• Seagoon_OP
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    14 days ago

    so many hugs

    Remember, you are safe once you close your front door.

    and regarding serious stuff, I lived in downtown Detroit and I was safe. Crime was always in nightclubs and or among drug gangs. And because crime isn’t random to be safe I just had to stay away from drugs and where dealers go…

    The incidents will be the same, only against people/enemies they know, not random.

    You are safer than you think.

    • melbaboutown
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      14 days ago

      You mean well but… I just deleted an extremely personal comment of everything that has actually happened to me here. Repeatedly. For years.

      Here you go. I once chased an intruder out of my house on pure unthinking adrenaline. I was very lucky that the person was alone - and that they spooked when I rushed them.

      That was the very least of it. That is the one thing I’m willing to tell you about because the rest is so much worse and persisted so much longer.

      I genuinely don’t leave my house a lot because things are ‘quieter’ these days but I still don’t want to keep an eye out or roll the dice on physical confrontations. Yes it is likely. Guess how I know.

      Ps. The justice system is useless. Cops are overwhelmed. Don’t expect anything. I was lucky to finally get a camera through victims of crime after a particularly bad incident.

      You’re welcome to not believe me, that’s cool. It is so unbelievable to someone who doesn’t live in my exact circumstances. It’s unbelievable to me. I think it comes down to the area, previous tenant, and looking like an easy target.

      But there are landmarks I can point to that explains it. Ghettos of untreated mental illness and substance abuse do exist in pockets (even in seemingly nice areas) of Melbourne. And vulnerable low income people do get warehoused in with it.

      This is exactly how I knew what Baku was about to be dealing with.

      • Seagoon_OP
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        14 days ago

        omg, I’m so sorry, and yes, I do believe you.

        • melbaboutown
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          14 days ago

          So sorry to unload even that on you. I just wanted to illustrate that I wasn’t just getting nervous from rumours or something happening near me.

          I’m actually a pretty tough person despite being non confrontational, in the sense that I can take a lot of adversity and keep going, so it took quite a bit to get so worn down.

          Edit: Oh yeah you were right though. I was unlucky enough to be housed somewhere with heaps of drugs and drug related crime. That’s definitely part of it

          • Seagoon_OP
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            14 days ago

            I’m in the inner city here, crime has really escalated since covid, erratic , scary even violent drug users every where. Also so many rough sleepers too in my area, often even in my street.

            I really don’t know what to do.

            • melbaboutown
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              14 days ago

              It really has.

              I used to get a lot of sketchy people looking for the previous tenant, thankfully that fell off but then I was targeted more specifically in other ways.

              Now I’m noticing an uptick of more people going past my place who are very obviously substance affected, probably unhoused, and the crime is more casual and opportunistic but more frequent. That parcel I reported - that same guy actually stole three and is a regular going past.

              I had someone sleeping rough outside too, out in the open on a bench, when normally it’s more hidden.

              People have got more brazen about getting aggressive in public or coming onto your property to rummage bins/take anything they can.

              The housing crisis, mental health cuts, drug supply and the strain of covid have really made their mark.