I hate feeling uneasy in my own home.

[Tala]

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I hate to tell you this, but the cops will do absolutely NOTHING. They will say "well, we can do a few extra patrols in your area" (but you will never see them).

What you can do is file a police report EVERY time ANY item is missing. Even a dang cooler off your porch. Stealing is stealing, and they do make written reports of that stuff, whereas tresspassing and throwing trash out just isn't worth their time. (Nevermind that we're paying for their time

) You might manage to conjur up a vandalism report if they trash your yard badly-enough.

I vote you fence your front yard in, so they can't just walk over. If you have a big scary dog to let out when they are hanging around, even better (but don't leave it out unsupervised around such people!)

 

[MrsStephan]

I lived in a similar situation until we left California. We noticed a recent gadget that just came out that we had thought of for years. It is a sprinkler that reacts to motion. A way to keep unwanted visitors, human or otherwise, out of your yard. I would be careful about getting too aggressive. we also had a few neighbors shot.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

+2 to the previous post on fences and dogs! And the post recommending cameras!

Confrontation can make things worse sometimes.

 

[Boyd]

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I love that! I think I'll add it to my sig line.

 

[Miltonchix]

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Dirty Deeds

Done dirt cheap!
This is why I cannot believe people will willingly give up their right to self protection. Firearms are demonized by those who wish you harm. And the police........................what a joke, especially when it comes to dealing with this type. I've had them tell me straight up that "if I arrest him he'll just be back out on the street in a couple hours. And he'll be mad at me." HUH?? When I asked if I should just shoot next time I became the criminal in said cops mind. He actually threatened to arrest ME for obstruction! Simply for INSISTING he do HIS job.

 

[PotterWatch]

Our cops here are pretty good about responding. I didn't call them the other night simply because I didn't want to take it to that level yet. I will be calling from now on and my husband let them know that the other night. We looked at camera systems yesterday but didn't get anything. I have been thinking about fencing in the front yard as well (though that won't stop them from just tossing trash over the fence like they have done in my backyard

). Maybe have a gate that also goes across the driveway behind the cars. We definitely are going to be getting cameras and my husband is going to adjust the motion sensor light over the driveway so that it will go on if someone walks across the sidewalk at the end of the drive. My husband does have guns and thought about grabbing one to take out with him the other night but I'm glad he didn't. I don't want to escalate the situation to violence. I'm hoping they really are just young guys trying to act tough and that the more sensitive light and cameras will deter any further action on their part. My husband's family has lived in this house for 40+ years and this year was the first time the house was ever broken into even though the neighborhood is better now than when I first met my husband. If the oldest kid of the family next door would just move out, things would be much more peaceful.

 

[Tala]

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Don't do that! You could get in trouble for brandishing! Gun laws in CA are kinda wacky anyway.... Your guns don't come outside your home unless theirs do first, but it's a good thing that you are armed in your home, just incase they break in.

I highly doubt he's gonna move out if they are letting him mooch for free. Lets speculate that he has a drug or alcohol habit, free house/food = all the money can go for his less than desirable habits. It *sounds* like he doesn't have a job if he's stealing random stuff.
Unless his parents get tired of his bull and make it harder to live at home, then he's always going to chose the "easy" route.

 

[Rozzie]

If you are in an area with property codes, check them before building a fence. It would be awful to have to tear it down and move it, or start over. )

 

[Mattemma]

Our front yard fence height is only 3 feet by law so I planted ornamental grasses that have grown to over 5 feet in 2 years. Some stinging nettle is also useful. I would go with anything thorny.By putting in landscaping plants all over the front yard it wont look like you are building a fence to block them out,and thereby escalating the situation. My neighbors put a fence line in at the back to block the neighboring renters house,and lol the same day of install the renters attached a gate to their fence!

Another option to deter hangers to that area is something that will SMELL.Who wants to hang out where it stinks like rotten eggs or whatever.You can make the rotten egg mixture recommended to deter deer and spray that area.Milk,eggs,garlic,oil..something like that.Or a good ol' stink bomb!Wishing you more peaceful days ahead!

 

[Miltonchix]

If they find out you have cameras then their next target will be .................................your cameras. Which in turn will turn in to damaged house.
I ran businesses in WA. A business owner nearby mine was being vandalized nightly. I was hit occasionally (grafitti) but because I removed it immediatley they gave up for the most part. They want their message displayed. Other businessman finally had had enough and laid in wait one night. When they showed up to paint his building he met them with his own can of spray paint and painted THEIR faces (the ones he could catch) with bright gold spray paint. He was never vandalized again. This kind of retaliation was the only thing these punks understood. SO, if they throw a candy wrapper on your lawn, you throw a dumpster full back. Those supporting them and their behavior will put an end to it. YOU have to be the big dog, or they're going to be like a pack of chihuahua's nipping at your heels. And the more you run from a pack of chihuahua's the more they bite and chase. Figure out who their pack leader is and take him down a few notches. That doesn't mean violence, though sometimes thats what it going to take. Or live in fear of the pack of ankle biters.