Taking Back Your Street

Home Protection, the Door

Taking Back Your Street

If you have a cronic problem on your street caused by a nuisance neighbor (drug house, party house, flop house, etc.) there is a lot more you can do than just dialing 9-1-1.

First, organize and mobilize your block against drugs, prostitution, noise, and litter.

Second, contact your Community Police Team (CPT) Officer and work with them to resolve the problem.

Third, meet and develop a plan of action.  Form a telephone tree for reporting incidents (the more calls to the police, the faster and more responsive they are to the neighbors' concerns).

Fourth,  be proactive.  Start by documenting the problems and tracking 9-1-1 calls and logging all activities.  This may be very useful for step 8.

Fifth, establish a schedules for neighbors to watch and record information about the cronic nuisance.

Sixth, research the property deed at the courthouse to get the address of the owner of the house (your CPT officer may be able to help with this).

Seventh, send a joint letter including copies of all documentation to the owner(s) of the property and request that the owner take action (evict tenants, take control of family members, etc.).

Eighth, if the police actions haven't solved the problem and notifying the owner hasn't worked, the next possible step is for the neighborhood to prepare for court.  As many individuals as possible (adults and children) should file claims for up to $2500 in small claims court at a charge of $10 each.  All claims must then be served against the property owner.

Ninth, the court will side for the neighbors or the owner(s) with the following possible outcomes -
a) Property owner(s) pay claims
b) Property owner(s) appeal
c) Court denies award

Tenth, if the property owner appeals, the case goes to Superior Court at which time it is wise for the neighbors to seek legal representation for the Superior Court Hearing.

RCW 7.48.120 Nuisance Defined
Nuisance consists in unlawfully doing an act, or omitting to perform a duty, which act or omission either annoys, injures or endangers the comfort, repose, health or safety of others, offends decency, or unlawfully interferes with, obstructs or tends to obstruct, or render dangerous for passage, any lake or navigable river, bay, stream, canal or basin, or any public park, square, street or highway; or in any way renders other persons insecure in life, or in the use of property.

RCW 7.48.210 Civil Action, who may maintain
A private person may maintain a civil action for a public nuisance, if it is specially injurious to himself but not otherwise.

Home Protection, the Door

In 17 of the 43 residential burglaries reported in our area from April through June of 1997, the burglars entered the home through a DOOR.

On most homes, an exterior door is easy to get into because the doorframe is inadequately secured or the wood frame of the door is aged and weak or both. When a door is kicked, the frame usually gives way, allowing easy access right through your front door.

Reinforcing the doorframe is fairly simple and easy for a homeowner to with an electric screwdriver. The first thing to do is to check out the condition of the wood frame. If it’s worn, then have a new frame made. This may take a professional to do the work but it’s well worth the investment. If the wood is in good condition, then anchoring the frame into the wall studs (2x4 or 2x6 wall supports) will lower your chances of having your door kicked in by a burglar. Anchoring can be done by replacing the short screws used to secure the strike plate and hinges with 3"-4" screws into the wall studs.

Not all doors are created equal, some are easier to break through than others. The most vulnerable doors are "Hollow Core", "Panel", and "Glass" doors. Hollow core doors are just what the name implies - hollow. Two thin slices of plywood glued to a (2x2) frame that is usually filled with a honeycomb of cardboard. This door can be easily punched or cut through to gain access to the inside. Panel doors are made of a thick wood frame and wood panels set into it. Where the panels are set in the frame they are often not any thicker than ¼" of an inch, so the panels are easy to kick or punch in. Glass doors or even windows near doors can be easily and quietly broken by a burglar to allow them access to the inside.

If this sounds like an exterior door that you have then there are a few measures you can take to reinforce your existing door. Glue and screw a sheet of ¼" plywood over the front of the front of a hollow core or panel door. Replace glass panels of doors and nearby windows with a durable plexiglass or treated glass that will be more difficult to break. If all else fails, replacing all exterior doors with a solid core door will discourage would be burglars. A solid core door (one solid piece of wood or a steel door wrapped around a wood frame) will be almost impenetrable to a standard break-in. Be careful, though, some so called solid core doors are actually made of particle board cores and will deteriorate in our moist climate.

The last and most important thing about securing a door is to not have to open it up until you know who is outside first. A simple and inexpensive way to do this is by installing a peep hole in the entrance door so visitors may be viewed without opening the door. The peephole should be a wide-angle (180 degree) model and set at a height which is convenient for all members of the household to use.

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