As the population grows, our individual, private space gets reduced, particularly in the fastest growing areas with smaller lot sizes, making us live a lot closer to our neighbors. If you live in a highly-populated area similar to the one described, then that means you probably see and interact more with your neighbors compared to someone living in the mountains. Ironically, even as the space between our neighbors is more limited, many of us know very little about our neighbors. Moving to a new neighborhood as a child, I recall the first thing my parents did was go door to door and introduce themselves to everyone who lived on our street. But as times change, perhaps due to social media, people seem to interact less in person.
I find it comforting if I got the opportunity to get to know my neighbors. This action would calm me when I take walks in the evening, go on vacations, ask my neighbors to babysit, pet sit, and so much more. You can meet your neighbors in multiple different ways. You can write them a letter, knock on their door, start a conversation, throw a party, or deliver a gift basket. However, if you are scared to engage with your neighbors in person or do not want to do a one on one interaction, this blog will teach you different alternatives to learn more about your neighbors. If you do not think you need to meet your neighbors, keep in mind crime happens in every neighborhood, no matter the area's socioeconomic status. So what is a way you can meet your neighbor that is not so one on one? Well, you can create a neighborhood watch.
What Is A Neighborhood Watch: How Can I Benefit From It
A neighborhood watch is a program that many communities are a part of as of today. It was created back in 1972 by the National Sheriff's Association. Neighborhood watches prevent crimes such as robbery or vandalism in American neighborhoods. However, this program unintentionally started connecting community members together. This program teaches local members of a community on how to spot and report any suspicious activity. Neighborhood watch groups vary in size. Some could be just a couple of homeowners on a single street or members living in an apartment complex, etc. In contrast, other neighborhood watches could watch over an entirely residential area. This crime program is such a fantastic way to get to know your neighbors more and keep people accountable for their actions. Joining a neighborhood watch is such a significant first step to learning more about your neighbors.
Use Crime Mapping Websites
Some websites gather police reports on as many neighborhoods as they can. Websites such as CrimeReports and SpotCrime are good sources. These are great sites to use if you want to see if any crimes have been committed in your neighborhood. If there was a crime in your area, these sites could even provide the exact date that they occurred. But keep in mind that the population matters. If you live in a small community, the crime percentages will yield higher due to the tiny population rate. So do not let that scare you away from a neighborhood or your neighbors. Another great site to use when checking out your area for crime is using a sex offender site, such as National Sex Offender Public Website. This site allows you to type in your exact address, and it will provide you with any sex offenders' names and addresses in your area. These are just some significant first steps to figuring out who your neighbors are. To gather more in-depth information on your neighbors, you can look up your neighbors' public records available to any resident in the U.S. If you live in the Los Angeles area, you can google search lacounty.gov to find tons of public records. Public record websites like this one will provide you with information gathered from your U.S. censuses, such as property records and corporate records.
Being aware of your neighbors' potential criminal background will allow you to know which ones to keep an eye out for. Just because a person is friendly does not mean they are not someone to watch out for. There have been instances where neighbors will steal packages off their next-door neighbor's porches in broad daylight. The people that steal packages from their neighbors are referred to as porch pirates. Most porch pirates never end up getting caught. If you want to make sure none of your neighbors are porch pirates, try using a people search engine to see if any of your neighbors have a criminal background. You can use a website called GladiKnow.
This website is a people search engine designed to simplify the process of finding information on people. New, advanced people search engines (gladiknow.com is one of our favorites) give you instant and confidential access to nearly a BILLION public records on any person in the U.S. Here's how you use it:
- The first step in the process would be to gather all of your neighbor's names and addresses (city and state) (both will work). If you are new to a neighborhood and do not know anyone feel free to ask your realtor, sometimes they know the names of the people in the community.
- The second step is go to gladiknow.com and input your neighbor's name and location (or address) into GladiKnow's people search engine. From there, you will instantly get a confidential report on your neighbor or neighbors, including data on that person's real age, addresses and address history, emails, phones, relatives, employment history, education history, social media profiles, criminal records, sex offender records, liens, judgments, bankruptcies, civil records, traffic and infraction records, licenses, permits, and much more.
- After all that, you will have access to see all types of information on your neighbors. Take a close look at their sex offender records, weapon permits, employment history, address and property history, family members, social media, criminal records, and traffic infractions on your neighbor. This particular data will help you decide whether your neighbor is someone you would like to live next to or even associate yourself with. This website is a great tool to use if you move to a new city or town or feel uneasy about a particular neighbor. This process works perfectly in ANY circumstance where you want to learn more or the truth about someone, from online dating to roommates and classmates, to new friends or romantic interests - the list goes on!
For more information on the new, advanced people search engines, check out this great video. Having the full picture of the people around you and your loved ones will give you peace of mind.
References:
https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2019/subcounty-population-estimates.html
https://lacounty.gov/government/public-information-records
https://www.ncpc.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/neighborhood-watch-needs-you.pdf
https://www.moving.com/tips/simple-tips-on-how-to-meet-your-neighbors
https://gladiknow.com/blog/hall-of-oversharing
https://gladiknow.com/blog/is-your-new-neighbor-a-porch-pirate
https://gladiknow.com/criminal-records-statewide
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