What To Do About That Pesky Drug Dealer?
Here’s a specific situation facing a tenant in a building but his question could also apply more broadly to illicit activity going on in the vicinity of your home: I’ve got quite the interesting situation going on in my building. I live on the first floor, and I know for a fact that there’s a…
Here’s a specific situation facing a tenant in a building but his question could also apply more broadly to illicit activity going on in the vicinity of your home:
This makes me extremely uncomfortable to know that this type of activity is so close to home. Because this goes on at all hours of the night and keeps me awake, I want to call the police and report this, but I also am wary of the “don’t snitch” edict in this neighborhood. I should also mention that even when not dealing, this guy and some friends are usually smoking blunts in the hallway (right outside my door) from 12am to 2am on weeknights.
I just don’t know what to do: (A) suck it up and wait til August and hope to get some sleep before then OR (B) call the police, hope that the dealer doesn’t figure out it’s me, and maybe have an increased chance of sleep. I’ve posted about this before, and the situation is now even worse. Anyone out there have advice?
Any thoughts?
Drug Dealer in Building [Brooklynian]
i lived in your neighborhood for over 20 years. You are in a great position to help. do you own a tape recorder? make some incriminating tapes then go to the police. you could save one of those kids in your building.
The landlord has a duty to give you quiet enjoyment to the property and this violates it but he has to be told about it. This is a police matter each precinct has a community council meeting one a month. At the meeting will be the senior people from the precinct(normally both the precinct captain and head of patrol as well as other senior officials) you can go and talk with them directly before or after the meeting…its better not to do it during an q and a session because you don’t want to be known to the dealers…they will tell you what they can do and mostly they do it. All the City Council people do is pass it along. This way you get to do it directly. Call the precinct and ask when the next community council meeting is and where it is….ask for the community affairs officer….
Two things to take into consideration…
Drug deals go bad every once in while…especially if the dealer is a little stupid. So if nothing bad has happened till now, chances of something happening in the near future are high.
If you don’t sleep next to your door (in case somebody uses their gun) and don’t walk into a bed deal, you should be fine but move in August anyways.
Don’t go to the cops and more importantly don’t do something stupid like installing a camera. Remember that these informal economic activities were here long before you arrived. Don’t give the dealer a choice of scaring you or stopping the activity.
Best
WOW, this dealer is stupid! “never sell no crack where you rest at”.
I would move. If you are uncomfortable confronting them directly or going to the police, just move. It is a non-confrontational way out, but if you don’t want to take a risk and take action it is the best way out.
Instead of the police I will also bet there is community member or council member you could speak with, I will pass this blog post on to some of my friends who work in the Brooklyn City Council, maybe it will help.
If you really subscribe to the ‘don’t snitch edict’ then shut up and enjoy the contact high. Otherwise, call the police and get the job done. When I was younger I actually lived next door to a crack house. Everyone in the neighborhood kept calling the police on those people. I woke up one night to the sight of a shotgun poking out of the bushes in front of my bedroom window. Next thing you know, cops were flying out of our bushes, leaping off our back porch and storming the house next door. Helluva night, but the point is that if you report this activity, something will be done about it.
If you have a landlord who is responsible, have him or her contact the local precinct to authorize “vertical patrols.” This allows the police, with their own keys, to enter the property at any time and patrol the hallways. As much useful information as possible should be provided to the precinct’s intel’ and, if it has one, street narcotics unit sergeants. Good luck.
oh jeez those brooklynians are batpoop insane. all they do is tattle on people, talk trash about their neighbors who cant defend themselves online, bash local businesses, and cop smug attitudes. barf! good advice in here tho, but it depends on how far you wanna go with it and your comfort level. if you are moving in august id say just deal until the end, but random people in and out of a building probably doesnt sound so safe.
*rob*
Think the Brooklynians (including one who is a cop) already gave him some sensible-sounding advice.
First, keep a diary – even if it’s only notations on a calendar mentioning time & what happened. Second, try to record some of the conversations. Third, go to the precinct & talk to the C-POP cop – I think all pcts have them. He/she will advise you what to do so there’s no risk of retaliation on you.
Be prepared for the process to take a long time.