azucena
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Post by azucena on Sept 22, 2019 19:39:00 GMT -5
I live in a relatively well off st louis suburb and lately have been noticing a significant increase in crime and what I'll call general unrest.
Thieves are canvassing different neighborhoods almost every night looking for unlocked cars with guns or drugs to steal inside, often leaving other valuables untouched. These are neighborhoods were people feel safe not only leaving their cars outside of the garage overnight but even unlocked. Local police are having to post public notices to try to get people to adopt the habit of at least locking up and even better using their garages.
Facebook neighborhood pages start up every morning with photos, comments, and even security footage of the thieves looking point blank at the cameras. Police are overwhelmed without enough resources to track them down, and I'm hearing that not many end up prosecuted.
Folks (us included) are used to leaving garages open all day when we are home. Thieves are targeting those with tools and valuables in sight. Yesterday, there was a fb post about a neighbor doing a project in his backyard - someone stole a miter saw out of his garage in broad daylight when he was clearly home.
Several malls that I have been to often and would have considered completely safe have major shoplifting problems now. Like groups of 2 to 4 men or women go into Macy's, grab handfuls of clothes and run out of the mall into waiting cars. Store employees aren't supposed to stop them and again police aren't prosecuting many of them, so I guess it seems like a worthy gamble.
And there has been a midnight plant thief hitting the local nurseries overnight and stealing their most expensive plants.
I can't help but wonder if it's all a sign of society changing into haves vs have nots and what other layers of unrest are coming next.
Are you guys seeing similar problems?
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CCL
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Post by CCL on Sept 22, 2019 20:11:11 GMT -5
That kinda stuff happens around here now and then. Generally after a month or so it calms down. I've always kept doors locked and tried to be aware of my surrounds.
On the neighborhood Facebook and Nextdoor pages I will see incidents which sound like overreaction to me.
I think part of it, around here, at least is that more people have security cameras and more ways of reaching out to multiple people at once, so we hear of more incidents than we used to.
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plugginaway22
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Post by plugginaway22 on Sept 22, 2019 20:25:56 GMT -5
I agree that the cameras and local Nextdoor type groups keep us posted on everything that even 5 years ago we may have just been unaware. But it has made us more uptight about locking cars, garages, sheds everything.
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Sept 22, 2019 20:33:12 GMT -5
That kinda stuff happens around here now and then. Generally after a month or so it calms down. I've always kept doors locked and tried to be aware of my surrounds. On the neighborhood Facebook and Nextdoor pages I will see incidents which sound like overreaction to me.I think part of it, around here, at least is that more people have security cameras and more ways of reaching out to multiple people at once, so we hear of more incidents than we used to. Seems this way to me too. Someone posted a picture of a kid with a hoodie on. He started to come up to the door, then left. The owner of the camera was certain their house was being cased. Someone else posted that it was her son, and she had been driving him around to sell something for school. They were running late, so she had texted her son to come back later. There are 2-3 of these each week..... My favorite was someone was checking their meter, and the woman called the electric company. Electric company said no one was sent out to her property. She was warning people to be aware of a strange man checking your gas meter, they likely weren’t sent by the electric company.
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giramomma
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Sept 22, 2019 20:39:38 GMT -5
Post by giramomma on Sept 22, 2019 20:39:38 GMT -5
In my city, there's definitely been an uptick of what I call more petty crimes..car jackings and stolen vehicles, especially. And more panhandling further out from the resources panhandlers would need if the issues were limited to homeless and/or hunger. 90% of the shelters and organizations that provide daily meals are in the down town area. We're seen panhandling 7 miles away from that...which is fairly unusual. Most of the crime related to guns and drugs in my parts is targeted. Since we steer clear of those items and don't hang out with folks in gangs, we're OK.
I've also never lived in an area where people also leave everything unlocked. One set of my grandparents lived very rural. Like there was a gas station to mark the "town," and if you blinked, you missed it. They started locking their house up while they were still alive..we're talking 40-50 years ago.
My definition of unrest is also a little more stringent than the crimes that you are describing, and the uptick in crimes that I'm seeing in my neck of the woods...
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Deleted
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Sept 22, 2019 20:57:49 GMT -5
Post by Deleted on Sept 22, 2019 20:57:49 GMT -5
I live in a rural area where a lot of people leave their houses unlocked and cars left outside are not only unlocked but with the keys in them. I've been trying to be more diligent about locking my house lately, but I'm not great at it and still purposely leave it open when I know a package is being delivered so they can put it inside. I'm not even sure where the keys are to be honest as we always go in with the garage door opener. I don't really feel like crime is worse, I just think I'd feel pretty stupid if I got robbed because the house was unlocked. Of course, those would be some pretty disappointed thieves. I guess there could always be the murdering psychopath roaming the area too I suppose. I do have one camera with motion detection because I can't see anything on the driveway side of my house without one so I never know if anyone is here. I'm thinking of getting a couple more since the coyote incident...
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CCL
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Post by CCL on Sept 22, 2019 21:12:15 GMT -5
I wouldn't consider a car-jacking a petty crime. Those crimes usually involve loaded guns, so dangerous.
I've seen the local police ringing doorbells and telling people to shut their garage doors.
Lol on the meter reader. My neighbors would do that.
Every now and then I'll see some fool sitting in the parking lot watching ladies/girls at the pool. I call the police and they come check them out and chase them off. Creeps, I imagine. I'm not scared of them, but don't want them hanging around.
I've always thought if criminals were smarter they'd drive out to the country where people leave their doors unlocked.
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wvugurl26
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Post by wvugurl26 on Sept 22, 2019 21:15:04 GMT -5
In my immediate area not so much. We already lock the cars and house. You get people looking for unlocked cars now and then.
In Baltimore city yes it's unsettling. When I have to go I'm hyper aware. I'm debating $37/day for the attached hotel garage versus $14/day for a surface lot a block away for a conference next week.
The next county over had an awful murder yesterday.
We did have a car stolen off my street six months ago. A neighbor saw it and tried to intervene but they had guns. They drove out here from Baltimore city. I'd say it was a targeted job because it was a high end car. Car was found in Baltimore city.
I also wonder if my street being bookended by state troopers discourages any petty crime?
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Tennesseer
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Post by Tennesseer on Sept 22, 2019 21:31:30 GMT -5
When people are so emboldened to walk up to someone's porch and steal a packages(s), it should be of no surprise to walk into open garages, cars, and other personal and commercial properties to steal things.
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giramomma
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Sept 23, 2019 4:13:16 GMT -5
Post by giramomma on Sept 23, 2019 4:13:16 GMT -5
My lens/definition of unrest is inner city Milwaukee, from when I was growing up.
Other stuff doesn't bother me as much. The first couple of places we lived in were in known poor areas of town. We were still safe, even if there was targeted gun fire close to us or daytime drug use on the streets.
Where I live, there's an assumption that the more affluent one is (and the more affluent the area that you live in and the more affluent school you send your kids to), the more you are insulated from being exposed to unsavory behavior. People don't like to talk about how some affluent people engage in the same behaviors as others in lower socioeconomic statuses.
It makes sense that people are looking for (good) drugs in an affluent area..There should be more disposable income for folks to buy better drugs with, if they are so inclined. Even the kids figure out that you go to the affluent areas for better candy when you go trick or treating...and at a pretty young age at that.
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azucena
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Sept 23, 2019 7:27:27 GMT -5
Post by azucena on Sept 23, 2019 7:27:27 GMT -5
Yeah, unrest may be too strong of a word, and I get that what I described is mild. However, I was more interested in if other people are seeing an increase in crimes whatever the initial baseline might be for their area. Given how much the police are focusing on these issues too, I don't get the sense that fb is exaggerating in this case.
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Deleted
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Sept 23, 2019 7:46:58 GMT -5
Post by Deleted on Sept 23, 2019 7:46:58 GMT -5
I see it here. I'm in a suburb of KC with not great demographics (as far as income, educational level, etc.) but in a really nice neighborhood of 42 lots on a cul-de-sac. We've had mailbox thefts and they've escalated this year. Years ago I stopped putting anything sensitive or valuable in outgoing mail, but this issue started with someone just coming through in the middle of the night, moving people's mail into someone else's box and then leaving all the mail box doors open. It's escalated; one guy said a Father's Day card was stolen from his mail and the thieves altered a check inside it and attempted to cash it. I'm pretty sure this is why I never received a Property Tax bill- by the time I realized it I was 6 days late and got slammed with a $400 penalty.
So, I now have a PO Box- big PITA to change everything over and now I have to go to the PO to get my mail- fortunately it's on the way to the gym, but still annoying to have to spend the time and money to thwart thieves. There's also a lot of breaking into cars parked outside- I always keep mine in the garage.
I got a Ring doorbell and I love it but it's added a new level of paranoia- I get the reports of possible gunshots at 2 AM and the videos of people casings someone's house. I know it's best to be aware but it's still unnerving.
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Value Buy
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Sept 23, 2019 7:47:16 GMT -5
Post by Value Buy on Sept 23, 2019 7:47:16 GMT -5
Our house in Indiana is rarely locked up. I think it should be..........but we do not even know where the key to the front door is. Neither of us have it on our key chains, so when out, we do lock that one from the inside. We live two blocks off a major state highway with heavy traffic, and a few homes or cars have been entered, but we have not had this problem. I keep saying we should do a complete new door lock replacement but have been too lazy to do it. I would replace five door locks, front door, two for garage (door into garage and from garage to house entry) french door to patio, and back entry from laundry room. We are planning to sell this house probably next year, so will have to do it anyway. House in Florida is kept locked up all the time when we are there, as we do have people walking into the complex, and entering open garage doors or unlocked front doors stealing electronics, wallets, purses etc. As best as this complex knows, no one has ever had an armed encounter with anyone. More of a crime of opportunity than anything else.
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TheOtherMe
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Sept 23, 2019 8:02:04 GMT -5
Post by TheOtherMe on Sept 23, 2019 8:02:04 GMT -5
I was never one to leave my garage door open during the day. We did when I was growing up, but as a homeowner, I never have done that.
I have always kept my doors locked. I keep my car in my garage and the garage is locked. I don't lock the car but I also keep nothing of value in the car.
In the bigger town, there are kids hanging out in business parking lots causing problems. It's been like that the entire 10 years I've lived here.
This is not an affluent small town and I assume everyone (but me) has a doorbell camera.
I have had no problems with porch pirates. My mail goes in to a locked mail box across the street where there are two sets of 16 mail boxes. That means I am not concerned about my mail being stolen.
I think there are more problems with guns around here, but I'm not sure if it's because of more reporting or if it's actually true.
My niece and her family live in a supposed nice area of the bigger town. There house has been broken in to twice. Both times were while they were at work/school, so in daylight. They now have cameras but the last time I needed to leave something inside the house, she said they didn't have motion detectors so they would see me on the camera if they looked but my going inside would not set off any alarms.
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resolution
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Post by resolution on Sept 23, 2019 8:20:43 GMT -5
Things seem to be about the same around here. We are out in the country, but we are being slowly encroached on by a town, which in turn is starting to butt up against a small city. Everything in the area is slowly growing. We are casually searching for a different house that will put us out a little further from the town.
I know there is a lot of crime on a few blocks of the city nearby because I read about it in the local paper. We were really hard hit in the opioid crisis and we get a lot of addicts shipped in from around the state to our rehab clinics in town. We also have a big training center for corrections, so when a convict is about ready to be released they go to the training center and get vocational training, and then are released in our general vicinity. In spite of all of that, we haven't heard of much crime except for the targeted stuff where the same people attack each other in specific areas of town, which is sadly common. There was also a murder at the county fair this weekend, which appeared to be random.
I try to keep our doors locked, but we tend to open the windows a lot in the spring and fall, and have a bad habit of forgetting to close them when we leave the house. I am trying to get better at this, even though it makes the cat unhappy when we close the windows.
We still tape envelopes of cash to our back door to pay workmen, and so far it has never gone missing.
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happyhoix
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Sept 23, 2019 8:36:34 GMT -5
Post by happyhoix on Sept 23, 2019 8:36:34 GMT -5
Haven't noticed a big increase in our area, but I'm not on FB much. Haven't noticed an uptick in the 'crime blotter' in our little local paper, what reports all the arrests.
Several years back we had some professional criminals who were knocking on people's doors, and if they weren't home, breaking in the back door and stealing stuff. When they arrested them, they had a whole mason jar full of gold jewelry they had stolen. They got caught because it's a small town, everyone knows everyone else, the police described what was happening in the paper and within a couple weeks, the couple was spotted and arrested. Small towns - where everyone knows your business.
I wonder if the local uptick you're seeing might partly be related to hot weather. We generally see more gang crime in the small city where I work during the summer months, when kids are out of school, hot and bored.
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Tennesseer
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Post by Tennesseer on Sept 23, 2019 9:16:15 GMT -5
Things seem to be about the same around here. We are out in the country, but we are being slowly encroached on by a town, which in turn is starting to butt up against a small city. Everything in the area is slowly growing. We are casually searching for a different house that will put us out a little further from the town. I know there is a lot of crime on a few blocks of the city nearby because I read about it in the local paper. We were really hard hit in the opioid crisis and we get a lot of addicts shipped in from around the state to our rehab clinics in town. We also have a big training center for corrections, so when a convict is about ready to be released they go to the training center and get vocational training, and then are released in our general vicinity. In spite of all of that, we haven't heard of much crime except for the targeted stuff where the same people attack each other in specific areas of town, which is sadly common. There was also a murder at the county fair this weekend, which appeared to be random. I try to keep our doors locked, but we tend to open the windows a lot in the spring and fall, and have a bad habit of forgetting to close them when we leave the house. I am trying to get better at this, even though it makes the cat unhappy when we close the windows. We still tape envelopes of cash to our back door to pay workmen, and so far it has never gone missing.Until now!
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Sept 23, 2019 9:21:53 GMT -5
Post by Deleted on Sept 23, 2019 9:21:53 GMT -5
Here in CA, theft under $800 is now a misdemeanor and all you get is a ticket for it. Between that, a completely full jail, few law enforcement resources, and a massive drug problem, everything not bolted down here is being stolen. The thieves are brazen because they know if they get caught nothing will happen to them. Just about every day, cars and trailers are stolen. A couple weeks ago, someone stole the volunteer fire depts water tanks...
Down in Chico, which used to be a small town with a university, the entire town is full of homeless and there are knife/gun crimes multiple times each day. It's insane how bad it has gotten in just a few years.
Time to move to an even colder environment where people don't want to live outdoors in the winter...
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raeoflyte
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Sept 23, 2019 9:26:30 GMT -5
Post by raeoflyte on Sept 23, 2019 9:26:30 GMT -5
We haven't noticed any change. Our last house was in an area that had higher crime against property rates, but similar stats to current house for crimes against people (low), so my opinion may be skewed. My car was stolen from the last house, but I got it back by the end of the weekend and only had to replace the ignition, so not really a big deal. The fences on the ally would be tagged sometimes, but that was city property and they always removed it quickly. Mostly made for good stories to scare out incredibly suburban family and friends.
There are definitely crimes of opportunity that you can try to protect yourself against like locking your doors, but I've never even managed to keep windows closed at night (no ac), so can't see going to much more extreme measures. Now that I work from home I've been thinking about getting the doorbell with a camera so I can tell the neighbor kids that the kids aren't home/can't play without having to run upstairs.
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azucena
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Sept 23, 2019 11:09:34 GMT -5
Post by azucena on Sept 23, 2019 11:09:34 GMT -5
Video footage I've seen is definitely grown-ups - various age brackets, both male and female, alone and in groups. It's been hot here off and on, will keep on eye on if crime lets up as winter comes.
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HoneyBBQ
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Sept 23, 2019 11:44:11 GMT -5
Post by HoneyBBQ on Sept 23, 2019 11:44:11 GMT -5
Petty theft is happening all the time in Seattle. Packages are stolen off porches ALL day long, even when people have cameras they just wave to them. Car doors are checked every night and some have magic openers for various cars, so they'll get in and rifle around your stuff even though there's nothing worth taking. The homeless/drug problem in Seattle is really getting bad. People on nextdoor/FB are threatening to leave the city because nothing is done.
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NomoreDramaQ1015
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Sept 23, 2019 13:08:42 GMT -5
Post by NomoreDramaQ1015 on Sept 23, 2019 13:08:42 GMT -5
Not really. There is a dick teenager around here who breaks into cars from time to time with his friends. Dip shit stole my tire gauge, if he was thinking it was a pipe I hope he was seriously disappointed. Statistically speaking we are living in a time of the lowest crime rate in centuries, especially for violent crime. I am guessing that since we are not hearing about violent crime as much we have time to focus more on petty stuff like car break ins. The more we repeat the stories and the more they are picked up on via social media/news outlets the more it appears that there is a sudden epidemic in crime when in reality it's either the same or dropping, it's just people now have more energy to focus on it. I lock my doors but often forget to lock my car hence the above incident. I have nothing of value in the car so it's more of an irritant than anything else.
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Anne_in_VA
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Sept 23, 2019 13:26:40 GMT -5
Post by Anne_in_VA on Sept 23, 2019 13:26:40 GMT -5
We haven’t noticed an increase in our neighborhood, but there is an apartment complex nearby that appears to have quite a bit of police activity. I’ve seen on the crime report or tv that there have been shootings there.
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weltschmerz
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Sept 23, 2019 13:34:57 GMT -5
Post by weltschmerz on Sept 23, 2019 13:34:57 GMT -5
I can't say it's going up here. Like I mentioned earlier, I left my car windows open for 24 hours, while the car was FULL of stuff, including paintings, money (about $20 in loonies and toonies) and silver. Nothing was taken, although I did get a call from the police, letting me know the windows were open and to report if anything was taken.
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alabamagal
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Post by alabamagal on Sept 23, 2019 20:48:12 GMT -5
According to the FBI, property crime rates are decreasing. From 2005-2018 property crime decreased 10%.
I think there is more awareness. With advent of Facebook and neighborhood groups, people can easily notify large groups of people about neighborhood crimes. I think that is generally good, but can give people the idea that crime is increasing.
My old neighborhood had the typical notifications of property crimes, cars broken into, mailboxes damaged, speeders, drivers running stop signs, loud parties, etc. there was even a lady complaining about her free advertising newspaper with coupons being stolen, which was a sure sign that crime is out of control!
I do think porch pirate crimes are increasing, but that is become people are having way more stuff delivered than they were 10 years ago.
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resolution
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Post by resolution on Sept 23, 2019 21:11:32 GMT -5
I logged onto Nextdoor due to this thread, and found out that someone within city limits is illegally harboring a rooster! Unfortunately the code enforcement people won't get out of bed early enough to track him down, so lots of drama.
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NoNamePerson
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Sept 23, 2019 21:16:34 GMT -5
Post by NoNamePerson on Sept 23, 2019 21:16:34 GMT -5
Not much change here. Local news reports all shootings, murders, breaking ins, etc. If they need to fill air time, they’ll just report murders, shootings, break ins that happened in Chicago, California, and possibly Madison, Wisconsin if desperate to kill air space.
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alabamagal
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Post by alabamagal on Sept 24, 2019 3:49:37 GMT -5
My Nextdoor site had a very long discussion on whether people with temporary handicap tags (the kind you hang from rear view mirror) were a danger on the road due to limited sight from the tag hanging from mirror.
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wvugurl26
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Post by wvugurl26 on Sept 24, 2019 6:22:34 GMT -5
Statistically the murder rate and violent crime rate is up in Baltimore city. My next door neighbor has 20+ years on the police force. It's not petty crime that has him working 80 hours a week. Several other cities have actual increases as well. They don't seem to be getting any better.
I do think theft is up in areas with high addiction rates. It could turn violent if they are confronted. One of my cousin's has had all kinds of stuff stolen and she lives way out in the country. They now have all kinds of cameras on their property. My grandparents lived in that area for my whole childhood. I lived with them for 2 years after my parents divorce. I would have never believed they'd have so much theft. It was a doors not locked, can't find the house keys anyway, car keys in the ignition type of place.
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NoNamePerson
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Post by NoNamePerson on Sept 24, 2019 6:53:07 GMT -5
My Nextdoor site had a very long discussion on whether people with temporary handicap tags (the kind you hang from rear view mirror) were a danger on the road due to limited sight from the tag hanging from mirror. Somebody has to much times on their hands/keyboard.
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