disperse loitering teenagers (gently but effectively)

cj65

cj65

Gold Member
Joined
Aug 30, 2008
Messages
36,090
Need some advice from all of the guys at Bladeforums. My wife and I were lucky enough to pick up a foreclosed house in Simi Valley. The only problem is that the house was vacant for about a year, and across the street, there is an area about 3 cars length that is no mans land. It is not in front of anyone's house, except ours across the street. Just about every Friday/Saturday night I have to get out of bed, (the master bedroom looks to the front of the house) and kindly ask whoever is hanging out there to leave. It has gone without major confrontation, but I know sooner or later, I will have a confrontation with a drunk teen with too much testosterone. I used to be a teen who needed a place to park, get an attitude adjustment, and move on, but I was able to find a dirt road in my jeep 4x4. I love the ignite and kick aspect of it all, it always bring me a smile, and have used that joke effectively more than once. Finally, my request for advice; "How can I get the word out that this hang out spot is not the best place to go anymore." If I am too aggressive, my vehicles will become vandalized, but I am not spineless, by any means, I will always ask them to leave, with respect. I am thinking of posting a sign that says, "average time for Simi police to arrive- 4.6 minutes" or something for that effect to post in the parkway that is obvious for them to read. Can I get some help from the men in this forum on a clever way to get the word out? Thank you in advance for your advice....
CJ
 
Problem is, I would have to dig them up every morning, I have 4 boys, 11 and under who play in the street during the day. Thanks for the effort however, quick one too!
 
If you can take some railroad ties and block it off about 3-5 feet back so there's no place to park. If nobody cares that it's blocked this will work a lot better than having to deal with saying anything to them.
 
How about posting a sign that says Warning: area vacant due to possible radon leak. Affects may include headache, cotton mouth, and dehydration. Please seek immediate medical attention if one or more of these symptoms occur.

Nothing like a bunch of hungover kids thinking they have radiation poisoning
 
is the area where they loiter private property, an empty lot, etc? are there homes on either side?

if they dont live adjacent to the area, and are just hanging out and drinking/making noise, they could be cited for 653(g) pc (loitering) by simi pd. that's one option.

asking them to quiet down wont prevent anyone from coming back, and you having to go out there repeatedly.

or you could just let them be and soundproof your bedroom. ;)
 
a.l.hare said:
How about posting a sign that says Warning: area vacant due to possible radon leak. Affects may include headache, cotton mouth, and dehydration. Please seek immediate medical attention if one or more of these symptoms occur.

Nothing like a bunch of hungover kids thinking they have radiation poisoning
Click to expand...


it is possible they are in a perpetual state of the symptoms you mention from alcohol, weed, or both. :p
 
Thank you officer Simmons. The area in question is a public not private road. It is on the side of the house across the street. So I am the only near neighbor that is requesting they leave. I know I have Simi police at my disposal and they are a great, but I did not want to have to go to that venue, unless I got threatened by one of the loiterers. I know they are getting high and drinking, I find cigar wrappers and beer cans/bottles, which is why I do not want it to get worse, only better. I knew I would gain some great insight by posting for advice. I may use your penal code reference for loitering in my sign.
 
cj65 said:
Thank you officer Simmons. The area in question is a public not private road. It is on the side of the house across the street. So I am the only near neighbor that is requesting they leave. I know I have Simi police at my disposal and they are a great, but I did not want to have to go to that venue, unless I got threatened by one of the loiterers. I know they are getting high and drinking, I find cigar wrappers and beer cans/bottles, which is why I do not want it to get worse, only better. I knew I would gain some great insight by posting for advice. I may use your penal code reference for loitering in my sign.
Click to expand...

posting you own sign may not be a great idea. there are some legal requirements for a posted sign to be enforceable.

but you could request through the city to have a sign posted.

if you have the pd come out, there is the risk of retaliation, though i would think it is minimal. you could request that the handling unit not make contact with you while at the scene, and keep some anonymity. or make the call anonymously, but response time might be delayed and the call receive a low priority.

in my experience it only takes one or two visits, and perhaps a few tickets, to get loiterers to start looking for a new place to hang out.


btw, im not randal simmons. he was killed in the line of duty earlier this year serving a warrant.
 
We've had noise from local teens in the neighborhood on and off for years. Some of it is legit -- it's not exclusively residential here, but groups sitting around a parking lot at night can push it too far with the car stereos ...

Calling the local police got us response times of about two minutes, max, and the kids left as soon as they saw the police arrive. And returned two or three times a night. So we kept on calling and eventually the police would round them up and explain they were beginning to get on people's nerves. Problem solved.

Lately, even the groups that do gather do not make significant noise.
 
If you call the police dept and report a "415 noise complaint" they will go check it out
Tell them you believe they are engaged in "H & S activity" (Health and Safety code)
Sometimes they ask if the "complainant is willing to sign"
They will still go out there even if you are not "willing to sign"
I think if you are not willing to sign, it's a waste of their time and if they have more urgent matters to respond to..............

Mortimon will know more.....

Unless they have a scanner
No one will know who called in
If you agree to sign the complaint they will broadcast your address on the police radio===>
"RP at 1234 Smith Street is willing to sign"

If you keep calling the cops EVERYtime
The homies will know the spot is not "cool" anymore :eek:

Welcome to the 805!!!!!
Are you new to the area?
I like Simi Valley
Gets a little hot in the summer though

Simi Valley has a thriving law enforcement community
A lot of cops from other areas live there
At least that is what they said during the Rodney King trials

I wouldn't feel to bad about "bothering" the cops
Just look at your property tax bill
YOU paid for them!!!
 
Morimotom- May God rest Officer Simmons soul. I hate to see an officer die in the line of duty. I apologize for my wrong assumptions. I assumed that was a retirement date. My heart goes out to you for the loss of your friend. Thanks for the posts everyone. I love the 805! Will probably spend the rest of my life here. I have moved from Moorpark to Simi. Been here about 3 yrs. I grew up in suburb of San Gabriel valley. Southern Cal all my life! So far, out of all places, I love hangin my hat here. You bet I pay taxes ouch!
 
You could always ask the Bloods, Crips or M-13 to hang around there. That should take care of them.

In fact, invite them all at once! Should be a bangin' party! :D
 
I had a similar - maybe a worse problem - with a place i lived in for 20 years. The walkway into my place had a little dog leg towards the back - right before you went thru the gate into my yard. Way more than I cared for this was used as a un-official public urinal. Especially attractive during that season that you Ca. types don't know about - when it would freeze.Dealt with it by getting the landlord to pop for motion detector lights which I installed . Cut the problem back by about 95% - still would walk in on some tiny bladder student type once in a while - but it went from a more or less constant problem to occasionally .Joys of urban life/University neighborhood.
What i would suggest is two lights - one directed into your yard or down into your yard and the other sorta "accidentaly" aimed at your trouble spot. Set the time on for 10 min. or so., you'll have to experiment with aiming the sensor at the trouble spot and you'll probably have to accept it going off everytime a car pulls in front of it. Some general notes on PIR motion detectors - they are most sensitive to movement across their protection area -S2S - least sensitive to motion directly into or straight at them. Depending on the layout - you also might be able to hide a wireless driveway sensor -such that it would trigger a nice bright pair of lights - again - one of which just happens to be focused on the parking spot.This could be a problem for your neighbors in terms of light pollution - might want to talk to 'em first. This is probably something you could sorta power up for a few weeks - only when a new group of great minds re-discovers the place .
 
cj65 said:
Morimotom- May God rest Officer Simmons soul. I hate to see an officer die in the line of duty. I apologize for my wrong assumptions. I assumed that was a retirement date. My heart goes out to you for the loss of your friend. Thanks for the posts everyone. I love the 805! Will probably spend the rest of my life here. I have moved from Moorpark to Simi. Been here about 3 yrs. I grew up in suburb of San Gabriel valley. Southern Cal all my life! So far, out of all places, I love hangin my hat here. You bet I pay taxes ouch!
Click to expand...

no apology necessary.

"end of watch" is a reference to the end time of a shift, in my case my eow time is 2300 hours.

when there is a date following eow, that is the date the officer died.


if you do call, simply call it in as a noise, narcotics, or minors with alcohol complaint (or all of the above).

i dont know if simi pd requires a signature on an telephonic complaint, normally that is only required when personnel complaint against an officer is filed. even if you are the victim of a crime and file a report, there is typically nothing for you to sign.

you are more likely to get a quick response if you give your name to the dispatcher/call taker, but as i mentioned you can ask that the officers not contact you directly. so long as the loiterers are still there, there should be no reason to talk with you. the loitering is pc for detention/investigation.

even if someone is listening on a scanner, the dispatcher would have to identify the caller over the air. even then, it would likely go out as "reported by neighbor". your name/address may appear on the screen in the cfs (call for service), but that's it. you aren't really a victim in this type of complaint, just the reporting party, and the violation(s) is citeable in and of itself.
 
Get your dog to landmine the area. The kids will soon move. The poop soon breaks down.

A friend used to have a service ally for power utilities and the kids used to pee there, though the fence. He put up a security light and that didn't work until he strategically relocated a strand of his electric fence just behind his chainlink.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top