Nextdoor Posts About Crime

Guest post from Rocky Mountain

How many of us are concerned that about 80% of the posts on Nextdoor are about crime? Crimes that are committed against themselves, relatives, neighbors, etc. Most of these posts are about how to protect ourselves like installing lights, cameras, security systems or “call the cops”.

I’m sure many crimes have been prevented by these actions, but how many crimes have been solved and more importantly, what happened to the perpetrators? Did they receive appropriate punishment for their crime or are they simply given a slap on the wrist, made to promise not to do that again and put right back on the streets?

Our police force is underfunded and under staffed. They are restricted from performing their duties to arrest and detain criminals. And really, why bother anyway, they will just be let go anyway

Many of these crimes are not just about lost or damaged property. My brother’s truck was stolen. He lost much more than his truck. He lost all of his tools and materials he needed to make a living! They really have stolen the livelihood of himself and his entire family! What should the adequate punishment be for the scumbags that ruined the lives of an honest hard-working family? We are more concerned about the proper treatment of the criminals than their victims!

Shame on us! Who is to blame? Look in the mirror. 

Editor’s Note: Nextdoor users understand the phenomena of posts like these getting flagged or disappearing, while posts that encourage sympathy for the alleged criminal can proliferate. Lakewood Informer would like both sides present at the table so that sympathy for the victims is not lost.

I am 79 years old and have seen my nation, my city and my neighborhood steadily deteriorating.  We used to have a relatively safe and crime free community. For the most part, we were honest, respectful and God-fearing people. We didn’t have to worry about locking our homes, cars etc. I could ride my bike anywhere and leave it without fear of it being stolen.

We were taught certain values that are rapidly disappearing today. One of the most important one to me was, ‘If you don’t work, you don’t eat’. I went without supper a few times, but I learned that value pretty quick. Another one that I learned when I was quite young was the responsibility of safely owning and using firearms.

Of course, crimes were committed, but there were repercussions for them. Criminals were quickly and adequately punished for their crimes.

It sickens me to see crime running rampant. Seeing people so afraid. Afraid of just walking alone even from a parking lot to a store. People feeling that they must carry a defensive device of some kind just in case. People that feel they must live in a fortress with security systems to be relatively safe. Seeing criminals running free without conscience or fear of capture. People who don’t have much hope that ‘calling the cops’ will result in solving the problem. Police being restrained from doing their job. People that care more about the criminal than the victim. The result has changed from, ‘Crime doesn’t pay’ to ‘Crime does pay’.

I don’t think that many people who use Nextdoor realize how devastating many of these crimes are to the victims.

We are not even a nation anymore because a ‘nation that doesn’t control its borders is not a nation’.