We have at some times folks shooting on their property.Problem being with one neighbor and 17 year old they aren't set up to shoot on their property and has been issuses. Him shooting cars and even his brother that time with a high powerd air gun. This time was a .22 rifle . I heard it going on the shooting but didn't call it in due to being very busy and sheriff's office really havent made any progress stopping it. This is on going. They lie and say it fire crackers and such. My across street did witness this kid with rifle and shooting they called it in. Again Sheriffs office came out and this officer refused to do anything other than if he does it again call us. Yesterday I opened my 12x 12 shed to find 3 .22 bullet holes that went threw and threw this aluminium shed. Called Sheriffs office they came out did report and sending Det. Out. This shed is my go to shed I am in and out this shed many times per day it holds daily tools along with my pride and joy motorcycle. Bike was not hit thank goodness.If I would have been in shed at the time I most likely would have caught a .22 round.I will be headed to see upper level Sheriffs officers this week. This has to stop one way or other. This shed faces the road and the one side is easy for this kid to shoot at it from their yard.Now I also have a 2.5 year old shed that I paid 6 k for with bullet holes in it.

__________________
Spin The Wheel

Trespass by Projectile is a felony in the State of Florida. You can look it up and provide the information to your local Sheriff's Office if they're not aware of this law.

This is taught in every Hunter's Safety Course statewide. Ask me how I know.

__________________
Dave Brown
SWCA #3279

While I was mowing on my farm about 10 years ago, I heard gunshots. I stopped and took my hearing protection off and listened. A house that backed up to my property had been rented out, the tenant was shooting what sounded like 357 mag ammo at a cardboard box with no backstop. I quit mowing for the day right then! A few months later, I was at a party and was talkin with the owner of the place and told them about it. They were glad I wasn't hit. But they said they never liked it when we were shooting while they live there, but realized that my kids and I kept our bullets to ourselves (Shot shells, for trap in reality). Then said the tenants never paid any rent and were evicted. The house was very damaged inside and out, including 6 bullet holes in the living room ceiling/roof!

If neighbors start bad they will only get worse!

Ivan

They have violated a number of FL statutes. File a complaint directly with the Sheriff.

Heck, use the new red flag laws.

One thing is every event needs to be called in and a report made .. You'll never get the matter settled if you don't !!

If the sheriff won't respond to your liking take it to the DA and the local paper looking for a story !!

Years ago we had a slight problem with our sheriff being too busy .. didn't get a response till the local reporter wrote a article .. seemed like that did the trick as the problem was taken care of ..

Kids were driving their 4X4 thru the fields making big ruts in the water ways and other damage .. They were finally caught when a farmer drained his fuel tanks and dis-connected the fuel lines of his tractor and filled the tank up with water .. two of the trucks made it about 50 yards before stopping ..

Take pictures and call your insurance company to file a claim for damage! Document all “shootings”, calls to Sheriff office and request a police report for each time they responded and what was said!

It is against the law in most States to shoot toward or over a Public highway.

If Sheriff did not right a report, go up the ladder if need be to state Attorney General and file a complaint.

A 22 can kill you just as dead as a 44mag.

Stay SAFE!

I know the 2nd eye witness which also had round fired at their property has done a sworn statement. Question being how long do you give before calling on stauts of case. 2nd statement was yesterday. We are now closeing in on comeing into week 3

__________________
Spin The Wheel

That's long enough .. I would be calling and making myself somewhat of a pain in the rear till its corrected and they do their jobs !! If they won't go over their head to the next level .. get your elected officials involved in it .. That can sometimes help when the papers get wind of a elected official is involved !!!
Might also make the Sheriff get more involved too !!

The only problem I see with it is proving which person actually fired the rounds.

Let's say for the sake of argument that identifying the specific idiot who is doing it is hard or impossible. A proactive LE agency is going to respond to this anyway, and some very firm explanations and directions given. If you or the neighbors can get photos, that will help of course, but the idea that the deputies are not even going to the house and delivering a pretty unpleasant warning and posterior chewing is simply unacceptable. The deputies are not performing the mission, and their supervisors are derelict.

__________________
NHI, 10-8.

I have found that people, LE incuded, prefer to take the path of least resistance.. It's not THEIR property and it's "only" .22.

A visit by local law enforcement doesn't take much effort on their part. I would call now and speciifically request they pay a visit. Regardless of who's been firing the shots, it just might come to a screeching halt.

If not, it's time to submit a lawsuit...in addition to whatever charges you and your neighbor have pressed criminally. Small claims court for the damages.

I have already alerted local state attorneys office. Then I got a call back from the Majior in Sheriffs Office and he scolded me for calling the states Attorneys office. I aso left a message for a local T V station . I think I will call the Captains office in morning just to try and get an up dated since 2nd citizen has done the sworn statement. Will let you know any yp dates

__________________
Spin The Wheel

As far a small claims for damage its a 12 × 12 double door shed aluminium bought new two years ago . about 6 k. This family has been leaches on tax payers for over 30 years and no one has been gainfully employed in that time frame either

__________________
Spin The Wheel

If the Sheriff won’t adequately respond, call the Highway Patrol.

Offer the kid 10$ to take care of the dog you had issues with the last go round.

When I was in LE. A citizen filed a complaint. We investigated the complaint. We delivered our findings to the States Attorney. (They determined if the case could or should be prosecuted.)

It wasn't self-service LE. You didn't have to bring proof in. Or a name. Or deliver the suspect to the court hogtied like in the old west. We investigated. Someone is disinterested or lazy.

__________________
Certified Curmudgeon

You could tell the Sheriff (or neighbors) since they can't be bothered to fix the problem, you will have to shoot back next time in self defense. (Joking)

I did leave a message this morning with the Captain asking for update being they now have 2nd eyewitness sworn statement. Saturday will be 3rd week

__________________
Spin The Wheel

*
I'm a prosecutor, assigned the civil division of my office for the last 4-ish years. Most of my experience was criminal, so I have a lot of criminal justice agencies as assigned clients. That right there is unacceptable, and would justify some pretty brutal discipline. I'd have a hard time merely being polite while pointing out to the Major that had the SO done it's job in the first place, I would not have to use my First Amendment right seek redress of grievances in some other fashion. It would take a me a couple of drafts of a letter pointing out just how improper that was without being a raging A-H. That's embarrassing, and he is not of my tribe. Even the dullards that infest the top of our state agency aren't usually that far off the mark.

__________________
NHI, 10-8.

So the Major got his butt chewed by the DA and didn't like it and I would have told him he wouldn't have if his department was doing their job properly .. and then would have asked him what he was doing to rectify the situation ..

Keep hounding them .. sometimes its the only way to get any thing done ..

Update: They are charging the 19 year old seen by eyewitness with rifle with criminal mischief

__________________
Spin The Wheel

As a former officer... I got called in a lot to cover Dispatch. We took a lot of reports.
Let me just say anyone who has a valid cause should report it. I had seen cases where "someone" did a series of violations... drove over the neighbor's mailbox, tore up the lawn with a truck, etc. He didn't report it.
Finally, he'd had enough & reported the most recent offense... but it was a "first offense" because it was too late to report all the previous undocumented incidents. In my experience, troublemakers are only emboldened by "no consequences".
Make the report. It establishes a pattern & the totality points to the culprit.

__________________
NRA LIFE
Reserve Officer 9yrs

Thanks for advice .What we seen here speaking of mail boxes ours mowed down 3rd time 4 july night last time. I reported each time. Problem being Sheriffs office not always filling out report . Mail box is now cement block 3.5 feet tall filled with 480 pounds cement

__________________
Spin The Wheel

Your mailbox is protected by FEDERAL LAW and is enforced by the US POSTAL POLICE. Contact your Post Office,fill out the report, and you will get prompt action from them.
US POSTAL Police have absolutely no sense of humor.
Destruction of Federal Property is what the perps are doing.
We had some stupid Hi-Schoolers going around with a baseball bat and smashing the boxes. All were investigated, jailed , convicted, and served time in a Federal Lock-Up.
No mail boxes have been touched since then!!!

That's a start !!

If the courts don't let him off ..

Careful with the mail box .. there are federal codes for them and if they haven't changed them .. A mail box has to be a breakaway .. meaning 4x4 pole has to be able to break away if hit .. Your liability could be quite high if some was to get injured .. I would check the codes out to be sure YOU are legal ..

Up Date as of Yesterday: Two neighbors signed sworn police record statements as of the shooting of my shed. Keep in mind the female witness saw the male in question with the rifle in hand. My self and male eye witness went and hadsit down meeting with state attorney. State attorney wont press charges. Even though two eyewitness. Attorney refuses police to bring this person in for questions. I am off the charts mad about this one. I now have a two year old 6 k shed with 3 . 22 bullet holes threw it. Two eyewitness see them and nonthing done. Also the same pepole shooting are still shooting toward property. 4 more calls toS O last month. The last call last sunday night . Cops actually heard the six .22 rounds being fired and was on scene in less than 3 minutes. Still.
Shooter lied and said they dont have guns.

__________________
Spin The Wheel

If you have a good line of sight from your property to where he is shooting from, set up a security camera and get video of it. SO can’t play it down with that kind of evidence.

__________________
USS Brewton FF1086
SWCA#3597

Not a great line of site very wooded rural. I do have cameras none picked it up

__________________
Spin The Wheel

Also second eyewitness saw the person in person rifle in hand smoking barrell if you will. Suspect stated they where only shooting at tires. SO gets there gun now gobe suspect tells S O we dont have any guns. Also 6 know felons at that Home . S O runs and is ok with suspects lies.

__________________
Spin The Wheel

File a protection order against the person doing the shooting if police do nothing.

I am doing that on three individuals that live there should be done with all and filed by mid next week.thats the goal. I am going threw 160 pages of police reports since we bought the property 2015. 80 % of those pages will be filed to protection. Note other neighbor in past have field against these folks and we denied. I am hopeing woth all the gun shot reports that will help

__________________
Spin The Wheel

Statute does not fit these circumstances, at least not without some creativity.

There is no doubt that lazy, sorry azz, worthless slug of deputies exist. But that is the minority although the slugs can be hard to get rid of.

Yeah, a simple visit to the dirt bags doesn't take much time. However the days when an azz chewing or implied or even direct threats from a deputy changed dirt bags behavior are mostly long gone. I doubt many deputies are willing to assume the liability of getting the message across in more direct ways, as was done in years past. I won't elaborate on that. However being on the deputies good side might encourage such behavior on the deputies part.

Sure try a civil suit, why not.
Good luck with that. Great people but mostly if it's not traffic related it's not their thing.
Well yeah that's basically how it works. However, in most places these days, the deputies are running from one call to the next with supervisors calling them asking when they'll be 10-8 because calls are holding. In most cases, road deputies don't have much time for investigations. Also, in many places the D Bureau doesn't investigate misdemeanors as they don't have the manpower. It stinks but that's reality.

I suspect the road deputies are interested but don't have the time to take on a project.
You obviously live in a different reality.
Sheriffs, the chief law enforcement officials of the County and the most powerful elected official of the County. Most FL counties still function, at least to some degree, on the "Good Old Boy" system. The Major didn't get that job without being very tight with the Sheriff. Butting heads will not help. Being VERY polite while being persistent is the ticket. Yeah, probably not your tribe. Not likely a dullard but an effective politician which isn't the same as being an effective major, but it probably works for him. I'd guess he's probably also very good at "networking".
Yeah, that'll work. NOT! Yes, be persistent but be a citizen police friend.
That's great. I hope it works. However, based solely on what you've posted I don't see it flying if it goes to trial. Hopefully there is more. Hopefully it will persuade him that his actions aren't worth the aggravation.
You've obviously had different experiences with them than I have. Was that a very long time ago? I know I've been called by them to investigate suspected thefts by postal employees.
That stinks but what I expected. Try to develop a new relationship with the deputies. Some situations really do require some creativity on their parts to resolve.
I don't think that's going to accomplish what you want.
------------------------
------------------------
I have great sympathy for you. These situations are frustrating for all concerned and most especially the victim/complainant. It's amazing the frustration and grief a few dirt bags can cause. I sure wish I had some miracle answer for you, but I don't. It's very unfortunate that you have to work with the less than optimal legal, bureaucratic and political system. But it is what it is. Profound huh!

Try to be patient, polite, persistent and careful. I pray the situation is resolved satisfactorily and quickly.

From your description, if the SO can confirm the residents of the problem house are prohibited parties, the reports from you and the neighbors should be enough to get a search warrant if they do it while the info is fresh. As a side issue, while federal prosecutors tend to not take these cases, maybe you can get your local ATF agents interested enough to do somthing.

__________________
NHI, 10-8.

Yeah, there is some potential with that especially if they're know dirt bags.

Consider keeping a Video Camera handy to video tape the shooting. Now you have hard evidence for the Sheriff

In my experience, your best bet is to move. Bad neighbors seldom react well (or at all) to police, especially the sort of police you seem to have.

I'll bet those officers would react rapidly to unpaid taxes though....

I like the idea of public shaming suggested above. Good luck.

Seems like for the last couple years or more you’ve posted pretty regularly about the steady stream of criminal sociopaths you have for neighbors and the unwillingness of county officials to do anything about them. I’ll take you at your word. It seems like you got stuck in a bigger ****hole than most third world countries. I’m curious what county you live in. I want to make sure I never go there.

__________________
Vegan by proxy.

I don't think the situation is particularly unique. This stuff tends to pop up in unincorporated private road ranchette neighborhoods of 5 acres and larger. Of which there's a ton of in FL. This, or a somewhat similar issue, is probably occurring as I type this on a ranchette somewhere in FL. Many don't realize it but much of FL is rural outside of the big cities and coastal strip.

Until the neighborhoods get totally gentrified they'll be populated by a mix of city and/or northern transplants and what they would consider "rednecks". They often don't mix.

The neighborhoods generally don't receive a lot of law enforcement patrols because, quite frankly, the're in BFE and deputies (one man cars with generally delayed back-up) are usually in the "areas that generate more calls". For that reason dirt bags also like the areas, until they get too expensive due to the gentrification, because they can usually engage in their dirt bag lifestyle with less interference.

In most cases an officer can't make a warrantless arrest on a misdemeanor not committed in his/her presence. The dirt bags know this.

Not that I've observed or been involved in such actions personally but at times the only way to successfully deal with such fine residents is indirectly. They do have to leave their property. They have to drive to do so......etc. If verbal counseling at the residence doesn't work other methods of communication can be utilized. The deputy has to want to do this. They won't want to do it for someone they think doesn't like them or is complaining about them because, most assuredly, the dirt bags will be filing complaints against the deputy(ies).

Sue them and enjoin them from shooting unsafely - if at all.

I like the idea of sneaking on their property at night and putting potatoes in their tailpipes. Maybe some roofing nails under their tires. IAMAL...so it's probably not legal. I probably wouldn't do it...but I like to think I would. Easy for me to be tough behind a keyboard... :-\

There are a lot of tempting ideas of which I can think. None of them are wise; I'm pretty sure that none are lawful. As such, I will not post them, advocate for them, etc.

__________________
NHI, 10-8.

(h) Any person who in taking or attempting to take any animal described in s. 379.101(19) or (20), or in killing, attempting to kill, or endangering any animal described in s. 585.01(13) knowingly propels or causes to be propelled any potentially lethal projectile over or across private land without authorization commits trespass, a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084. For purposes of this paragraph, the term “potentially lethal projectile” includes any projectile launched from any firearm, bow, crossbow, or similar tensile device


I had to reread this because I missed the "taking of animal" part.
Also have an idiot neighbor to the rear behind a 6 ft. wooden fence, typical 60'x105' suburban lot. over a few years rapid fire (CO2 auto) BB's and paintballs have impacted my property in my presence prompting an immediate reaction from myself followed by a half gassed response from the neighbor until the next time.

I've also found arrows with serious target tips and a throwing knife in the yard. Since I didn't see them land, not much I can legally do. But the next time I heard BB ricochets I very carefully explained that any projectile directed towards my home would be viewed as a deadly threat and responded to. Unable to see eye to eye due to the fence I got a "yeah, yeah" response but have not had to repeat the warning since.

I did call the law when I found the knife in the off chance it may have been used in an unrelated crime. The younger cop said "nice knife" while his older partner and I laughed at him. They asked if I had any idea where it came from I said absolutely but I had no proof. I kept the knife.

Oddly enough not long after a plain dick visited and spoke to my wife asking us to notify PD if we knew of dopey's whereabouts due to an outstanding felony warrant. My wife relayed the info to me later and while tempted I decided I will not drop on anyone based on hearsay.

So far all is well, I hear the man still shooting and throwing a poorly aimed knife at plywood but thus far it's been contained to his property. I'm glad as I simply don't want the hassle of my reaction.

Attached Images

knife & arrow.jpg (103.0 KB, 73 views)