Take your chair away, if you don't provide a place for him to sit outside your door he might just go into his own apartment or hang out somewhere else.

Are you the only neighbor? Are the chairs inside the building, or outside?

If you are pretty sure he is intoxicated, why not just call the cops anyway, saying there is a drunk man outside your door.

Chances are, they would just escort him inside, and maybe after doing so (so many times) he would learn to 'not' drink (get drunk) in public.

I for one, would be afraid to pass by a lone drunk, day or night by myself. In my mind, drunks are not of their right mind anyway. A lot (most) of them tend to be very disgusting.

Sue

If a person is outside their own place of residence, intoxicated and causing any sort of disruption, that is considered "public drunkenness" and is a summary offense. Definitely call the cops.

Thank you for you input. I appreciate it.

UNBELIEVABLE! I brought my chair inside. Didn't stop them. Night before last the he was at it again, with another neighbor - drinking, burping being loud. At about 10pm, I thought they were done, so I turned on my porch light - hadn't thought about that - who wants to sit in the light & drink?! They actually unscrewed my light bulb. I saw him do it!! At 11 pm they were still out there, I called the police. They came out & chit chatted with them. Let them know there was a complain about the noise, but they didn't think they were being too loud when they walked up on them. Didn't ask them if they had unscrewed my light or if they had been smoking anything - I did mention to the operator that I overheard 1 say he was going home to smoke some weed. Anyways, after the police left they were extremely angry & annoyed that anyone would have called the police, because they were being so "quiet". Saw the neighbor today - he let me know that the police had been called out & managment had talked to him & that he was going to find out who called & "take care of it". So, now I'm a bit concerned, but more for the fact that he doesn't even accept any fault. Being outside, drinking, smoking, talking loud, being lewd to women who might pass by, useing profanity, all at late hours of the night is not acceptable. OK personaly I dont think there is an acceptable time for any of that. Did I mention that he is "disabled" Using a cane, & said that if management tried to get him, he'd call ADA ( I guess thats a disability organization) & that he'd sue for millions. I wish I could move!!!!

I think you should tell management that he has voiced an implied threat, and that you're nervous, and you want them to move you to another unit. Mention that this would be better than you getting hurt by him and suing them because they hadn't listened to you.

Put a new light bulb in; should he remove it again, call management IMMEDIATELY and ask them to come inspect right away.

And you might also call the precinct and ask to speak to the public affairs officer; find out if this implied threat is something they can act on.

Why didn't you say that you agreeded with the complaint that he was loud and you would appreciate him not drinking outside your door, or unscrewing your light bulb?

Yes management and the police haven't helped but you are also not addressing this directly with him. Believe it or not he may not realize its effecting you and may think it was someone else complaining.

Perhaps him saying he would "take care of it" means he would talk to the complainer and work something out.

If you try that and you feel threatened put a restraining order against him. I have seen this happen between neighbors and tenants forcing one to move or sell.

I would talk directly with him but make sure its when he is sober and others are within site, just in case.

Best of luck but dont run away and let people like this control you or make you affraid. You have to stand up sooner or latter or these type of situations will re-occur no matter where you live.

I wholeheartedly agree that a person should stand up for themselves in issues regarding disputes with neighbors, but under no uncertain terms would I suggest tere_grower should do so-- first, for the fact that he's a drunk (and therefore is probably "drunk" all day, not just at night, and therefore is certainly not a "stable" individual), and second, that he has already implied a threat. (Sorry, nflifer-- I don't believe for a second that this guy said "take care of it" to mean "sit down over a cup of coffee so we can come to a civilized mutual agreement over how I should behave while I'm drinking." Come on-- what is there to "work out"?!?!)

Tere_grower, document EVERYTHING inappropriate that this man does outside your apartment. Include dates and times. Don't hesistate to record and/or videotape if you can. And absolutely do NOT hesitate to continue calling management AND the police if he continues to act up, each and EVERY time. (Be sure to document those phone calls, too.)

I don't think you can request a restraining order based on what he stated (since he didn't make an explicit threat, and he didn't specifically direct it towards YOU per se), but you should not stop calling and documenting everything. If you continue to not get satisfaction from management or the cops, you will need that "paper trail" to show your efforts.

Good luck!

cnvh,

Recording audio or video of a person without their knowledge is illegal. I would not recommend doing this. If the drunk neighbor found out he could have her prosecuted for illegal surveillance.

I agree with everything else you said though. Document everything. If you have the money it might not be a bad idea to get copies of the police reports every time you call the police (you'll probably have to go to the police station and file a request and pay a small fee, ours was $8 per report). Then you'll have the report that the officer filed, which should give you some clues about what this neighbor is being told.

oops--sorry about the itals

Here in Michigan is it illegal to record someone unless they know, and as far as I know that's the case nationally. All stores that I've seen with surveillance systems have a notice posted on the door. I looked into it when we were having trouble with our neighbor threatening us. If I stood inside my door and recorded our conversation with a digital voice recorder without his knowledge I could be prosecuted. It's something I was warned about when I started mystery shopping....a lot of people use digital voice recorders to help them write up their shopping reports, it provides an audio recording of the shop with a digital time readout.....and as long as you don't get caught doing it it's a great resource. But it IS illegal.

You may be right, it may be different from one state to the next, but it's something she should at least look into before trying it.

Here's a site I found that kinda answers the question:

http://www.answerbag.com/q_view.php/28881

Quite frankly, if this was happening in front of my home, I couldn't care less whether it may or may not be illegal ro "record someone without their knowledge." The OP wouldn't be using the recordings for personal or monetary gain, she is using them as evidence of CRIMINAL activity, and the person is question is in a PUBLIC place.

I should think it would be quite an easy argument to win in court... what about people who use camcorders on vacation, at thier kids' sporting events, etc.? What if someone witnesses a crime and happens to get a photo of the vehicle as it speeds away from the scene? Would that not be useful to the police?

I would think twice about attempting to record someone inside their own (or someone else's) apartment; a person has a reasonable expectation of privacy in such a situation. But if they're standing/sitting/drinking/causing a ruckus in a PUBLIC place, then the expectation of right to privacy no longer exists.

Better yet, here's an idea-- whether she records them or not, OP can post a great big sign on her door, saying "SMILE, YOU'RE ON CAMERA!"

Maybe it will deter the guy from loitering and drinking there, maybe not-- but he can't say he wasn't warned that she may be recording the goings-on outside of her apartment! :)

In response to nflifer - I may have not explained it very well but in my 1st post, I did say that I have opened my door & asked him to be quiet. Thats how I was dealing with it before I decided to take it further - to management & then eventually the police. I felt that I was standing up for myself & my young child (I am 5'2" tall & wieght in a 105#. I am NOT about to put myself in a possibly confrontational postion with an intoxicated adult male) And he does drink am, pm, anytime.
But, just to update this post - They (he & whoever sits with him at night - it does vary) Well, they have been more quiet!!!! I've actually been surprised to open my door to walk my dog & soo people sitting out there. Maybe his anger wore off & he realize he may not be able to do much about the complaint or be able to "screw" anybody.