Gettin Cozy with the Cops

I recently wrote about my Summer Soaps, and how I'm the creepy neighbor always looking out her window. Well, I now have good reason. I'm slowly getting used to seeing the cops at least once a day, if not more. And not just one car, but two to three, to sometimes four (up to six and seven if the Highway Patrol and Campus Police join in the fun).

It's official. My neighborhood is the #1 problem in our city. With Meth & Gangs just a few houses down. Scary shit.

Small children (under the age of 10) are no longer allowed outside of their homes to play. Not even into their backyards. Little girls that used to cruise up and down my driveway just a few short months ago, are now restricted to staying inside* and driving their mother insane.

The adults gathered last night for a neighborhood meeting with the Sergeant of the Gang Unit, and the Detective who has been involved with these houses for a long time. It was a good meeting, and I was impressed by how upset the whole neighborhood is about the three problem houses**. Not to mention that the main problem house is next door to a community center. Oh, and the landlord*** that owns two of the three problem properties? Doesn't give a flying rats ass about the problem. There were a few jokes last night about clearing the people from the house, and having an old lady (her idea btw) throw a Malatov Cocktail at the White House**.

(Click on the image for a slightly larger pic of My Neighborhood)

So, what was a joke last week, is a major problem this week. I thought I was paranoid before, but I'm kind of freaking out now. The Ex-Roomie and his Girl are considering buying small handguns (and taking classes, and getting Concealed Weapons Permits), because they are that freaked out. They live right across the street from the White House, and have witnessed drug deals.

Seriously, what happened to the good, quiet little town that I grew up in?

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*A couple of families with fences that connect their backyards have been propping ladders up, so the kids don't have to walk around the block to their friends (and pass the gang houses), but can just crawl over the fence into their friends' backyard.

** "Little Mexico" is a complex on the next block down from us, with The Blue House, and The White House. The Blue and White houses had a huge fight last weekend, and a lot of people moved across the street to hang out at The Blue House. Half of the White house is closed (waiting to be condemned) because of Meth...

***His backyard, where his grandchildren play, connects to the backyard of the White House (Meth House), and he still won't do a damn thing. -------The Cops are well aware of this guy, and how he's a major slumlord. They're working on racking up the charges on this guy, and sending him to jail, to hopefully get the message through. Also, the city is working on imposing Licensing for landlords, to make sure their properties don't become problems, like in our neighborhood. The Cops are hoping that with a license, if a place gets out of control, they would be able to yank the license of the landlord and shut things down faster. Curious how this will play out.