Crime, Sort Of, in the Neighborhood

So it was a pretty full Friday for me.  I drove the too small Caddy up to North Miami Beach for a business lunch with my partner Paul and a favorite old client, a fellow we've liked but never got to know well -- we did that yesterday.  And then I drove back to Brickell and did some strategy on cases with Stuart and John -- 2017 is shaping up to be a decent year for us, work wise.  The wheels of justice move slowly, often, but it's reassuring when they move at all...

Wifey had a girls' night out -- her friend Sheyl from Boston is in town, and always succeeds of getting her old Miami friends to meet.  They had dinner at a Dadeland restaurant.  I was left to my own devices...

My friend John was also free -- he had plans to leave early this am for a party in Ocala, and so we agreed to meet in the Grove, at Greenstreets.  We had a few adult beverages and shared some food, and watched the beautiful full moon rise above the trees.  We talked of life and law, and enjoyed the cooling temperatures.

I left for home, and when I got to the entrance to my 'hood, saw no fewer than 5 police cars, blue lights spinning -- both Pinecrest and FHP.  I drove home via the alternate street entrance, and walked back to the scene.  My neighbor Lori was there, too.

It seems Lori was in front of her house, away from her driveway gate, and she saw a van drive up, no headlights, and stop.  A young, skinny white teen got out and started walking in, towards her house.  She asked what the hell he was doing.  "Oh -- you live here?" he asked.  She repeated HER question, and the boy said they were "looking for contributions for their cause."  Lori turned around and saw out FHP trooper was parked up the street, and she called him.  The van left, headlights still off.

At that point, the trooper called for backup, which, in thankfully crime light Pinecrest, brought every single car in the Department, it seemed, and they stopped the van a few streets away.

Wifey came home after the commotion had ended, and since she's crime watch Chair, called the trooper to get the scoop.  Turns out the kids told him the same tale, and gave them the number of their high school principal.  The phalanx of cops called, and the principal said there HAD been a charity program, but it ended.  So clearly the kids were using it as a ruse.

Still, none had warrants, and they hadn't committed a crime, and so, the Trooper said, they took their names and off they went.  Wifey grilled the trooper -- surely the boys were up to no good, probably casing houses to break into, and the trooper said, essentially, there was no way to prove that.

So the security worked as it's supposed to, sort of.  The troopers are supposed to challenge all unfamiliar cars, which they never do.  Whenever I drive up, they never even look up from their computer screens.  Each of the 82 houses in my 'hood now pay close to $3k per year for this protection, and it seems to me a waste.  We could get 24 hour private security for less.

It'll never happen.  We have a few 80 and 90 something widows who LOVE the FHP guys -- they help them carry in groceries, and act, essentially, as sons to them.  So our security, such as it is, will remain.

The good news is that nothing really happened.  In theory, having a marked FHP car is a deterrent.  It wasn't for the would be burglars last night.

So Wifey will circulate an email, reminding people to keep their garage doors closed, and to report suspicious vehicles.  The have nots will always want what the haves have.

I'm just happy this was a near miss, and not an actual break in.