Reporting Drug Theft In Maine: Fill & Download for Free

As a former landlord, I can tell you from personal experience, that it’s pretty difficult to evict a tenant, even with cause. I’m sure that there are some sh***y landlords who don’t follow the rules, but that really doesn’t contribute to homelessness.That’s not to say CA, isn’t in the midst of a homelessness crisis. The New York times reports:“More than one-quarter of the total homeless population nationwide lives in California, roughly 114,000. The vast majority are “unsheltered” — a more bureaucratic term to describe the thousands living on the streets, under freeways and tucked into grassy fields and parks in cities all around the state.”The problem doesn’t stem from bad landlords so much a bad public policy. Laws and “reforms” supported by the legislature, former Governor Brown and Governor Newsom have created a perfect storm where homelessness has grown so dramatically as to swamp normal social safety services. Here are the main issues driving homelessness in my state.(1) California has become a haven for hard drug users.Many crimes that used to be felonies are now misdemeanors, especially as related to hard drugs. If you get arrested with a pocketful of meth or heroin in the morning, you’re likely to be charged with a misdemeanor and be released back out on the street by lunchtime looking to score your next fix.But it’s not just drug possession that has become a slap on the wrist. Most of the property crimes that drug addicts use to support their habits have also become slaps-on-the-wrists. Petty thefts have become so bad in areas that in cities like San Francisco you can find maps of The Worst Parking Spots in SF for Car Break-Ins | SF Parking. Basically, your car is so likely to be broken into by a drug addict in the City By The Bay that it’s not even worth filing a police report.With minimal (if any) punishments for hard drug possession and theft, the Golden State is a magnet for hard drug addicts. If you’re a meth addict breaking in cars to fund your habit, it’s a lot better to do it in San Francisco or Los Angeles than in Waco, TX. So more homeless drug addicts are arriving every day.(2) To make matters worse, drug rehab centers are fueling this process.As reported in the Orange County Register’s article Are drug rehab centers fueling homelessness in Southern California?, rehab centers in the Golden state have a direct pipeline into a nearly unfettered pipeline of CA taxpayer dollars via Covered California.California has a large concentration of residential drug treatment centers. A lot of them advertise their services to addicts across the country. Many even send plane tickets to addicts in places like Nebraska or Oklahoma. As soon as the addicts set foot in CA the treatment centers sign them up with Covered California, and in some cases even pay the insurance premiums.Once enrolled in California’s low cost health insurance, they are entitled to tens of thousands of dollars in drug rehab benefits. The rehab centers then suck those benefits dry, often charging thousands of dollars a week in urine tests. Eventually the addict runs out of benefits and the rehab center tosses them into the street.This has been one of the largest contributing factors in the explosion of homelessness in CA.(3) Prison “reforms” have released lots of unstable people into the streets during a time of housing shortage.In addition to the de facto decriminalization of hard drugs and the rehab center pipeline that’s sucking addicts into California from Texas, New Mexico and Indiana…we’re also releasing lots of “non-violent” offenders in the street. By non-violent, the governor may mean rapists and armed robbers whose most recent conviction was for something non-violent…like being a felon in possession of a firearm. Hell, if you rape an unconscious woman in CA that can be a non-violent crime.So we’ve released a lot of violent males with poor impulse control and issues with authorities. Young men with poor impulse control and a propensity to steal or assault don’t make the best employees or coworkers. Maybe if the total number were smaller the state could afford programs to mainstream them would be more successful. But the recent “reforms” resulted in such large releases that success isn’t likely. As a landlord, I certainly wouldn’t want to rent an apartment to an ex-con with no job. And neither would you.With no real job prospects and no real ability to pay rent, many end up on the street. It was even reported by Business Insider that Silicon Valley Parole Officer Told Homeless Ex-Con: 'Go Live In The Creek'.California’s population has doubled in the last fifty years, with the most rapid expansion over the last two decades. Housing stocks have not kept pace with the rapid population growth. In desirable places like San Francisco, San Diego and Los Angeles, there’s not a lot of vacant land left to build housing units.And if you can find a piece of land and build some new units, do you want to rent it to the Mexican immigrant family working a bunch of jobs, or to the meth addicts just released from prison? I’d choose the hardworking immigrants any day of the week.

The New York times reports:“More than one-quarter of the total homeless population nationwide lives in California, roughly 114,000. The vast majority are “unsheltered” — a more bureaucratic term to describe the thousands living on the streets, under freeways and tucked into grassy fields and parks in cities all around the state.”Bad public policy by the legislature, former Governor Brown and Governor Newsom have created a perfect storm where homelessness has grown so dramatically as to swamp normal social safety services.(1) California has become a haven for hard drug users.Many crimes that used to be felonies are now misdemeanors, especially as related to hard drugs. If you get arrested with a pocketful of meth or heroin in the morning, you’re likely to be charged with a misdemeanor and be released back out on the street by lunchtime looking to score your next fix.But it’s not just drug possession that has become a slap on the wrist. Most of the property crimes that drug addicts use to support their habits have also become slaps-on-the-wrists. Petty thefts have become so bad in areas that in cities like San Francisco you can find maps of The Worst Parking Spots in SF for Car Break-Ins | SF Parking. Basically, your car is so likely to be broken into by a drug addict in the City By The Bay that it’s not even worth filing a police report.With minimal (if any) punishments for hard drug possession and theft, the Golden State is a magnet for hard drug addicts. If you’re a meth addict breaking in cars to fund your habit, it’s a lot better to do it in San Francisco or Los Angeles than in Waco, TX. So more homeless drug addicts are arriving every day.(2) To make matters worse, drug rehab centers are fueling this process.As reported in the Orange County Register’s article Are drug rehab centers fueling homelessness in Southern California?, rehab centers in the Golden state have a direct pipeline into a nearly unfettered pipeline of CA taxpayer dollars via Covered California.California has a large concentration of residential drug treatment centers. A lot of them advertise their services to addicts across the country. Many even send plane tickets to addicts in places like Nebraska or Oklahoma. As soon as the addicts set foot in CA the treatment centers sign them up with Covered California, and in some cases even pay the insurance premiums.Once enrolled in California’s low cost health insurance, they are entitled to tens of thousands of dollars in drug rehab benefits. The rehab centers then suck those benefits dry, often charging thousands of dollars a week in urine tests. Eventually the addict runs out of benefits and the rehab center tosses them into the street.This has been one of the largest contributing factors in the explosion of homelessness in CA.(3) Prison “reforms” have released lots of unstable people into the streets during a time of housing shortage.In addition to the de facto decriminalization of hard drugs and the rehab center pipeline that’s sucking addicts into California from Texas, New Mexico and Indiana…we’re also releasing lots of “non-violent” offenders in the street. By non-violent, the governor may mean rapists and armed robbers whose most recent conviction was for something non-violent…like being a felon in possession of a firearm. Hell, if you rape an unconscious woman in CA that can be a non-violent crime.So unless you’re a cartel assassin who gouged out his cellmate’s eyes, you might be getting early release. So we’ve released a lot of violent males with poor impulse control and issues with authorities. Not exactly the best employee or tenant material. With no place to go they end up on the streets.It was even reported by Business Insider that Silicon Valley Parole Officer Told Homeless Ex-Con: 'Go Live In The Creek'.Because of rapid increases in the state’s population, California has seen a housing crisis in cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego. And with land at a premium, there’s not much opportunity to build new units. And if you can find a piece of land and build some new units, do you want to rent it to the Mexican immigrant family working a bunch of jobs, or to the meth addicts just released from prison?

Does not compute.There are no curfews other than the ones parents set for their children.I moved away from home to study when I was a few months shy from 16 years old. From there on it was mobile phone parenting — no curfews. I also traveled a fair bit as a minor in Finland and abroad. In Stockholm, in Cologne, London and New York with nominal adult supervision. That’s how trustful we can be up here.I have at times felt or actually been unsafe growing up, but those incidents have been 100% with people I knew. For example troubled individuals I went to school with and therefore couldn’t avoid.Theft in Finland is largely non-violent. Robbers target empty homes or summer cottages which we have an abundance of. They are easier to ransack without getting caught.I’ve lost a couple bicycles to crime rings. I know of a little bar in Helsinki that the residents of the area don’t park their cars in front of due to the higher possibility of the car getting trashed or stolen. Immediately around the corner seems perfectly fine, though.Drunkards and druggies tend not to care about you if you pay no attention to them. Not standing out of the crowd tends to work well in general.In sparsely populated Finland however you might find yourself walking the streets alone all of a sudden. It’s still an urban area but there just isn’t anyone else to be seen, until you’re walking alone with someone, that is. You’re bound to draw attention to you then. You may be too far away from where people could hear you if you screamed for help. It can be scary. It can be dangerous but there aren’t any no-go zones for the general public.Itäkeskus metro station in eastern Helsinki is sometimes said to be one due to the relatively high crime rate in the area. It’s also a commuting hub for 160,000 ordinary citizens which hardly makes it a no-go.Tallinnanaukio, Itäkeskus, HelsinkiKontula borough mall in eastern HelsinkiThe time at which the sun sets ranges between 3PM to 11PM in the capital city region. It’s a sliding scale across the length of the country: The night can last 52 days in the Arctic parts.What this means in effect is that you’ll have small children walking or biking to school in the dark. Teenagers in parks, buses and metros when it’s dark out. Men and women walking dogs, jogging, coming home from work in pitch-black night.Darkness is an inescapable part of life, as is crime, and the two aren’t necessarily linked. Or else we would have crime-free summers.Safety has more to do with psychology… and the opening hours of ‘snotty’ local pubs.Public spaces in cities are well lit. Certain pockets of suburban areas are not, such as recreational areas, nearby forests and ponds. Most of these are safe. Some have a record of attracting disturbing or illegal behavior for whatever reason. Locals pick up on these things. They will share the information if asked.Keep in mind, though, that sometimes the reputation lives on longer than necessary or isn’t otherwise up to date. This can be a stroke of luck for students who need affordable housing. A lower income area with no students is legitimately bad. The worst. I wouldn’t hang outside at night for fun.Ahvenisjärvi lake park in Hervanta suburb, Tampere. A backdrop for harassment cases and some violent crimes in the past — at least that’s the reputation.Older, lower income parts of Hervanta in the city of Tampere.The suburb has gone through extensive gentrification since I lived and studied there.Every single place can become potentially dangerous if common sense is abandoned, whether it’s people or the forces of nature you need to watch out for.On the other hand there’s literally no place in this country I would be afraid to go to for a Sunday stroll. I might opt not to because some are just too damn depressing.Let’s have a look at some places that have (had) a higher than average crime rate.Vaasankatu in Kallio neighborhood, Helsinki. The police estimated in 2015 that this was the most active street in Helsinki drug trade.The Telegraph published an article some years back advising people to avoid this area by night. The Finnish police reminds that the most central areas of the city, prosperous Kluuvi and Kamppi are in fact statistically less safe, with more theft and violent crimes occurring.A quick conclusion is that where most people are most of the crimes also happen. I can attest that the square outside the main railway station in Helsinki can feel restless and unsafe on Friday and Saturday nights. After 10PM maybe?Vaasankatu leads to a square originally called Vaasanpuistikko, colloquially Piritori.The literal translation of the nickname Piritori is Meth Market. It’s so ingrained in speech that the city planning department uses it and google maps recognizes it.This however is a joke. The actual metro station is called Sörnäinen.Looking outside Helsinki now. Leppävaara neighborhood in the nearby city of Espoo for example has had a relatively high crime rate in recent years (below).When I lived in the Lahti “Finnish Chicago” region, the most dangerous places in the city were the parks located around the bus station. The bus station has been since moved elsewhere, which I suppose is now the new dangerous part of the town.City of LahtiWhat is it with bus and railway stations at night?Outside those places, it seems to be expected that social problems pile up in lower income neighborhoods and cause crime. This generally concerns the police only. As long as the ‘bad crowd’ leaves the ‘decent crowd forced to live in those areas’ be, such as the elderly, the general public doesn’t seem too concerned.City officials are concerned and rightfully so.In Jyväskylä higher than average crime rate has been reported in for example Pupuhuhta and Huhtasuo.Very typical appearances for these kind of areas throughout the country. Cheap or dilapidated housing. Drunken rows, drugs, that sort of thing generally happening inside apartments rather than out on the street.The streets are very quiet with mostly abandoned commercial real estate. I see little danger in walking around at night.The question cannot be answered directly because there is no such time. General rules about going out at night don’t apply. There are certain places that aren’t safe for certain people at certain times. In no way should that be taken as a restriction or a rule. A part of keeping areas safe is using them and claiming them, not avoiding them.Can’t be afraid of the dark hour in Finland. This could be 9AM.Photo credit unijaz