Boy, do I have experience in dealing with this topic. Having former neighbors that actually were dealing drugs right out of their home, they not only put themselves in danger but all the neighbors around as well.
To give you some sort of idea of the community I live in, I live in a double wide modular home. The property lines are very small, making the distance between your house and the next house a hop, skip and a jump.
I was surprised when the empty lot next to mine was “sold” and next thing I knew a new modular home went in. New neighbors, oh happy happy, joy joy! First clue that there was something wrong with this newly moved in couple, is that their cars actually cost more than their home. A Lincoln Navigator and a Sporty little Red T-top number, that cost way more than I know they paid for the place they now called home.
Clue number 2 was when cars would show up all hours of the night. Most of the drivers of these cars never got out of the car, instead they would honk their horns and one or the other occupant of the house would run right out. In by doing so, they would waken anyone and everyone that was in ear shot of the loud horn beeping. After a while of this annoying accordance night after night, I guess the dummies decided that they needed to stop having people come to the house to avoid suspicion.
None of us really in the community were blind to what was going on. We would meet secretly as if we were on a mission, to discuss what we have seen with our own eyes. By this time our lovely drug dealing neighbors were making deliveries on their own. Starting around 5pm at twilight and not ending until after 4am in the morning they would continually leave their home, come back and leave again. It was a new routine, which only added more to what we were able to witness.
The final straw for me was the night my Sister and I were sitting in our family room watching a movie. She and I both heard a car pull up in front of the house next to ours and some yelling was exchanged. Next thing I knew, shots were fired by some type of automatic weapon and the window above my head was shot out. My Sister and I both hit the floor, as I grabbed the phone off the coffee table to call the Police.
When the Police arrived, they looked outside our house and found 12 bullet holes in our house alone, not to mention the back window to my own personal vehicle was also shot out. I was way beyond mad and decided right then and there something needed to be done about this problem. First of all, I could have been killed by that stray bullet that came occurrence my window or it could have hit my Sister had she been sitting in the spot I was sitting in at the time. I wasn’t just thinking about me, or my Sisters safety but also my other neighbors who several of them have small children. I was furious at this point!
All my good neighbors came over to my house while the Police were still here and not only did my Sister and I give them an earful of what was going on next door, but my neighbors started spilling what they knew also. We were all told to start keeping notes of license plates of strange cars coming and going to that particular home and to also note the comings and goings of those occupants. No problem, I was able to fill up two full sheets of paper within two days with their activities alone.
Within a month, the house was busted by a Narcotics S.W.A.T. team. Man that day I saw furniture, household goods, and papers flying out windows, and doors. A bunch of yelling and screaming and I got to see the S.W.A.T. Team put both those two scum bags on the ground and arrest them. That night the neighbors and I threw a block party to celebrate the riddance of the nuisance of our once very quiet neighborhood.
From my experience, all I can say is be very aware of the actions of others around you. It is important to watch out for your good neighbors, but most importantly the small children in your neighborhood. I felt like it was a responsibility of mine to watch over my neighbors as they do the same for me all the time. Thank God, for the great people in my community and so long to the pieces of crap we finally got rid of. I sure do not miss them and I finally have great neighbors who fit right in with the rest of us.