I do not live in the worst possible neighbourhood, but I do not live in a particularly safe one either. In the last two weeks, some miscreant(s) threw nails into my drive. Luckily, I found them both times before any damage was done to my tires. First time, I thought perhaps the nails bounced in off of the street as the collection lorry went past. Second time, I knew it was an intentional act of attempted property damage. 34 brand new nails almost as long as my thumb were thrown into my drive. I reported it to police immediately.
Police and I both suspect neighbours with whom I have had a problem for nearly three years now. They will not stay away from my house, but police claim there is nothing that can be done unless these people take it a step further and egg my vehicle or do some other harm, which they appear to have done now. However, since there are no witnesses and no film of the culprit(s), nothing can be done to them. I have been advised to install cameras now. I am really not sure that will do much good if they are disguised. Police warned me that they may try to slash my tires. They have been harassing me with their vehicles every day for almost 3 years. They park in front of my house for days and days (first time it began they left one of their vehicles in front of my house for almost 3 months, which was the point at which I finally contacted police about them) and leave the space in front of their house open, and they do not use their drive at all. (They literally have been storing one vehicle on the street now for almost 3 years.) No one else has been able to park in front of my house for almost 3 years now, but there is no law against parking on a public street. I do not know these people from Adam. They appear to be maladjusted thugs that just enjoy harassing people.
Today, I discovered something from the back of my house has been stolen. It could have been anyone, but given the ongoing problem with these people, I cannot help but suspect them of this as well.
Cameras cannot hurt, but I am unconvinced that they will suffice to identify whoever is doing these things. Many people install cameras, etc., to help protect against roving criminals, but to have to install cameras to protect against one's own neighbours is shocking to say the least! I have lived here for years and never had a problem like this before. I blame the property owners as much if not more than their thug tenants. The landlords do not care. They do not have to live next door to any of it, and as long as they are getting the rent, then everyone else be damned.
Police told me one good thing about having the cameras is that I can use my mobile and my Mac to view the outside without even going out there. I agree that is a plus. I wish I had had cameras a few years ago. I may have been able to identify the vehicle that slammed into my vehicle sometime during the night. They hit me so hard that the impact knocked the ball joint out of the wheel and bent the axle. Cost me $1K to have the mechanical side of it repaired. I never even got a quote on the body damage, but I sure it would have been many thousands of dollars. Whoever did it left part of his bumper behind in the street! Reported it to police, of course, but nothing ever came of it. I borrowed my neighbour's vehicle to drive around the neighbourhood looking for a silver/grey vehicle with a wrecked front end and a missing piece of bumper, but I never found anything. They probably garaged it to hide it from view. They may not even have lived in this neighbourhood but were just passing through. Best guess is they were either blind drunk or high as a kite. How do you protect against something like that?? Cameras could not have stopped it, but a camera may have been able to record a license plate number, and that may have let us to the culprit.
