Colonial Settlement

Is anyone else seeing crime rising in Pawtucket neighborhoods?   Things in my neighborhood are steadily declining and its really bumming us out.. there have been FIVE breakins on my street in the past 2 months... the last one occurred at 7:00 pm tonight right next door to my house.

My wife and I are really sad and are thinking about selling and getting out of here no matter the hit we'd take... we'll see.  We're just so frigging stressed from worrying about getting broken into all the time.. there are so many absentee landlords around here and we're seeing a much higher rate of scumbags walking around our neighborhood. 

we have 2 dogs, a house alarm, bars on the basement windows etc but we still don't feel at ease.. someones targeting our street and I don't think the police can do anything about it.. a house 2 houses away from ours got hit this last Saturday during the day and the burglars got a gun in addition to valuables..  a friggin gun!

sorry for the venting here..my neighbors and myself feel helpless.


I'm in Oak Hill (but not the ritzy enough part) and we had the spate of store hold ups last week.  I am a little bit worried about some of the same things you are.

Crime is going to be rising and no offense if there are any of those guys here, but the cops who have had a generally easy time of life in the last ten years or so and yet still complained about workforce problems and pay will actually be under some real stress and my personal opinion is that they will largely fail to be up to the task.  Ditto for Providence where being a cop seems to be more about how many details one can collect.  I'm sure there are good ones out there but I am just as sure that there aren't enough of the good ones.  For this reason I think non-violent crime is not going to get much attention from the Pawtucket PD.

Pawtucket followed the Providence model of selling itself out in the name of increased property taxes and a short-term vision that I think will get hit rather hard by the current economy.  Actual residents are going to default on their mortgages and more absentee landlords will come in, and they will look to merely fill their properties with whatever scumbags they can find.  Pawtucket housing trended toward absentee landlords in the real estate boom and the city did nothing about it except salivate at doing a re-assessment and collecting additional tax.  Now they are going to be stuck with a bunch of run down and/or empty and/or Section 8 housing.  Not that section 8 folks are bad, mind you, it's more that Section 8 Landlords are typically scummy and Section 8 renters are trypically transient and do not invest much in their homes.

All of that said, your house seems like a difficult target while all of the absentee properties are likely easy targets, so you are probably safe.  Criminals will look for the easiest mark.

Not sure I agree with all this as I reviewed...but there are far too many neighbors not making the calls when they see or hear something...and IT COULD HAPPEN TO YOU, so let us look out for anything suspicious and make the calls.

Are the police all concerned about just details for $$$? I do not really think think most are even with all the economic pressures, but I am sure there are a few, so make sure you call and report and express concerns and not sit silent.

The NAP has a good relationship with the city and the police and other depts and have gotten support and change when discussions take place, so please help us all by becoming an ally with NAP or other groups rather than going it alone or trash talk to gripe vs getting on the line to move to make changes.

What are you doing to make our neighborhood a little better in these tough times?

Have you done one or more little things during the holiday season or anytime ....Time passes by and things can move to the positives and not downhill- BUT IT TAKES EACH ONE MAKING THAT EXTRA STEP- a small one makes the difference...are you ready?

I agree, with some stuff our neighbor talks about but Arthur isa right...We need to do something and since Jan 18th is not far away, let all go to the potluck party and share concerns and not just gripe but do something about it...

We CAN Make it work if we all pitch in despite the economic scene...See you on the 18th of January with your favorite dish...and favorite ideas to help...til then happies and healthies and keep your eyes and ears open and make the calls..