So, let’s say your house was broken into almost two years ago, in the middle of the afternoon. A lot of stuff was taken, including some sentimental items that could never be replaced. The thief left behind a small amount of DNA, via a blood drop on the curtain that your eagle eye spotted thanks to years of watching forensic crime dramas, and the crime lab said they’d check it out.
Fast-forward five months. The DNA comes back with a match, and the police tell you they have a warrant out for the guy. When you ask for details, they tell you that he used to live nearby, but is no longer at that address. You ask if he lived in the neighborhood, but they refuse to give details, only saying he lived in the area.
The thief is caught, processed, and then because of an overcrowded prison system, given only probation for his crime, despite the fact that this would not be his first time in prison. You feel a little upset that this guy is out in public, but try to reassure yourself by saying that he probably lives nowhere close to you.
Now let’s say that in doing some internet surfing of court records last night, you come upon this guy’s record. (Not only has he robbed you, but since turning 18 has also been arrested three other times for forgery, driving without a license, and another robbery with criminal endangering.) And you find out that he didn’t just live nearby, he lived ACROSS THE STREET. As in, almost directly across the street. And that the residents of the home across the street are his family.
Knowing this new tidbit of information, do you feel that the police should have shared that the criminal lived in spitting distance of your house? Or that while he no longer lived there, his family was still living there, and now knew that you were the ones who helped get their little boy thrown in jail?
To say I’m a little shocked to find out the guy who upended our lives lived right across from us would be an understatement. I don’t understand why we weren’t allowed to know where he lived, and that his family were still living there. Shouldn’t we be told that our every move is still being watched by people close to the perpetrator?
I can now see why those neighbors have never talked to us, and why they still give us unfriendly – bordering on dirty – glares each time we drive past.
We never received a mug shot, so we still don’t know what he looks like. It’s possible that he’s still coming by to visit with his family across the street – lots of 20-something men and women come by that house all the time – and if so, he’s violating his probation order to stay at least 1000 feet away from us. But since we don’t know what he looks like, we can’t tell if any of the young men glancing across the street at us might be him. Creepy, eh?
It sucks when you don’t even feel safe in your own home.
