Ok, I know I said I would not respond, but I have to respond to Bev. I live in the city of Memphis, TN. I used to be in an unicorporated area, but was annexed into the city. Shortly after that several houses went up for sale, no biggie, but the people that moved in were not the, um how do I say, the best neighbors. If you stand in my yard and look to the street, the second house on the right. They were evicted and all of their belongings thrown to the street. Part of the reason for eviction was stealing electricty and/or drug use and selling.
Now look to the left, again 2 houses down, well, there was a meth lab that was busted. I've had to call the police a few times to report various activities, the quickest response time has been on the order of 30-45 minutes, and the police substation for my area is about 1 mile away.
Also, the Supreme Court of the U.S. has rulled that the police are not required to provide individual protection (so things like restraining orders are really useless). So, while if the need arises that I NEED to call the police, I will, but I will not wait to protect or my family or my neighbors if I have to.
Yes, I am working a plan to move out of the city soon, but even then I will take responsibility for my families safety and protection.
BTW, I grew up in a small town in MN where did not lock the doors at night, until small items started disapearing. yeah, no matter where you are, the bad guys will eventually go there for the "easy" targets.
I hope I in now way offended anybody, these are just my personal view and opinions.
Ryan