Do You Believe In Luck?

[Dreadbelly]

Today, when I went downtown, I happened to look over acrossed the street and saw the GCL (Greenville Crime Lab) at the cemetary. So I crossed the street and asked what was up. A dead body in the cemetary, that was what was up. Somebody got cut to shreds.

Looked to be a drug deal gone bad.

Last night... I was going to go for a walk. And just as I was going to get dressed and head out the door, I got sleepy. So I went to bed instead.

Meth is a serious problem round here. A real serious problem. While I am not sure what to do exactly, I do think that something needs to be done. The city is simply not doing enough to combat the drug problem. The cameras downtown are nice, but all they do is drive the criminals to a place where there are no cameras.

I am not scared. No macho or bravado here. It's merely a statement. I am however, a bit more concerned and a bit worried about my nightly walks. Had I gone for a walk last night, I could have very well wound up in the middle of that. And while this was done with a knife, I know a lot of dealers also have guns. If faced with a knife fight... I am fairly confident that I could hold my own. If faced with a gun... I have some doubts.

This is unacceptable. The city simply must do more to end this problem and keep the streets clean of trash of all kinds. Entirely to much work was done to make downtown Greenville a decent place to be. And now the fringes are becoming nasty again. Something clearly needs to be done... But what?

Going to have to make these fringe areas uncomfortable somehow to this undesireable element.

So far, my only idea is as follows. There is a lot of scrub and brush. Hedges and trees. And tombstones. I have a hunting slingshot someplace that fires steel ball bearings. Think about it for a moment. Yeah. That's it. Hunker down in the bushes give somebody the worst headache in their life. Or, if presented with the opportunity, shoot them in the groin. Wouldn't want any more children coming in to this world with parents that will put them at risk.

It's only an idea, but one I am considering. Anybody can sit back and bitch. Somebody has to get their hands dirty.

If I had the money, I would get a digital movie cam with a night vision system. Trail them from the bushes, get them on camera, get their faces, get their bloody license plates if I could, film them in the act, and turn the film in to the police.

[Archangel]

So here's the deal, everybody in a modern city is filmed at least four times a day. If the political will was there, the crimes would be dealt with.
I would not suggest the sling-shot idea. In the chess game of life, this would leave you with a lousy endgame.
Not sure of political parameters allowed here but, quickly, I'll make a couple of suggestions. One, show the local politicians that it is your community's will that this get cleaned up. Have like minded people write and mail letters (not petitions, emails). Have brightly lit allowed (by cemetary owners) vigils, all night songs, prayer, meditation, reflection and clean up. It probably is a good time to act, politicos are going to be very sensitive right now.

If the followers lead, the leaders will follow.


(mods: how much room do we have to move in this discussion?)

[Southern Breeze]

Have you considerd starting or joining a neighborhood watch program? Most large cities have at least one set up. Check with your local police department.If your going to carry a weapon the simple camcorder is the way to go.

[Brasilikilt]

Hey Dread

My neighborhood is also on the rough side. A friend of mine jokingly said "You live on the corner of Meth and Prostitute" but unfortunately there is too much truth to his joke.
Just last night some A$$*&%$decided that my parkinglot was a perfect place to pull into and take a leak all over my fence!!
On a few different occasions radios have been stolen from vehicles here, cars have been stolen, or stolen cars have been dumped here

There's tenants in my complex which were on the news for being a part of some meth-dealing ring and DEFINITELY have some kind of illegal crap going on HERE which people are coming and going several times a day leaving with empty backpacks, returning with a full backpack which they put in their trunk before taking off. The cops have been here several times and I'm sure the Drug and Vice squad can only add them onto a looooong list of identical reports happening all over this neighborhood
Some guy was STABBED on the sidewalk RIGHT NEXT TO MY PARKING LOT!! If I was here, I sure as hell would have put a stop to it!

Almost every day I see "tweekers" (slang term for drug addict) going through the dumpsters here.

On a couple different occasions people have tried to break into my Laundry room/Workshop area.......when I called the police to come and make a report, the officer literally told me that he couldn't do anything and that I would be better off waiting on the other side of the door with my shotgun
ERRRRRRRGGGG
The list goes on and on and on!

It must feel really good in your case to have been able to stop a crimes from being comitted with your sure-handed barbarian frying-pan style :-)

In my case...I see all this stuff happening around me and I SO BADLY want to put a stop to it, but calling the cops is no good because they won't waste time sending a cruiser out here for anything less than burglary or a fight in progress........
The most frustrating thing is that if I confront these wastes of space and tell em to get the F*#@ away, I have to worry about these scumbags coming back to my house while I'm gone at work and putting my pregnant wife in danger. These spineless turds would most likely resort to a more cowardly tactic, such as breaking into my shop and stealing all my tools which would REALLY REALLY Hurt me BAD!!
If I were to resort to any TRULY EFFECTIVE methods such as beating them away with my staff, pelting them with dirt clods, garbage and fecal matter or by simply swatting at them with a broom while screaming in gibberish, *I* would be the one to go to jail!

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR...........
Thanks for letting me vent :0)

[Dreadbelly]

Hey Dread

My neighborhood is also on the rough side. A friend of mine jokingly said "You live on the corner of Meth and Prostitute" but unfortunately there is too much truth to his joke.
Just last night some A$$*&%$decided that my parkinglot was a perfect place to pull into and take a leak all over my fence!!
On a few different occasions radios have been stolen from vehicles here, cars have been stolen, or stolen cars have been dumped here

There's tenants in my complex which were on the news for being a part of some meth-dealing ring and DEFINITELY have some kind of illegal crap going on HERE which people are coming and going several times a day leaving with empty backpacks, returning with a full backpack which they put in their trunk before taking off. The cops have been here several times and I'm sure the Drug and Vice squad can only add them onto a looooong list of identical reports happening all over this neighborhood
Some guy was STABBED on the sidewalk RIGHT NEXT TO MY PARKING LOT!! If I was here, I sure as hell would have put a stop to it!

Almost every day I see "tweekers" (slang term for drug addict) going through the dumpsters here.

On a couple different occasions people have tried to break into my Laundry room/Workshop area.......when I called the police to come and make a report, the officer literally told me that he couldn't do anything and that I would be better off waiting on the other side of the door with my shotgun
ERRRRRRRGGGG
The list goes on and on and on!

It must feel really good in your case to have been able to stop a crimes from being comitted with your sure-handed barbarian frying-pan style :-)

In my case...I see all this stuff happening around me and I SO BADLY want to put a stop to it, but calling the cops is no good because they won't waste time sending a cruiser out here for anything less than burglary or a fight in progress........
The most frustrating thing is that if I confront these wastes of space and tell em to get the F*#@ away, I have to worry about these scumbags coming back to my house while I'm gone at work and putting my pregnant wife in danger. These spineless turds would most likely resort to a more cowardly tactic, such as breaking into my shop and stealing all my tools which would REALLY REALLY Hurt me BAD!!
If I were to resort to any TRULY EFFECTIVE methods such as beating them away with my staff, pelting them with dirt clods, garbage and fecal matter or by simply swatting at them with a broom while screaming in gibberish, *I* would be the one to go to jail!

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR...........
Thanks for letting me vent :0)

There you go. Get MAD. Anger is a good driving force. A fuel. Now direct it in a positive direction if you can.

And then go and take your neighborhood back.

Some times, when the police fail, the community must be the ones out on the streets with radios, bats, cameras, dogs, and whatever else they can muster.

Make sure every time you deal with the police that you tweak their nose and hurt their pride. If you have to clean up a mess, make sure you let them know that you, a lowly citizen, just did their job. Well, the ones that act like they don't give a damn anyways. The good ones, make sure you thank them profusely for doing what they could.

I got me some ideas. Some of them involve direct violence. Some involve ripping city hall a new one. One idea involves having my body chained to a lightpost in front of city hall. No, I am not joking. I am really that angry about this. This is my HOME.

I would rather not resort to violence, but I am more than capable of it if I have to. I figure that if I do something so over the top that it is impossible to ignore, at least it might get on the news and get some attention. Maybe. If I am lucky.

The tweakers are getting bad around here.

[Archangel]

Community in Toronto that was bad set up a website and cam with pictures of "visitors" to the neighbourhood. Also posted license numbers of circling cars and posted broadsheets promoting the website. They claim that it worked and was copying an effective one from Vancouver, if I'm remembering correctly. It didn't violate our privacy laws.

[Riverkilt]

Sad Stuff.

Still remember my first methamphetamine addicted client 12 years ago...actually had to look up what it was he was using. Today, its epidemic across America. Methamphetamine has even swept the Navajo Nation. I work as an addictions counselor.

As bad as the crime, the effects on the human mind and body, and the babies born addicted to methamphetamine are - even worse is the environmental polution from the manufacture of methamphetamine. Not just the big labs, but the little guy making meth by the Nazi method in some rooming house or motel room.

There are nearly 50 different ways to make methamphetamine, all available on the internet or in bookstores or from jail/prison cooking instructions. All leave toxic waste behind. Tweakers have no interest in quality control of the drugs they cook out of cold pills, pool acid, road flares, Drano and gasoline. And they certainly have no interest in environmental safety in the disposal of the by products from their latest batch of meth. They love making their own drugs...nothing to import, sometimes not even a drug dealer to buy from.

The high school kids in treatment used to think the different colors of meth were flavors, and gave them names....lemon drop, peanut butter, Rocky Mountain Red, et.al. Have to hammer home to them that those are impurities, not flavors....iodine, copper, etc.

I've long, and unsuccessfully, advocated for heavy metal testing for methamphetamine addicts in treatment. Lead and mercury are often found in methamphetamine...depending on what process was used to make it.

Been my experience over years of working with methamphetamine that some folks never come home. There's no way to tell the difference between the behavior of a person in a paranoid schizophrenic break and a meth tweaker other than by knowing they've been using meth.

One tactic you might try Dread, if your city has behavioral health crisis teams, is to call them and tell them there's a person in an "Altered state of consciousness" at whatever location. They can at least take them out of your neighborhood to a mental health crisis center - if your city has one.

Sadly, the reason meth is so epidemic in the US is that we have no defense against it. The reccomended treatment modality is "Time and Love." Be nice and give them time to get it out of their system and let their brain heal - if it can. Sadly, meth is so addictive few are able to stay clean.

I noticed a cable program about how bad methamphetamine is was sponsored by an over the counter sleep aid. Dentists have a new market since meth destroys teeth. Glass blowers are cranking out pipes. Antipsychotic medications normally used for schizophrenics now have a high street value as tweakers use them to combat the hallucinations from meth. Use of marijuana and booze is flourishing in the meth culture as a way to come down from the high and mellow out. Sexually transmitted diseases are rampant because of the hypersexuality of meth users.

Meth dealers and cooks are ALWAYS violent. Meth users get violent from irritability from being up for many days.

The jails and prisons are packed. In my corner of Arizona the methamphetamine user is arrested, put on probation and sent to outpatient treatment. They continue to use on probation, are violated and sent to jail then sent to residential treatment. When they complete residential treatment they are still on probation while in aftercare treatment. They continue to use, don't show up for treatment, violate probation, are sent back to jail, then sent to prison, then released on parole to outpatient treatment, violate parole and sent back to prison.

A sad, sad, sad situation with little hope for remedy. Methamphetamine is that addictive.

Worse, there is a new generation of children born addicted to methamphetamine and/or being raised, or neglected, by methamphetamine addicted drugs.

By the way, methamphetamine is a woman's drug - allows them to lose weight, work two jobs, raise kids, and clean house all at the same time. At least 60% of methamphetamine addicts are women...yes, teenage girls trying to stay thin.

And, industry loves it!! Productivity is up. Yes, so is turnover as our tweakers burn out and crash but we can hire more. Any industry or business that works 24/7 is gonna have lots of tweakers as employees. I've worked with countless blue collar meth addicts who couldn't go back to their job after treatment because their foreman was their dealer...same deal as meth in the military...go go go. If you don't believe me and have a 24 hour supermarket in your town go visit in the wee hours when the shelf stockers are at work...you'll see skinny people with bad complexions and bad teeth working very very fast....sometimes seemingly floating six inches above the floor.

Sadly, there ain't no easy answers...particularly when current government focus is on marijuana....

As for confronting tweakers....that is a very very very bad idea...even the best armed cops struggle...tasers, bullets....often little effect. About the only thing tweakers respond to is numbers...8 on 1 confrontations...you can watch them do the math.

You can also play to their paranoia....rather than confront one on the street you could act real friendly and say..."Hey man, I just saw some suits around the corner...looked like two detectives, beige sedan and a green sedan."

There are no easy answers with meth....

Ron

[Archangel]

Story here last summer involved a maker that got busted. Police got to his house a few days later. They found a compressed gas tank, 4-5' high kind, tied with rope to the ceiling. If that had dropped it would have gone off like a bomb and taken out the tenants in the surrounding apartments.
Remember that story, Blu?

You reminded me of my younger days, Riverkilt. Feed their paranioa, I remember that working back then with speedos.

[Riverkilt]

Thanks for reminding me Archangel....

NEVER confront a tweaker's paranoia....go with it, then feed it something beneficial to him AND you. If you confront they will often explode or attack.

"I'm Adolph Hitler's daughter." "Cool man, nice to meet you. Good thing you told me that because I just saw General Patton and a whole bunch of tanks three blocks over. If you move fast and go thata way you can probably avoid them safely. GO! "

Ron

[Brasilikilt]

A friend of mine had a really funny idea of putting little speakers in the bushes near the dumpsters.
While they dig through the trash, you can whisper stuff to them

If someone is so sleep deprived and twacked out of their gourd they would already see and hear stuff that isn't there, by giving them the idea that the garbage has a spirit which is talking to them....possibly warning them that my apartment complex is haunted by transexual nazi eskimos...they might think twice about coming back :-)

I was thinking you can take the idea even further by adding little sound effects such as R2-D2, a crowd cheering, the sound that Fred Flintstone makes when he's running etc etc etc