L.A.'s Failed Homeless Policies Turned My Home Into a Prison
Piece by me at Quillette, just posted, about how I ended up having a violent felon "camping" outside my house -- and why:
I never wanted a gun. In fact, I wanted to never own one--until around noon on Thursday, August 20th...
Please read the rest at Quillette.
That is one horrible situation, one I do not see getting better. I hope you are allowed to make choices that will preserve your general well-being.
Consistency alert: I must wonder how making drugs more available will help this situation at all.
The general public has seen what happens when drug use is rampant and wants no part of it. Here, the inability of police to help you because their superiors have deemed it politically incorrect to enforce order should make it clear that any measures reducing personal responsibility injure the citizen in favor of a commodity, those cattle soiling your street.
Fans of California love the state, but while they may point at Venezuela, they don't recognize they are close behind but for the ridiculous output of Napa Valley et al.
Radwaste at September 25, 2020 3:48 AM
Good lord, how depressing, I'm so sorry.
NicoleK at September 25, 2020 4:01 AM
How horrible! I am so sorry you’re dealing with this! I hope they stay gone.
crella at September 25, 2020 5:57 AM
Damn, that sucks! Hopefully, they won't come back.
Old RPM Daddy (OldRPMDaddy at GMail dot com) at September 25, 2020 6:12 AM
I've said it here before, but it is worth repeating: communities will find a way to police themselves. A relatively neutral third party is preferable to a self-interested first party doing the policing.
For all the issues with the constabulary, they generally try to respect the suspect's rights. The Night Watch will pay no heed to that, just the rights of the solid members of the community.
The Night Watch would have given the troublemakers good reason to get gone. Failing that, what's another couple of bodies dumped out in the desert, or buried under the neighborhood plant & rock garden?
I R A Darth Aggie at September 25, 2020 7:58 AM
It's easy to have compassion when you are a politician and have unlimited access to police protection but where is the compassion for ordinary law abiding citizens caught in the middle of these "compassionate" policies. A rapper I'm familiar with gave some advice that I think is becoming more and more pertinent. "To pay your lawyer that's the best advice. I rather spend the rest of my money
Rather than the rest of my life." I think what comes after the police is going to be worse than the disease. At this point I'm mentally preparing to protect myself and worry about the consequences later. Hopefully if I spend all my life savings, I'll beat a potential charge. Hopefully that will never happen.
Please stay strong and safe, Amy. I'm glad things eventually worked out for you.
Shtetl G at September 25, 2020 9:55 AM
Check your privilege Amy. There is only one moral thing to do. Chant "orange Man Bad" and vote Democrat. Maybe they will get it right one day. Either that or move somewhere else and vote in the same people who have turned California into the progressive paradise it is.
David H at September 25, 2020 10:45 AM
Check your privilege Amy. There is only one moral thing to do. Chant "orange Man Bad" and vote Democrat. Maybe they will get it right one day. Either that or move somewhere else and vote in the same people who have turned California into the progressive paradise it is.
David H at September 25, 2020 10:45 AM
Check your privilege Amy. There is only one moral thing to do. Chant "orange Man Bad" and vote Democrat. Maybe they will get it right one day. Either that or move somewhere else and vote in the same people who have turned California into the progressive paradise it is.
David H at September 25, 2020 10:45 AM
Move to a small town in the upper mid West.
The winters keep down the riff-raff, if you do not have a house and cannot afford propane you freeze to death. The meth heads can be a problem, but they tend to die young.
Get an alarm system and a shotgun and you will do fine.
John Rassmussen at September 25, 2020 12:02 PM
California is a lost cause, move to a mid size town in the upper mid west that still has a vestige of a viable economy. Buy nice Xmas presents for the local PD, and a 20 gauge semi auto shot gun (12 gauge yields superior results but is harder to control by small framed people. A 20 will still get the job done).
And vote conservative for candidates who support locals, and will not abandon them to push a Progressive non local agenda.
Winter with subfreezing temps and 5 feet of snow is hard on homeless riff-raff. We cart off their bodies after the spring thaw. MethHeads are a problem, but a self limited one, they tend to get removed from the food chain at a young age.
I last visited Venice over 30 years ago, in the early evening, and it scared me. I have not been back, nor feel any urge to ever visit any part of California ever again.
John Rassmusen at September 25, 2020 12:29 PM
California is a lost cause, move to a mid size town in the upper mid west that still has a vestige of a viable economy. Buy nice Xmas presents for the local PD, and a 20 gauge semi auto shot gun (12 gauge yields superior results but is harder to control by small framed people. A 20 will still get the job done).
And vote conservative for candidates who support locals, and will not abandon them to push a Progressive non local agenda.
Winter with subfreezing temps and 5 feet of snow is hard on homeless riff-raff. We cart off their bodies after the spring thaw. MethHeads are a problem, but a self limited one, they tend to get removed from the food chain at a young age.
I last visited Venice over 30 years ago, in the early evening, and it scared me. I have not been back, nor feel any urge to ever visit any part of California ever again.
John Ramsden at September 25, 2020 12:31 PM
In the victimhood olympics, it has now been decided that the homeless and criminals are the most favored. The homeless are simply "victims" of society and without police there would be no criminals. So decent citizens are now fair game.
cc at September 25, 2020 12:55 PM
If you get any more obnoxious campers, maybe a little of this stuff would help them to decide on their own to find a better place.
https://www.amazon.com/Southern-Snares-Liquid-Tinctured-Essence/dp/B07B4L3WSW/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8
Ken R at September 25, 2020 7:02 PM
"Get an alarm system and a shotgun and you will do fine."
Both completely legal in California.
Gog_Magog_Carpet_Reclaimers at September 25, 2020 8:03 PM
I read the Quillette article, it was extremely well-written and informative. And maddening. I don't know if you ended up getting a firearm and won't ask, but I do think that a shotgun isn't necessarily the best choice if you did move forward with this. Like you, I worry that I would freeze up and forget how to operate a pistol/flick off safety, etc., and that's why my choice for self-protection at my home is a revolver. It's a shame that it carries fewer bullets than a semi-automatic, but it doesn't require anything other than a definitive trigger-pull to fire, and it doesn't jam. IMO, you're better off with a handgun close by (preferably on your person) than a shotgun that you'd have to seek out and then awkwardly wield. But it's definitely a personal decision no matter what.
RigelDog at September 25, 2020 8:09 PM
Wrote John Rassmussen/Rassmusen/Ramsden:
I last visited Venice over 30 years ago, in the early evening, and it scared me. I have not been back, nor feel any urge to ever visit any part of California ever again.
What scared you?
Kevin at September 25, 2020 10:15 PM
Stay save Amy, stay safe!
charles at September 26, 2020 7:55 AM
A better way to prevent this misuse of public spaces legally would be to start privatizing them. Let neighborhood associations form and buy the parks and even the streets from the city. Then the association can have the legal power to hire patrols and have them make the abusers leave.
Because when the homeless are allowed to make the nuisance they create our problem, they will. And we paid for our peace.
jdgalt at September 26, 2020 10:20 AM
So, I assume you and all your neighbors will be voting exclusively for Republicans from now on?
Oh.
If not, you should stop complaining.
Chester White at September 27, 2020 5:05 AM
Chester, don't be silly.
Cridmo at September 27, 2020 11:25 AM
Here's what scared John Rassmussen:
http://www.keepandbeararms.com/information/XcIBViewItem.asp?ID=3499
The text that follows deserves wide and repeated redistribution, anywhere a semi- or fully-thoughtful anti-gunner can be found and cornered long enough to read it. Chip Elliott, author of a novel entitled Tomorrow Come Sunrise, published in 1970, wrote the below letter in response to an April 1981 article in Esquire Magazine entitled "Fifty Million Handguns." It so impressed the editors that it was published in the September 1981 issue as the cover story. Mr. Elliot's comments are just as relevant to the gun issue as they were the day they were written — and his effervescent authenticity is indeed deeply appreciated. Esquire Magazine did a great service by running this letter — do your part by making sure someone else reads it.
Jay Hector at September 29, 2020 6:05 PM
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