Yes, he would be identified
if he did not disguise his face. I had a long chat with the police detective last week. I told him I was worried about the criminals disguising their faces. He agreed that if they do so, there would be little for police to try to go on from that point, but he said if I filmed them committing crimes, at least I would have proof that I am not the one doing it to myself. Can you imagine?! Not only do you have to prove they did it, but you have to prove you did not do it either!
Really, the very best solution would be to move to a much nicer neighbourhood, but I cannot afford to do so. Moving to a similar neighbourhood that I could afford would not be helpful as I would be faced with the same sort of neighbours. Some people around here do take pride in their homes and are good neighbours, but too many of the rentals are not occupied by tenants who care. Code has a constant battle trying to stop them parking on front lawns; making them bring in their bins after collection each week; and, stopping them from letting junk pile up in yards; stopping them from letting their animals roam the streets, etc. Another HUGE, OVERWHELMING problem is over-occupancy, which is prohibited by city ordinance, but the city does not even try to enforce the ordinance because it is so hard to prove it. Police also cannot do much about the number of vehicles attached to one residence either. As long as the vehicles are operational and not in any other violation, e.g. parked in one spot for longer than 5 days, any tenant around here can have as many vehicles parked on the street as he wishes. This one lot that has been harassing me has a minimum of 5 vehicles parked on the street everyday. Sometimes, with their many visitors and overnight guests, that figure doubles or even trebles. It is crazy.
Two of my neighbours operate remodelling businesses, and they put all of the bulk trash from their businesses on the curb in front of their residences. It is prohibited by ordinance for obvious reasons, but Code has to stay on top of them to keep it under control. One man leased a property in this neighbourhood and parked his 18 wheeler on the street for over 6 years (that I was aware but I am sure it was much longer than that). It took Code and police 6 long years to finally get the truck out of the neighbourhood. Most people are afraid to say anything for fear of retaliation, and they are justified if you consider what has been happening to me. These are just some of the examples of what it is like here thanks to bad landlords who do not care what their tenants do so long as the rent is paid. Of course I blame the tenants for breaking the laws, but I think the landlords are equally to blame if not more so because they let the tenants get away with it. Too often, we have monkey see-monkey do, as well. During the 6 years it took to get that 18 wheeler out of the neighbourhood, others tried to bring in their big commercial vehicles, too. It is a constant battle. The situation has forced out a lot of good tenants and good owner occupied residences, unfortunately.
Last year I had one neighbour next door who brought home a puppy and left it 24/7 on the patio (they had no yard at that property). What the poor dog went through was heartbreaking. They never cleaned up behind it, either, and the waste piled up like you would not believe. They left food in a bowl for the dog 24/7 that the dog refused to eat. Any leftover food from their table was literally thrown onto the patio ground for it. The dog never ate much of it, either. Their bins on the patio were overflowing with garbage. Anytime I walked into my alley, I walked into a wall of flies! They flew into my house as I opened my door. After a few weeks of this, my neighbour and I discovered rats in the garage--something that never happened in the entire 28 years prior. We frantically set traps. We trapped 15 rats in 3 days. Code was reluctant to do anything about it because it was happening on their patio which was mostly but not completely obscured by a fence. I raised a fuss that you would not believe including contacting the landlord. In the end, rather than take care of the poor dog and be clean, they moved. The new tenants park their vehicles on the front lawn and have piled up old tires and other junk on the patio. I blame the landlord more than anyone. Of course you are going to have problems like this if you are not selective to whom you lease.
It is a never ending battle around here, and most good tenants are afraid to say a word about it. It is really sad.
