Security...community meeting for the hood

Just a heads up, I know a bunch of you live in the same SM as I do and wanted to let you know what's going on. There have been several robberies as of late, day time, night time, it doesn't seem to matter. I saw the cops on my street this morning and discovered that a woman was robbed just this morning. They stole a lot of her stuff, cel phone included and have now been calling her all day and threatening to come back, they have her keys, etc..

The other robberies I've been told about are scarier. Two men with guns approach the residents as they get out of their car, force them into their homes, tie them up and steal everything, cars included. Yes, on our street, in our nice, quiet hood. WATCH YOUR BACK, be careful when getting out of your car and going into your homes! There have been other home invasions as well, men with guns, etc., etc..

The neighbours were speaking to the police this morning who can't really do much of anything. Word is that there will a community meeting on Punta Molas Saturday evening at 7 pm to discuss options for security in the neighbourhood.

This info is all "from da street", the neighbours who were speaking to the police this morning so no, it's not official, nor can I back it up with evidence, but there is sufficient reason for concern and a heads up to my fellow Gringolandians (you know who you are). Spread the word, be careful, be aware, call the police if you see anyone suspicious. If I get more official confirmation of a meeting, I will let you know.

 

great...... just what I want to hear when I'm about to come down for a few months, alone.........

 

I live in SM 93/ San Antonio we have not had any problems lately.
What Sm are you in?

 

Bn,
To avoid stalkers (haha), I'm not posting it here, but check your PMs.

 

Now you can check yours.

 

I recommend that you organize as many neighbors as possible. What we've done on our street (which has 44 houses) is to make a list of everyone who lives here along with home and cell phone numbers.

We have a 24-hour guard (they work 3 8-hour shifts) here who has a whistle and a baton. He patrols the street and blows his whistle once an hour to signal that all is well. If something is wrong he whistles until we all come running. We've had no break-ins at all while we've had a guard. The only times that a guard has raised an alarm have been when some drunk driver hits a parked car or when someone's cat gets hit by a car).

The hard part is getting payment for the guard, someone has to collect money 2x a month, and it's a crappy job, so we rotate whose turn it is to collect.

In your case it might make sense for neighbors to band together by proximity. If you get 40 to 50 residents together you can afford to hire a 24-hour guard. In your area you probably don't have the option of closing off streets, but if your guards had a bicycle they could do a mobile patrol. But you don't want to stretch them too thin, you want a guard per every 50 houses or so.

Keep in mind that to keep your guards happy they will need access to a bathroom and a place to get out of the rain. We have a guard shack with a toilet in it that we built to keep our guards comfortable.

Have a meeting, once people are mobilized and united everyone will feel better.

 

Thanks Rivergirl, hopefully everyone will pull together to do something. I just came home and what do I see on my street? Five police trucks and twenty cops again. I stopped to ask what was up and they said "No pasa nada, vete a tu casa". Great, thanks for the information, so twenty cops just hang out on a quiet residential street all the time?

 

Steve,
That's exactly what I said to hubby when he said let's move to Canada.

But, it does seem there is a pretty serious rash of incidents in our neighbourhood right now. We talked to more neighbours last night and heard of more incidents. Our very next door neighbours (the building attached to ours), whose windows are in our yard had their screens cut. So, the bad guys were in our yard, our "secure" gated, fenced yard with a dog, cutting out screens and trying to get in the windows, that isn't just close to home, that IS home, KWIM?

 

Yuck!

I sure hope that your neighbors are willing to work together. If everyone knows each other it will help. And if they are willing to work out a neighborhood watch or security plan then even better.

Crime does happen everywhere. Though, it seems to me that the particular types of crimes are different in different places, to some degree. In some places people leave their doors unlocked, but have an occasional lunatic gun down a bunch of people in an office.

Here, most crime is petty theft and is directly attributable to the huge disparity between rich and poor here. Your best bet here is to not show your wealth. Don't drive a nicer car than the neighbors. Don't put your TV in a place where it's visible through a window from the street. Don't leave anything of any value visible inside your car. Don't look like a rich gringo...if you can avoid it. And know your neighbors, that way they are more likely to raise an alarm if they see something wrong.