<p>I never used to lock my car doors, especially at night. We have had “visitors” in our car at least 4-5 times over the past 24 years, with the last few times they’ve taken more & more from the car–all our change for parking meters, gift certificates that were in the car, sunglasses, my Costco card, once they stole a cloth briefcase which had all my notes in it & abandoned it in a neighbor’s yard after they realized it didn’t have a laptop or anything valuable. They also smoked in my hubby’s old car & left cigarette butts in his ashtray! We’ve given up & now lock our cars every time we leave them. Fortunately for us, no one has ever stolen our cars but did try to steal a neighbor’s car & stole our son’s bike out of our carport!
I really think all the increased drug use/abuse is the major reason for the increase in violent crime. Ice particularly ruins the minds of users & leaves them with cravings & no means of support. There are ice houses all over the nation & the problem continues to grow. :(</p>
<p>HImom–just saw in the Honolulu paper today that ice may be a contributing factor in the crime committed by family members on their aged relatives. Tragic!</p>
<p>Yeah, it seems that drugs are contributing to all sorts of crimes and sad trends in our society. Ice is a particularly nasty drug in the permanent damage it leaves behind.</p>
<p>I admit I had to look it up to see what it was.
I have heard of it as meth- yes I hear of meth labs in the suburbs and rural areas- some grocery stores even lock up the antihistamines.</p>
<p>Yean, many drug stores in HI have Sudafed & drugs containing psudoephedrine behind lock & key because of all the crystal meth. You can have meth labs pretty much anywhere, even out of cars, homes, you name it. It’s very cheap & extremely addictive & NASTY stuff. It contaminates the area & all those in the environment & it’s tough to decontaminate. The fire department has to wear special protective suits when they respond to meth sites. Its especially tragic when there are kids who are exposed to all of this–being around the stuff is very harmful, plus the kids are often horribly neglected & live in filth.</p>
<p>I would implore the folks who don’t lock their doors and windows at home to please do so! The worst possible situation that I can imagine is to have a stranger with mischief on his or her mind in your home and to come home or to be home when they are there. Sure, you can replace your belongings. It may not be so easy to get over the trauma of a home invasion. In either situation, keeping your doors and windows locked should minimally alert you to a stranger’s presence – whether because of noise or because you notice broken glass or doorknobs. It’s not a perfect system, but it’s something. In fact, if a burglar is looking for an easy target, why not make their work a bit harder for them by locking up?</p>
<p>I grew up in a home where we never locked the doors. When I was a junior in high school, a friend of mine who lived up the street came home to her unlocked house only to be attacked once she got inside by a would be drug addict burglar. She was tied up and held at gunpoint next to her terrified mother for over three hours. An elderly neighbor stopped by and was taken hostage as well. When the elderly neighbor didn’t return home, his wife called police. The burglars ran when the police arrived with sirens blaring. The burglars were never caught and prosecuted. The daughter was devastated, needed therapy and decided to forego her pending matriculation to UMichigan in that fall. The list of all of the even more terrible things that could have happened but thankfully didn’t is too scary to mention. From that point on, my parents installed a deadbolt and we locked our doors, even locking our front door when we were in the backyard. This incident has affected me and everyone in our community for all of the years since it happened – but no one in our community would ever have thought this could happen before it did.</p>
<p>Not to mention meth can really ruin your TEETH!</p>
<p>Tragic story, Sallyawp…</p>
<p>I don’t know if this couple locked their doors- but it is a reminder tha this sort of thing can happen anywhere- not just in “big” cities
<a href=“http://www.komotv.com/stories/43642.htm[/url]”>http://www.komotv.com/stories/43642.htm</a></p>
<p>and heres another
<a href=“http://www.theolympian.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050628/NEWS/506280304[/url]”>http://www.theolympian.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050628/NEWS/506280304</a></p>