Advice: I think my neighbors across the street are drug dealers! (HOA, how much)

[GracieJJ]

Look, why dont you just walk accross the street and get to know them and somehow find out what exactly is going on. It could all be innocent it can all be laid to rest, but if your suspicions are correct, at least you found out for sure and could follow up on the next step.

ps, it doesnt have to be you who walks upto them, ask a friend who doesnt live in the same neighborhood.

Being, "streetwise" is key

[LALady]

Originally Posted by jerblaine

Mind Your Own Business!!!

I'd like to amend that response to "Mind your own &%$ Business". Nice cars on blue collar salaries does NOT equal drug dealer. The cars may have been bought on credit, the neighbors may have inherited wealth from parents.

[hotornot]

Originally Posted by jerblaine

omg!! point a video camera at them?!?! you are just WRONG!!! that's worse than not minding your own business!! that is a crime in some cases!!

A crime?

I'm almost certain it is not a crime to record someone with a video camera in public on public ground. I do know that when it comes to still images you can shoot at anything as long as it's public. And I do mean "anything."

There's a saying, "If you can see it, you can shoot it" that applies to all public venues when using a still image camera. Anybody can take a picture of anyone or anything at any time in any place without their permission just as long as it's in public. That's an American law that applies to all 50 states. I would imagine a video falls under the same guideline.

This law even applies to all nude beaches

[TaraMoon]

<<

Originally Posted by edelweiss

Any police officers or law enforcement people out there who know what I should do if I suspect that a neighbor is dealing drugs from their house? I haven't personally seen anything, but the guy across the street (next door to the people in question) has. They are not sociable with the others on our street, they have very peculiar habits, and they own MANY cars, several really nice cars, yet they work hourly jobs in a factory or something. I could very well be jumping to conclusions, but I just wanted to know what kind of things I should be looking for if this is indeed true about them. Thanks!

>>

Unless you want to buy some, mind your own business. You sound like someone who moved to California from the Midwest and hasn't broken the habit of minding other people's business.

[TaraMoon]

Originally Posted by edelweiss

Well, I'm not one to pry into other peoples' business, but when it comes to this sort of thing, it's not just their business. If my and my neighbor's suspicions are true, then we could be talking about some potentially harmful people hanging around here. Hello, my children play everyday in our front yard. You'd better believe it's my business.

Has it ever occurred to you that your neighbors may be wondering whether you're some kind of window peeker or worse? Maybe they think you're up to something and spying on them because you're worried they'll find out. No doubt they see you acting suspiciously. Do you hear the doorbell ringing? It's the police following up on a report from your neighbors about your suspicious behavior. Get a life.

[TaraMoon]

Originally Posted by AONE

I once had a similar problem and found very little help from the police. I provided them great detail and had no response. That is until I sent a letter to action 4 news (in kansas City), with cc's to the City Council, senators, mayor, social services as there were children in the house, and the chief of police.
Action 4 called me to say they couldnt do anything but I also got a call the next morning from the chief of Police that said it had his attention. that was a tues on Friday the SWAT team rolled through the home and removed the problem for a while.

Be creative with lodging your notice as the policve will give you a simple thanks for the info and procede to do nothing.

Are you seriously encouraging people to spy on their neighbors and report them to the police FOR HAVING SEVERAL CARS? Have we really moved that far down the path to fascism?

[TaraMoon]

Originally Posted by edelweiss

I realize that I don't have any solid evidence to back up my suspicions.... that is my question then: what constitutes solid evidence in a situation like this? Obviously I can't go to the police on hearsay, so what other things should I keep an eye out for?

To you who immediately stand up for the rights of the drug dealers and claim that they have a right to do what they want as long as they're not hurting anyone, you are either into drugs yourself or are so far left that you have lost all touch with reality. I darn well have a right to be concerned. Not just for my kids but for innocent people all over the place who are affected by people who have gotten involved with drugs. This is why it's ILLEGAL. I can't believe this is turning into a debate about whether drug dealers have a right to be in my neighborhood or not... only in California!

You have made an enormous leap from noticing that your neighbors have several cars to assuming that they're drug dealers. You have made a further leap of gigantic proportion by accusing people on this list of supporting drug dealers. While we're getting rid of the drug dealers, let's also get rid of the snoops and busybodies who destroy lives by making wild accusations.

Why don't you take a minute to realize what would happen to your reputation if one of your neighbors started a rumor about you being a drug dealer or worse. Once a rumor like that is started, it spreads like wildfire. Let me guess, do your neighbors happen to be of an ancestry different from yours, or dress differently, or speak another language, or not go to your church, or simply not work the same hours you work?

[TaraMoon]

Originally Posted by SandyCo

Your friendly, neighborhood moderator here... Please keep this discussion to the topic at hand, which is what information the OP could gather to 1) find out if her neighbors are indeed dealing drugs, and 2) what info she could give the police so that they'll take her concerns seriously.

Whether drugs should be legal or illegal is a discussion best picked up in the Politics forum, please. Any further posts on this will be deleted. Thank you.

How about a 3) mind your own business?

[TaraMoon]

Originally Posted by edelweiss

I don't watch them in the middle of the night because I go to bed around 9:30, but there was one occasion when right around midnight they were all out front moving a bunch of furniture from the house to this truck. It was an odd thing to hear and woke me up.... this was just shortly after they had moved in. They just have very peculiar habits.

Moving furniture at midnight is evidence of drug dealing? Has it ever occurred to you that some people work swing shifts and nights shifts and that some people are simply night people? From everything you've posted, it's clear that you simply don't like their lifestyle and have zero evidence that they're drug dealers. I don't know where you're from, but if moving furniture at midnight rates high on your peculiar behavior scale,you might be more comfortable if you didn't live in California. One of these days, they'll put a non-traditional plant in a flower pot on their porch and you'll stroke out.

[TaraMoon]

Originally Posted by orthopodfrancis

It is entirely legal to sit and videotape,film, or photograph the outside of your neighbors house, and any people wandering around on the street or easily visable from any public property. Public buildings too, are allowed to be photographed. That's just the law.
Having a hidden camera in a bathroom is another matter or other places that have a reasonable expectation of privacy like inside a doctors office, dressing rooms, etc.
You are being photographed many times a day - from security cameras in banks, gas stations, stores, etc - so having a camera aimed at the the street and your neighborhood is entirely legal. You do not need any permission or consent to photograph people in public spaces.

See link Bert P. Krages Attorney at Law Photographer's Rights Page

If I were you, I'd be very cautious about giving legal advice. Laws change all the time and vary greatly from state to state. About the time someone points a video camera at your house and intentionally or inadvertently records what's happening in your kitchen, livingroom, or bedroom, I'm guessing you'll have a major attitude change about people videotaping their neighbors. If a neighbor did that to me, they'd need a better lawyer than they could afford.

Now let's imagine, purely theoretically, that you were dealing drugs out of your home and a neighbor pointed a video camera at you. What might you do to them? At the very least, videotaping neighbors creates extremely bad relations. It might lead to retaliation. It might lead to a law suit. It might lead to a broken video camera or a broken head. It might lead to worse.