was probably there it’s very hard to prove someone’s intent and knocking on a front door isn’t a crime as far as I know.
Our police here where I am in NY are very responsive to any call but forget about it in Florida where we have a house. You could wait days and we have. That’s if they even show up.
You are completely right when you say the criminals are winning. It’s scary when your afraid to open your own front door to someone but now you have to think twice about everything.
I hate that this has happened to you and Vince.
Judy Laquidara says
With his history, I think everyone knows what his intent in knocking on our door was. Less than a month ago, he came on our porch during the middle of the night and changed his clothes, sat down and ate crackers. This guy apparently has a long history of breaking and entering/theft. No one expected him to be arrested – we expected the police to at least make a record that he’s been here twice and has no reason to be here.
BTW, he did have a glass breaking tool in his hand when he was here the other day.
Kim Webb says
I totally agree with you. We all know what his probable intent was and it is scary. When our house in Florida was burglarized we were not there but our neighbors reported it right away. They came back the next night and hit the garage. Never heard a single thing from the police then or since. Now there are cameras on every side.
I’m sorry it happened to you. I know it takes a long time to get over that type violation.
Judy Laquidara says
I’ll never understand people who feel the need to steal from others. For those who are truly in need – food, clothes – most of the time people are willing to help but just to go in and take what doesn’t belong to you . . that takes a rotten person.
Cathi Harry says
Shoot him in the hehind with a BB gun.
Sara Fridley says
What a frustrating situation for everyone in your community – to have this guy hanging around, stealing, and then not being kept in jail. And I’m sure the police are just as frustrated about not being able to get him off the streets for any length of time. We live in a very nice section of our little city of about 15,000, and there was a stabbing Thursday evening on the lawn of the elementary school 3 blocks from my house. It really freaked me out, even after knowing they had arrested the juvenile boy (15 yrs old) who had done the stabbing.
Judy Laquidara says
Thinking back to when I was 15 . . if I can remember that far back, stabbing someone is not anything myself or any of the people I knew ever even thought about doing. What is going on with people??
Even the officers who won’t come out and say it, you can tell from their voices that they are so frustrated. I feel bad for them – especially those who are way too young to retire but weren’t planning on starting a new career instead of finishing out with what they thought was their only career. I feel bad for all of them and sorry for us who have to live with what’s coming.
Marti Meadows says
Sounds like when Vince’s shop is built you are going to have to get a good alarm system!
Judy Laquidara says
We’ve already discussed that it will be a big target so he’s looking into putting bars over the windows. I hate doing that and think it looks awful but I’m afraid an alarm system alone isn’t going to be enough.
Carol says
believe me the police are just as frustrated. spending time, effort, not to mention their safety only to have the “target” back on the street to repeat. my son is in Federal law enforcement and it’s a real problem, more in some areas that others. I’d still report every incident so there is a dated record. never know when that may be needed.
Judy Laquidara says
I know. We have a neighbor who is an officer and we had one that came to all the neighborhood meetings and he just left the force. All of the law enforcement officers we know are either planning to leave soon or trying to figure out how they can leave soon. This is not going to work out well for most law abiding citizens.
Cindy F says
I’m sorry you are having to deal with this guy. It seems like it’s going to take something bad happening to this guy to have it stop. 🙁
Linda in NE says
When I was a teenager the brother of a cousin’s wife who was the Sheriff in the county my husband & I live in now once said at some family get together that if someone breaks into your house while you’re there shoot him and then call them. If the bullet’s impact sends him back through the door, drag him back inside before the deputies get there. Oh, and make that first shot count because otherwise if you don’t have a witness you don’t want the bad guy to be able to sue or press charges against you. Why would a Sheriff say that? Well, it’s a fairly large county and if something was happening at the other end of the county it could take the deputies more than a half hour to arrive. Plus whoever broke in had bad intent or they wouldn’t have broken in. I’m afraid things are going back in that direction in many places. Hope that guy never turns up in your neighborhood again, or maybe those neighbor men can pound some sense into him.
Nelle Coursey says
Never underestimate the power of the “old men’s club”. They will make sure this guy does not hurt anyone or rob from anyone. I know it is sometimes a crutch, but I think drugs are to blame for a lot of this. Not necessarily the person committing the crime, but their parents who took who knows what and addled the brains of the kids they had. I don’t understand the “no bond” thing. I can understand making the bond affordable, but what the heck! This is just telling these people they have the green light and do what they want. That is what makes them so bold!
Susan says
We both know how things got to this point. I never thought I’d see it, but here we are, and I hope it doesn’t last forever, but I’m afraid we’re reaching the point of no return. At least you have a community of homeowners who are prepared to help you watch. I only hope you have some gun rights still.
QuilterBea says
Instead of bars on the windows, maybe, you could look into bulletproof glass that would prevent ordinary glass break tools and look more neighborly. I hate where we are going as a country and hope the grass roots citizen will be able to turn the tide starting at the local level. If we can prevent the lunatics from getting in locally, it is less likely they will be able to move in at the State and National level.
Judy Laquidara says
We are going to put the bullet proof glass over the sidelights in our doors but for the shop, I think the bars will be less expensive.
A problem I see is that too many good people will not run for political office and I certainly don’t blame them. That leaves those who are in it for personal gain or other not so great reasons left to be our “leaders”.
Laura H. says
Glad you’re going to add the bulletproof glass to your sidelight glass. Glad you thought of it.
Dorothy Matheson says
Every one needs to vote for people that are not so liberal.
Judy Laquidara says
My opinion is that people have a right to vote their conscience and for those who believe the way they believe the country/local government should be run but people do need to listen to what’s being said and think about the ramifications for them, their local area and the country. There’s never going to be one candidate that meets everyone’s wants and needs but we have to make educated decisions. While I agree there are no doubt some bad police officers, whoever thought defunding the police, even to a small degree, was a good idea is going to have a rude awakening and a scary situation when they call the police and there’s no response.
Stopping the evictions during covid – crazy! I know several people who bought new homes, had smaller homes they decided to rent out and use the $$ to pay their house note and now, because they can’t get rent and can’t evict, they’re behind on their own house note. I have a family member with rental property and one of his renters bought a brand new pickup and a boat but isn’t paying rent. Yes, help those who need help but do it in a smarter way.
A friend’s daughter was living in a rental property, up to date on her rent but because so many of the owner’s properties had people not paying, he put every house up for sale and every renter then had to leave. What happens in a few years when there’s a shortage of rental property because no one wants to own rental property after this fiasco?
Think ahead! If Candidate A says he’s going to do this . . how will that affect me, my job, my community?
I don’t even know what to think any more.
Claudia Wade says
It’s such a shame that President Reagan gutted mental health services here in the U.S. Your weird guy would be a candidate for involuntary confinement as would many of the homeless and panhandlers.
Judy Laquidara says
Possibly but the world is a much different place from what it was in 1980. Nowadays, people committing crimes, even after convictions, are given suspended sentences. In almost every DWI accident that happens around here, the impaired driver has been arrested, convicted and either entered a plea deal or received a suspended sentence and this is even after multiple (sometimes 5 or 6) DWI arrests. Drugs (meth especially) is rampant here and most places. I’m not so sure that even President Carter’s mental health efforts would be enough for today’s world. When you read about the number of armed robberies, shootings, impaired driving accidents . . it’s an overwhelming number and I fear our entire society is breaking down. When we lived in Texas, we didn’t have “local news” available to us like we do here and it’s very frightening to know what’s going on. Vince was talking to a friend in law enforcement from Texas the other day and telling him how crazy it is here, and this is considered one of the safer areas, and the guy told him . . it’s the same here; it just isn’t reported.
We were driving through a town in northeast Texas once several years ago and there were two police officers in line at the restaurant where we stopped. Vince asked them if this was a pretty safe place to live. Both of them looked at him and said “We’re not saying anything!” We later did some investigating and it’s about the same as it is here – lots of meth, breaking and entering, armed robberies, etc.
Yes, it all boils down to mental health. Why do people take those first drugs? Why would anyone get in a vehicle and drive knowing they’re impaired? But, when the numbers/percentages are so high . . how do you stop it? If they were to take the panhandlers, homeless, drug users off the streets in this area, it would take a facility of almost impossible size to handle the problems. And this is probably nothing compared to what some places are experiencing.
I think about what a great country we would have if everyone was productive and not needing intervention. Some can’t help it . . true mental health issues, but many got into this position by their own making and need help getting back on the right path. It’s a mess.
Theresa A. says
I like your proactive ideas for protecting your home and family. Changing the sidelights to unbreakable Lexan is a great idea. Anything to make your home less attractive to a thief is good. If you google “Ways to make your home a harder target” there are a lot of good tips out there. We have big dogs that react to people around the house, we’re about to get ring, like you.
Judy Laquidara says
We won’t have big dogs ever because trying to walk them in the winter on snow and ice is too risky for us old folks. After having had a chocolate lab about 20 years ago, I said I’d never have a dog I couldn’t pick up and carry in my arms to the vet. Just for the record, our doorbell isn’t Ring brand but they all work pretty much the same.
We’ve added more glass breakage monitors and door alarms on some of the doors we thought previously weren’t necessary so . . we’re doing all we can but if someone is determined to break in, they’re going to get in. It won’t go unnoticed though!