Problems in San Tomas Neighborhood

We've noticed a few problems in our neighborhood recently.

- On Sunday between noon and 1 pm, someone threw an opened bottle of red Gatorade at our front door. I heard a noise but didn't realize it came from outside and didn't find the mess until later.

- Our house was also egged on a Saturday between 6 and 9 pm about 3 weeks ago.

- We also are getting a lot of litter (beer and soda cans, candy wrappers, etc.) on an almost daily basis.

- I have found dog crap on our front lawn on a few occasions as well.

- I've also noticed graffitti on surrounding streets (like Virginia Avenue and Sunnyoaks).

- People speed excessively (20-30 miles over the speed limit) and drive full speed through stop signs on a daily basis, but this seems to be a universal problem, and not just limited to our neighborhood.

I've talked to a few neighbors and they've also had similiar problems to varying degrees. Someone broke my neighbor's pipes twice this year.

I've lived here for 5 years and haven't had any problems until recently. While these are minor problems and may not seem like much, I can only see things gradually getting worse from here if nothing is done to address these problems.

Has anyone else has had similiar problems? I'd like to keep our neighborhood friendly, safe and clean. A neighbor suggests calling 311, the non-emergency police number, the next time something happens, which I will be sure to do. Any other comments and suggestions are welcome.

The 311 number is the non-emergency number for the San Jose Police. Campbell does not use that number. A city resources list gives 866-2101 as the non-emergency number for Campbell, but this may also not be the best number to call. I believe it goes to the clerk. If you want the dispatch (which is what you would want), I believe the number is different.

I'm looking through my papers to see if I can find the correct number, but it may take me a while (my desk got cleaned off in a hurry recently). Our neighborhood association is collecting numbers to put together into one comprehensive reference. We'll post that online when it's done.

Here's a link to the police dept communications division: http://www.ci.campbell.ca.us/Police/Commun...onsDivision.htm

It lists 866-2101 as going to dispatch (as well as talking about how and when to use 911). I would hope that's the same number for after hours non-emergency calls, but I'm not sure.

Blondie, thanks for the info. I think it would be a good idea for our neighborhood to establish a neighborhood watch or some kind of group but so far I haven't gotten much interest. Ideally, we should all be looking out for each other. I know my immediate neighbors but others don't always seem quite so friendly.

Sorry that you are having problems in your neighborhood but I think crime is up everywhere. People are hurting. In our neighborhood, a house was broken into while the people were sleeping. THe mother thought it was the son and grab the guy by his shoulders to find out it was an intruder. THe house was two doors down from me.

I am trying to catch this neighbor in a black saab that is driving down my street polluted. I noticed him when he stopped in front of my house and upchucked. I have noticed him a couple times weaving down the road. I will catch him and straighten him out. There are kids playing on my street all the time.

I live next to Los Gatos, have great neighbors who know everybody and we tell each other when we are gone. I still got my Acura stolen right in front of my house (two years ago).

All of those upset me but what really upsets me is when a neighbor violates the CC&R's. They know better. And where is the city enforcing them? We are not supposed to have second story houses and now we have two. One looking down in my backyard. That really pisses me off. Now the same neighbor is knocking down all the trees on our common fence.

The city requires you to notify your neighbors when you remove a deseased tree which is justified. They did nothing again.

Thank goodness I am moving. One bad neighbor.

This post has been edited by techvbjoe on May 6 2007, 09:36 AM

FYI, here's the number for reporting graffiti from the Campbell Police Department's website. There are several other phone numbers for reporting other problems as well.

How do I report graffiti? To report graffiti, call the City of Campbell graffiti hotline at (408) 866-2191. If you observe a graffiti crime that is in progress, call 9-1-1.

This post has been edited by mobyfan on May 10 2007, 12:10 AM

QUOTE (techvbjoe @ May 6 2007, 08:33 AM)

Sorry that you are having problems in your neighborhood but I think crime is up everywhere. People are hurting. In our neighborhood, a house was broken into while the people were sleeping... I live next to Los Gatos, have great neighbors who know everybody and we tell each other when we are gone. I still got my Acura stolen right in front of my house (two years ago).

I talked to my neighbors and they've also experienced similiar problems. One home was broken into through the back door. Someone stole jewelry and left out the front door, leaving it wide open. At another house, some kids jumped the back fence and decided to make themselves at home in the backyard for a couple of hours before the owners came home.

Sorry to hear your car was stolen. Car thefts are on the rise in Campbell and the surrounding areas. Read more in my Social Wave post here. Someone tried to steal my boyfriend's car in front of our house three years ago. Luckily, it was probably just some punk kids bored on a Friday night. They clearly didn't know what they were doing and the car is equipped with a starter disabler so they didn't get very far. Campbell Police believe a lot of cars are being stolen by gang members for use in crimes. The good news is that many of the stolen cars are recovered.

I live on Albert Way, which is off of Sobrato (crosses Budd). Some people in our cul-de-sac had some mail stolen. I haven't noticed anything else though.

Thanks for the heads up concerning crime in our neighborhood. I'm going to put these numbers in my cell phone.

QUOTE (tammlewis @ May 14 2007, 12:12 PM)

I live on Albert Way, which is off of Sobrato (crosses Budd). Some people in our cul-de-sac had some mail stolen. I haven't noticed anything else though.

My neighbors behind me live in a cul-de-sac and haven't noticed any problems either. I would hope that a cul-de-sac is a little more secure. I haven't noticed any problems lately, besides the usual litter. There's also been more graffitti cropping up in our neighborhood lately.

I have a mailslot so anything that goes in will not go out. I love that thing! I reccommend a locked mailbox for those who can't install a mailslot. I always take my outgoing mail to the post office because it's too easy for people to steal your mail if you just leave it in your mailbox. I also have a cross-cut shredder and shred anything that even has just my name on it.