[annie and teddy]

I live in Miami, this must be a area of sanctuary also, because the police are mostly Cuban and nothing is done to them. My neighbor has poured a tar mixture on my front limestone porch and the police said it was "dirt". Had his son and friends stone my house, threw brokjen glass on my deck, damaged my car. Police said if you didn't see it they didn't do it.Neighbor, who is Cuban, is ruining my fence by leaning heavy building material next to it. Now code enforcement says it's his fence, I said I paid 2,000 for it and got the permit, build it 1 foot inside my property line, by the way I am a widow and I'm 84 years old. I was born here and I'm not moving. What can I do.

[JudyKayTee]

Hire an Attorney. I find you racist, but that's probably just me.

If you refer to the Police and your neighbors in racist terms, expect to be treated by them as a racist.

There are bad neighbors everywhere. I don't think "Cubans" own that territory.

I had bad neighbors. I was not the only one contending with them. "We" got together and retained an Attorney, started filing insurance claims and Police Reports. Guess what happened? Their insurance company paid a claim or two, cancelled their insurance, they moved.

I don't understand how a fence which you installed under your permit on your property can be considered to belong to someone else. What are the details?

[AK lawyer]

... Neighbor, who is Cuban, is ruining my fence by leaning heavy building material next to it. Now code enforcement says it's his fence, I said I paid 2,000 for it and got the permit, build it 1 foot inside my property line, by the way I am a widow and I'm 84 years old. I was born here and I'm not moving. What can I do.

If I were you, I would give somebody a few bucks to push the building material back, so that it's no longer leaning on my fence.

Or you could hire an attorney to get a court order that he do the same thing. And while you are at it, get an injunction against him doing it again. And ask that you be awarded attorney fees for your trouble.

[JudyKayTee]

And if I were you I'd be very careful about trespassing or paying someone to trespass on someone else's property.

It all depends on the property line.

[N0help4u]

As far as racism, I don't think its so much that as the south does have a problem with illegals and immigrants thinking they can do what they want. I've heard so many horror stories. My one crippled friend in Texas is victimized daily. I don't understand it because in Pittsburgh, Pa where I am the illegals and immigrants are truly sweet people only trying to make a living.

[JudyKayTee]

I agree - but if it is or isn't I'd be very careful about accusations about a nationality when the Police are that same nationality.

Substitute "African American/Black" and this, likewise, would be offensive.

[Fr_Chuck]

Yes, the poster is very racist and if that attitude shows up in court, they will lose.

Police must have evidence, so show video, or have other non related witness of crime. The police need evidence, not your statement,

You do not have enough evidence and most likely the ttrouble you are having has started by the way you are treating the people around you.

[smoothy]

I actually see this a little differently than some do... because I had relatives that once lived in Miami that left when things started going downhill a couple decades ago (luckily they had the money to do so).. . and I have coworkers that live and work nearby currently.

Calling someone Cuban is not a derogatory term if they are in fact Cuban. Like someone calling me the white guy next door. As opposed to the Asian guy next door to me or the Black guy next to them.

What many people think of as Miami (no thanks to TV) is actually called South Beach... a separate town and a whole different world.

There are entire parts of Miami where you will no longer see signs in English.. or hear english spoken, in fact there are businesses where they can't even speak english... and the crime has gone through the roof. And its not safe to drive through during the day much less at night.

It just happens that the Cubans are the biggest ethnic group with the Haitians the second.

Lots of gang issues followed them in.

I do however agree... she has to be very careful with her choices of words or she can easily provoke an undesirable response from the people she needs the help from.

Its also possible the police she dealt with really are biased... but proving it and getting anything done would be an uphill battle few have the time... energy or money to do anything about. Been way too many cops arrested and jailed for every crime immaginable here in DC... and I've known enough crooked cops elsewhere too to make a blanket assumption all are honest or unbiased.

And like was mentioned... any case is based on what she can prove as well as the police... not on statements or beliefs.

Pictures and videos have value. Anything else is circumstantial. And its not what you know that matters.. its what you can prove.

[JudyKayTee]

Well, Smoothy, and I'm highjacking - I feel that if the OP used the term "black" in place of "Cuban" people would jump up and down on her.

"I live in Miami, this must be a area of sanctuary also, because the police are mostly Cuban and nothing is done to them. ... Neighbor, who is Cuban, is ..."

At best I see racial bias and profiling. The Police advice that if she didn't see "who did it" means the Police cannot arrest anyone is no big news in my part of the Country.

This hits home for me - remember the person who referred to all the Jews in his neighborhood? Here's a thought. Move out of the neighborhood and give and live where everyone is just like "you."

[smoothy]

I guess its all perspective... because there actually are places (cities AND states) that turn a blind eye.

The State of Maryland for example... an illegal (doesn't matter from where) will actually get preferential placement as well as in-state tuition rates at community and State colleges... while someone from Virginia gets bumped and pays out of state rates...

It's a complicated subject no doubt... one where certain groups insist on being more equal than the others (they ALL share that role from time to time)... that perpetuates the problem.

[N0help4u]

Where I live the police use all these games because they do not want to deal with issues. Yes she needs to not make race an issue. She needs to gather her evidence like property deed and fence receipt, scrapping of the tar, etc... and get a good lawyer.

[JudyKayTee]

Absolutely - I don't know what Police hate more, neighbor disputes or matrimonials!

We'll see if the Cuban Police are protecting the Cuban citizens when OP is on the far side of "her" fence (or sends an employee/friend/relative), removing debris (from the neighbor's side).

[joypulv]

I'd like to cut her some slack. She's 84 and not Cuban in an area that's Cuban for miles around. I don't know what the crime is like now - about 25 years ago I drove with a friend from Miami due west to Hialeah, not knowing we would go through miles and miles of 100% Cuban signs, billboards, shops, and what seemed like all Cuban people. Took hours. The thing is we didn't sense anything unsafe at all. Maybe that was then and this is now.
Sure, she should talk in terms of poverty and crime. But most of us here are pretty safe in our neighborhoods. It's not easy to separate the color/ethnicity/country/culture from the poverty and crime when it's all around you.
Property line disputes are not pretty. I had one once. You just have to get your survey, and he gets his, and you duke it out in court. Where sometimes the judge tells you to cut the baby in half. That happened to friends of mine.

[N0help4u]

Exactly and if the cops are taking sides for ethnicity...