A long sorry saga
I debated about whether to mention my mother's experience with gangs and decided to go ahead and put this up because it might help some people realize what can be involved when you deal with gangs.
First, my mother lived on a major 4 lane highway in a relatively small town of 50,000 or so in the Midsouth. She is a licensed teacher and teaches inmates in County Jail lockdown for them to get their GED's under contract to the local sheriff. She has been doing that for over 15 years. So her relationship with the county deputies and sheriff is excellent and she is well acquainted with meth heads, coke heads, and all other sorts of chemically induced mayhem. However, believe it or not, the inmates treat her with respect and she rarely has much of an issue in the jail. And yes, I am sure that there are drug dealers in there etc.
Her real troubles started roughly three years ago when my father's medical condition (congestive heart failure) drastically worsened. My parents had a large 2 acre lot adjacent to a supermarket with a payphone. A security fence separated the store from my parent's lot. A variety of rough characters in shabby vehicles began hanging back from the gas pumps and they were frequently using the phone. As her carport was open in that direction, I advised here to screen it with plants so that they could not see her coming or going. That went on for a few more months but increasingly "youths" began tracking across the back of her yard to access the store by going through the bushes etc. Furthermore, she was always watched by these folks when she went out to do yardwork etc.
Next, when she came home, it was apparent that someone had tried to pry the front door open but failed due to stout deadbolts and a solid core door. Stuff began to disappear from around the grounds. Of course the local city cops were called and she filed reports etc. but nothing really was done. I became alarmed when I visited from out of state and while driving away from her house, a van full of "youths" pulled beside me and flashed gang symbols at me while driving. I ignored them but immediately called my mother and sure enough the van I described to her was often parked at the supermarket. Later on that visit, I installed an alarm system covering the doors, windows, and other key access points. I also made sure that my mother knew how to operate them. Shortly thereafter, my father died and my mother was alone. The harassment doubled. People went across her yard at all hours, cigarette butts were piling up at the end of her driveway on this major highway. She was constantly being watched and occasionally verbally harassed by the folks next door.
One month after my father died, she asked me for help in getting a firearm that she could shoot. She was 67 and had never touched a firearm in her life. As my father's firearms were not really helpful to a small inexperienced shooter with arthritis, I made sure that she got a 20 gauge pump shotgun that she was comfortable with (thick padding, etc.) and she got her concealed carry license. She slept with that shotgun by her bedside and eventually acquired a small 9mm pistol. She learned to shoot both proficiently by going to an indoor range and practicing on a regular basis. When I was able, I also supplemented her instruction along with my father in law. During this time, the harassment kept getting worse. At this time, I put in a 4 camera video surveillance unit with camera rolling 24/7 and posted a sign outside of the house noting this fact.
I also helped her put two solid oak core exterior doors inside the home with deadbolts to give her time to prepare to either flee or hole up in her bedroom waiting for the police. During this time, her perimeter alarms were triggered usually late at night (never during the day), laser pointers were aimed at her cameras from either the supermarket or the field across from her house, and she carried a gun to do such things as a getting gas, shopping, etc. She never went out after dark and had the police on speed dial. The local police tired after several trips out to the house in the middle of the night due to tripped alarms. Funny how they never went off in the daytime. During this time, she was trying to sell the house and move elsewhere but she refused to be run out of her house. The harassment didn't end at the house. Several times, my mother was nearly run off the road by "youths." As a result, she only took the main roads at the most busy hours. The sheriff's department was very supportive but somewhat apologetic that they didn't have jurisdiction over her house as it was in the city limits. Her immediate supervisor at the jail came several times himself to respond to late at night incursions.
This harassment only stopped when my mother moved away and sold her property after basically three years in purgatory. Apparently, her presence affected the drug dealing going on next door and they didn't like it. When helping my mother pack to leave, I left her house at about midnight and flushed one of the "youths" hiding in the bushes at the end of my mother's driveway. He ran away across the 5 lane highway when I came down the driveway in my car and spotlighted him in the headlights. I was so astonished that it took about 5 minutes to use my cell to call my mother and tell her to call the police. I talked with them and gave them a description but by the time the police arrived (about 15 minutes later), the guy had disappeared.
Lessons that I took away from this sorry mess. First, "youths" won't necessarily go away if you ignore them. Instead, they can and will escalate to prove their manhood. Of course, they prefer soft targets like most predators. Second, alarm systems, video surveillance, calling the local police, etc. can be useful but can also put you in a state of siege through calculated harassment by "youths" triggering them intentionally. As my mother worked a job during the day, they harassed her at night and wore her down through lack of sleep. Other aggressive techniques such as shining bright lights into her bedroom, flashing gang symbols at her in her carport, hostile looks, following her car, try to force her off the road, etc. were all intended to intimidate and contain her.
Third, the local police can do little if the gangs have good lookouts as they scatter like cockroaches with the lights on. Thirty minutes later, they are back in business. Fourth, dealing with meth heads is not like dealing with the hippie pot dealers of yore. Meth is a nasty addictive drug that is highly profitable for dealers and gangs with great repeat business. These folks can be aggressive and nasty under the best of circumstances. My mother knew what meth heads looked like from her job and these folks fit right in.
Fifth, in many of these small towns, a rising problem is coming from outsider gangs looking to move into new territory with close ties to foreign drug cartels from south of the border. These folks often employ locals at low levels in their organization but have their own people at mid level and higher and these people are very dangerous.
Sorry about the long post but I hope that it might give some food for thought. BTW, my mother never brandished, talked to the "youths", never scared them off the place with her shotgun loaded with rock salt, etc. She never escalated any confrontation with them aside from calling the police when her alarms were triggered and was ask the supermarket next door to get rid of the payphone which they eventually did.
