This. I moved outside of Portland a few months ago
after three serious incidents on my property involving
violent vagrants. In all three cases the police took
over an hour to show up and did absolutely nothing.
I had a man trying to break in to my backdoor. When
I confronted him and demanded that he leave, he began
swinging punches and pulled out a knife. I managed to
restrain him and the 13 year old girl next door called
911 (in hysterics). After keeping this guy pinned
for 30 mins while waiting for the cops, I gave up and
released him. He then attempted to assault me again. So
I pinned him for another 15 mins, the neighbors called
911 again. Still no cops. So I let him go and kept
kicking the guy in the ass (literally) until he left
my property.
The cops show up about 75 minutes after the first
call and said "Our hands are tied. We can't do
anything." They didn't even bother to look for the
guy. They just wanted to leave.
I've seen this happen first hand in developing
countries. You know what happens when law enforcement
doesn't do its job? Violence escalates due to rise of
vigilantism - as communities are left with no choice
other than to employ street justice.
After three incidents (none as bad as the first) I found
myself concluding "The next time one of these guys tries
to break into my property or threaten my family I am
simply going to kick the shit out of them... There is
no point calling the police."
I am a peaceful person that has never even been
in a fight. That's when I knew it was time to leave
Portland. Who wants to live like this? I don't want to
assault anyone, but I also want to live in peace and
feel assured my family is safe.
