New Haven Independent

Posted by: charlie | February 13, 2008 9:00 PM

Shut it down now. And if the criminal is caught for doing this, they should get 90 years with no chance of parole. It's time for much tougher sentencing!

Posted by: PowertothePeople | February 14, 2008 10:09 AM

I'm not a fan of having the police solve our problems. They could do it but then we would become a police state and that would really suck! Still, there are some knuckleheads who really need a serious smack upside the head. Can't the city take possession of property used in the committing of a crime like drug sales or use? Why can't they start taking some of these houses that are known drug houses. Police raid the house... police find drugs... city owns the house and sells it to a resident home owner.

Posted by: DEZ | February 14, 2008 11:54 AM

The blight of drug houses is one that Fair Haven appears to suffer no lack of. What law abiding residents desire is safety for their families and empowerment over the crud that comes seeking their next score and the dealers that are only willing to deliver. In our neighborhood in Fair Haven, flashlights from safe distances have kept the buyers and sellers moving along. I'm interested to know what party favors would do? What about balloons and streamers? Huge paper mache flowers from the stores on Grand Avenue to decorate the houses of known drug dealers? I'd be willing to bet that most buyers would shy away from the only house on the block to sport lavish, over-the-top, bright fiesta decorations. Drive-by shootings are no joke. Innocent and not-so-innocent lives are lost to the blight of drug abuse and its associations. When neighbors can't control the trade, find a way to do what you can to control the situation. This may be as simple as re-aiming an outside spotlight and leaving lights on. Re-positioning your car to take up valuable curb space. Planting flowers and trees to give a sense of residential place to the streetscape. Flashlights in the night from multiple homes to deter loitering vehicles. The roach when faced with the light, scurry's to the dark shadows. Find the light. Fiesta decorations? Why not?

Posted by: cedarhillresident | February 15, 2008 8:49 AM

We have a problem just like this. It has not elevated to this level yet. The police know about it. One cops says he is watching it and has seen nothing, the other says it is trouble and they have seen it. Who is telling the truth? I know they did a search on the property not to long ago. This weekend a group of at least 15 growen woman came to the place and all went down the street and attacked a girl. Does the landloard care that this is effecting all the work we have done over here NO all he cares about is the section 8 check!

We have complained to the management company pinsky and levitin. About the people they are moving into this property. The filthy downward care of the property in general (garbage ect.) I know LCI has been in there and found problems with the property. They (the management group) told me to call section 8 on the place because they can not. Is that true. I don't think so. If the people are breaking there lease and breaking the agreement with section 8. They should not be getting that assistance. Sorry just pissed and scared what the summer will bring.

Posted by: Ned | February 15, 2008 9:43 AM

Cedarhillresident:
Have you considered suing the property owner in small claims court? Might be worth a try. You and your neighbors can sue.

Posted by: cedarhillresident | February 15, 2008 9:55 AM

Ned
We had asked our previous Alderman about the
Nuisance law
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuisance
which strangely the City of New Haven does have one. Not used or enforced but I was told that on a few occasions it has been.
We had asked this about another property which LCI and the building department are supposed to be working on because the police were unable to help us.
The problem is finding a lawyer willing to do it.

Posted by: cedarhillresident | February 15, 2008 10:15 AM

PS Ned,
We really just want the landlord to realize this may be a lower income area BUT most that live here are good people that just want a safe place to live. When we call they are nice, it is just that when you have to call them every other week about there garbage blowing down the street because there trash is never picked up...and my little blue bin is filled with there trash that I pick up and I have no room for mine. When there tenants park in front of our driveways and and other wonderful activity which we are watching they have a guiet and enjoyment clause in there lease. Just send them a note for goodness sake saying they are in violation of there lease. Sometimes that is all it take to get things under control. A little piece of paper saying stop

Posted by: Edward_H | February 17, 2008 1:43 AM

Anne answered a Wednesday afternoon visit from a reporter by unleashing two pit bulls down the front stairs.

Not trying to belittle the terrible situation in the neighborhood but is no one else concerned about this behavior? I am the owner of a pit bull myself and I can tell you from experience it is impossible to train a dog to tell the difference between a drug dealer knocking at your door and reporter. This is a irresponsible dog owner at work here and a recipe for disaster. How is the dog supposed to tell the difference between a criminal and a Girl Scout? When a tragedy happens no doubt the media will describe the event as vicious pit bulls out of control rather than an ignorant woman who has no business owning a dog of any breed. This is a blatant example of a dog owner who has no right whatsoever to own an animal. If the reporter here is to be believed this woman unleashed 2 very powerful dogs on a person without identifying who was at the door. This woman Anne acted with callous disregard to human life. Did anyone report this act to the authorities or was the cooperation of Anne more important to the story? I would hate to see these dogs put down because of the stupidity of the owner and the desire of the reporter to get information. The ignorance of this dog owner is a public safety hazard that needs to be dealt with sooner rather than later. Please don't mistake my intentions. My concern has nothing to do with the breed but with the documented irresponsibility of the owner.

Posted by: Colleen | February 18, 2008 9:26 AM

Drug houses are a problem in our Pittsburgh neighborhood. NHI reported that you now have a 311 hotline. Use it. Every time you see what appears to be illegal activity, call it. Garbage piling up in front of one, call it. Utilize the service. We do and it helps.

Also, our neighborhood police representative suggested keeping a log of anything suspicious that we've witnessed. It could help them build a case for an arrest. Here's what they had to say to us about curbing violence here: http://pittsburghdish.typepad.com/pittsburgh_dish/north_side/index.html

Bottom line: Arm yourself with information--phone numbers to local agencies, surveillance cameras if you can afford them and email NHI so they can report it. Be a pain in the ass. It works.

Posted by: cedarhillresident | February 18, 2008 10:33 AM

Colleen

311 is a great way to report it at least it will be in writing. I will suggest that at our next block watch. Thank you. We do call in but those are useless here. I did one yesterday and have video but the person that answered the phone said that the dealer left so she would not send a cop. I had video and plates. But I did call the info into my distric Mang. cell phone.
I personally fought with Corp Hess and after a year got them to put in 6 camaras with a 36 hour loop record to tape deals that happen at the gas station which is a big problem place of our community. I have a cheap cam on my street I just put in and other streets in my area will be adding them so we can watch eachothers streets via work or when someone is out of town.

it is set up at earthcam a free site. Sorry it is out at the moment I was taping the deal yesterday and did not hook it back up but it will be up in a few hours for those that are interested in hooking one up on there street it was cheap.
mycampage.com/cedarhill