New Subdivision problems

[E-City XD]

Hello all,
I am having a problem in our nebhorhood and need advice from leo's in the know.
We were among the first to move into our new subdivision, there are 18 homes out of 220 lots built. We are in a new area about 15 min outside of Kennesaw GA.
Last week I missed a home owners meeting but the wife went, she volunteered me for watch captain and I got voted in (Prior mil service ect...) From now on I will be at every meeting lest I become something else.
A few days ago my next door nebhor awoke to a stranger in her house and her alarm going off. A house down the street had their back door proken into. One man chased people through the woods that border the nebhorhood.
Police response time is terrible, we cannot count on them. When they came for the break in they came into the house said "guess the person ran off" and they left 5 minutes later. no prints, no search of the woods, no search of finished yet unoccupied houses.
I got in touch with the sheriff dept and they gaave me a stupid "nebhorhood watch" package.
The answer to everything is "call the cops". the rest is just saying "get to know the nebhors and their kids, and block party sudgestions.
The cops will arive 30 min late and then do nothing, we can't count on Police support. By the time they get here we will already be dead, raped or robbed.
I don't want to play vidgilante, or seem at all off the deep end. But I am not sure what to do. I have a few other men from the nebhorhood who are willing to participate in a ACTIVE crime prevention orginazation, but what are our legal rights?
I need to come up with a plan as people are nervous and I have to talk at the meeting next Saturday.
Any sudgestions would be greatly appreciated.
I am not worried about my own house, the wife is always home, carries a 45 and is a great shot. But I guess I am charged with keeping the whole subdivision safe.
Thank you all in advance.

[goodformeto]

I'm not LEO, but ask the builder to contribute to a security company car patrol. Sell it to them something in their best interest lest the neighborhood get a bad reputation and dramatically lower property values. Offer to have the local TV station come run a piece on it if they don't for incentive. It's a pretty common thought that high levels of unoccupied homes lead to significantly higher crime rates.

[trelane]

Originally Posted by E-City XD

I don't want to play vigilante, or seem at all off the deep end. But I am not sure what to do. I have a few other men from the neighbourhood who are willing to participate in a ACTIVE crime prevention organization, but what are our legal rights?

It amazes me how many people consult the Great Law Firm of the Internet before embarking on a path which can only be described as a disaster yet to occur. Please consult your local law enforcement, or a civics lawyer. You'll want to ask questions like:
Is there a law mandating police response time?
Is our area chartered, or incorporated into a town?
Can we incorporate, and are there any requirements we wouldn't meet to create a police department?
As most of these questions address state, county, township level law there's no way anyone on line is going to be able to give you a good answer.

If you can't incorporate or charter a town, find out who your elected officials are and start having the neighbourhood put weight on them to get this fixed. There may be only a few lots developed now, but as people move in they're going to start having to answer to you. You should consider making this clear at the outset.

(by the way, I'm sure there's a lawyer somewhere in the neighbourhood, as there usually is, see if they'll do the legwork for free/on the cheap)

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
I am not worried about my own house, the wife is always home, carries a 45 and is a great shot. But I guess I am charged with keeping the whole subdivision safe.
Thank you all in advance.

You aren't though you may feel that way. The neighbours are adults and are responsible for their own safety. If some of them are interested in purchasing firearms and you have some degree of training, or you've been using a firearm for 10 or more years, you might consider taking them to the range and giving them a basic safety lesson, or see if there is a range master available that is NRA certified to do so (this would be preferred). A man is responsible for the own defence and the sanctity of his house, do not assume you have the need take that responsibility, and freedom away from your neighbours. The goal is to help them to defend themselves.

[E-City XD]

Originally Posted by trelane

You aren't though you may feel that way. The neighbours are adults and are responsible for their own safety. If some of them are interested in purchasing firearms and you have some degree of training, or you've been using a firearm for 10 or more years, you might consider taking them to the range and giving them a basic safety lesson, or see if there is a range master available that is NRA certified to do so (this would be preferred). A man is responsible for the own defence and the sanctity of his house, do not assume you have the need take that responsibility, and freedom away from your neighbours. The goal is to help them to defend themselves.

You are absolutely right.

[Mercmar]

I had the same problemwhen I moved into my current house. Imported a couple of dogs trained to bite DemocRATs and problem resolved. Get everybody in the neighborhood to acquire DemocRAT-biting dogs!

Nobody should depend on l.e. for protection. They just can't be everywhere at once. When my daughter was in law school in Macon, somebody broke into her house, but into the apartment adjacent to hers, separated by a common hallway. (perp had easy access to my daughter's apartment) Daughter called 911 and was telling the operator that someone had broken in and was still in the house. Cop came about 20 minutes later, was very nonchalant, and the perp was never caught. I just happened to be spending the weekend with my daughter, and both of us were armed.

[XDConvert9mm]

Originally Posted by E-City XD

You are absolutely right.

E-city, not to threadjack, but can I ask you what area 15 min. outside of Kennesaw you're referring to? I'm in far West Acworth and concerned that it might be around my area. If you would rather PM please feel free to do so. Thank you very much.

[The Tengu]

1) The police are not the security guards of suburbia. We don't sit in front of houses, or patrol back and forth on one street. We patrol large areas; that means we can't be everywhere all the time. When seconds count, police are only minutes away. You are responsible for your own safety.

2) Prints? Probably not even any prints to recover. I have only recovered one set of prints in the past year out of the couple dozen times I've dusted, and they may have been the homeowner's.

3) Manhunt though the woods? Waste of time and money unless the initial response time was fast, and you're saying it sucked ass. I doubt any supervisor would approve a manhunt through the woods unless an officer had a visual on the suspect.

4) You are not in charge of keeping your subdivision safe. You are in charge of keeping your family safe. Your neighborhood needs to network and have a list of each others' numbers. See something ****ty happening? Call the police first, and then call everyone on the list so everyone knows. Neighbors won't participate? Well, I call those kinds of people VICTIMS.

Crime will happen. It just will. The term "crime prevention" is a misnomer. There is really only "crime redirection". In other words, crime is like electricity. It follows the path of least resistance. If your house is too hard to get into because of a dog, alarm, security doors, etc. then the thug will go to the next house. And even if your house is specifically targeted, they will still gain entry through the easiest way in.

The best thing for you to do is fortify your position, and educate your neighbors to do the same.

[RBOWWOW]

Mall Ninja or Private Security Patrol.
In the beginning you can provide a volunteer roster and do the job yourselves then when the Sub fills out enough to hire out the service put the costs into your subdivision dues.

[03RangerXLT]

Hey E-City,
I work for Cherokee County. So I am familiar with the crime in the area. Whose jurisdiction do you live in? Cobb PD or Kenesaw PD? My suggestion is to document all incidents, obtain any police incident reports on things going on in yur neighbor hood, and ask the local PD to provide regular zone patrols of your neighborhood. We are seeing two major types of crimes with subdivisions; copper theft and Juvenile Crime. Both are extremely annoying and hard to catch. It takes a lot of luck (being at the right place at the right time), but vigilant patrols should help stop it.

[The Tengu]

Originally Posted by 03RangerXLT

Hey E-City,
I work for Cherokee County. So I am familiar with the crime in the area. Whose jurisdiction do you live in? Cobb PD or Kenesaw PD? My suggestion is to document all incidents, obtain any police incident reports on things going on in yur neighbor hood, and ask the local PD to provide regular zone patrols of your neighborhood. We are seeing two major types of crimes with subdivisions; copper theft and Juvenile Crime. Both are extremely annoying and hard to catch. It takes a lot of luck (being at the right place at the right time), but vigilant patrols should help stop it.

I am so damned tired of this copper theft bull****.

One copper thief can ruin an entire property in the course of 15 minutes. Tens of thousands of dollars in repairs in some cases.

The courts don't seem to want to do anything about it, and nobody holds the scrap metal dealers accountable for buying stolen metal.