I don't know what is more depressing, getting your personal information stolen from you by someone who you do not know or getting it stolen from you indirectly (through someone you paid a check to who was a victim of theft) and knowing exactly who stole it. I will admit that moving to a small town was still a good move for my family, but I'm not sure petty crimes are better then any other sort of crimes. I guess in a big city you would never find out who actually did it. In this small town, some of the petty criminals have been identified and yet they are still not in jail and continue to commit crimes while they are high on drugs.
Identity theft is a huge problem, especially when drugs are involved. I never experienced petty crimes like the one's that are happening all around me right now and I grew up in Los Angeles. Maybe because Los Angeles was so big, it just never happened in my old neighborhood or I just never knew about it. I also had a lot of my personal mail going to a secure business address. I'm writing this to inform anyone reading this that there is a lot of mail, checks and bank information being stolen from mailboxes, credit card fraud and all sorts of stuff being taken from vehicles in this weak economy. Beware of petty criminals who are also making phone calls pretending to be someone else or a bank to gather even more personal information. They do this after they steal your credit card information.
Kids high on drugs are now breaking into cars and taking them for a ride and they are looking for cars that are unlocked or that have any sort of easy access. Just imagine, a person visiting from Los Angeles at one of my neighbor's house had paperwork taken from his car with his Los Angeles address on it. I guess the childish adults hooked on drugs thought it was entertaining to go to that LA address and steal the car and drive it back here and park it in some hidden valley. I guess this takes the word boredom to a whole new level. Someone please give them a Game Boy or Xbox so that they have something to do since their parents obviously have no idea. I do not even allow games in my house during the school week, but in this case I would make an exception. On a serious note.
These crimes are happening at all hours of the day and a lot of the people committing the crimes happen to be drug users and are up for days at a time. They are also making the drug in their home. Drug users do not just make drugs in a beat up old shack, they can also manufacture the drug in a million dollar home with their parents there. Their parents may have a job, but they do not. Some of them may have grown up locally, attended neighborhood schools and never did anything else with their life. They are still around in a sort of drug induced time warp causing havoc on their neighbors and committing crimes that have hurt a lot of people. I have actually met many victims of these crimes in my town and our neighborhood has recently gathered together, formed an association and compared notes of criminal activity in our area. A lot of these crime hungry outcasts have been in and out of jail many times and when they get out, they go on a rampage so they can get more money to buy more drugs. They go in jail for a day or so and then they get out. What a great system we have. These petty criminals who are high must think they are in Club Med.
I was happy to read the crime report in the local newspaper a while ago, but it still did not address the actual fraud related crimes and make people take action. Things are still happening around my town, probably too many to mention. My neighbors and myself have had many conversations with our local Police Department. One officer explained that there are four groups of kids, some way into their 20's and older circulating this town and committing the crimes.
The main reason that I'm writing this is for people to be aware, form a neighborhood association if you need to, create an e-mail chain or exchange phone numbers to pass on information and alert your neighbors when something happens to you or someone you know. Also report it to the police department right away. I'm also concerned about the elderly or senior citizens that do not collect their mail every day and may get social security or any sort of income checks stolen. Also a lot of them have their personal checks sent to their house. I'm hoping that they will have their checks sent directly to the bank and pick them up there or to a post office box. Some who have had it happen to them have put Fort Knox lock mailboxes in place of the old ones. You would be surprised how many people report crimes and do not know what has happened to their neighbors and have not put it all together. You may not even be a victim yet, but someone near you may have had something happen to them. The best thing that has happened by forming our neighborhood association is that more people are aware and we have actually been able to identify vehicles that have been seen again and again in the wrong place at the wrong time. They know we are watching them now.
If you are a victim of a crime or have had personal information stolen, you should call your banks fraud department and alert them, call Experion (who also reports the fraud to Equifax and TransUnion). It does not hurt to change your bank account either if any personal checks were stolen. Less personal information and access to funds is a lot better then finding your account negative the money that was in there. Remember that it does not take much for these culprits to open accounts in your name and they can still write bad checks after your account is closed.
Luckily, we have identified the people who have stolen personal information in our neighborhood, but they are still not in jail. This is only one group of them and there are many others still committing crimes around town. Their time is running out. Too many people know who they are now and the cars they drive. This is the only way to eventually get them to stop. Be aware of what and who is in your neighborhood, ask questions and do not be afraid. A lot of these people are not dangerous, just lost souls hooked on drugs looking for a cheap fix or some quick cash. Your stolen stuff may even be for sale on the internet. If you are a victim or know someone who has been wronged, please call the police department and report it.