Alley dumping (crime, neighborhood, live in)

[1923UniversityAve]

Hey all,

I live in S. MPLS. and three times in the last two months I have come out to my garage in the morning to find items sitting in the middle of the alley that I presume where dumped there. First it was about a pickup sized load of cut brush and branches, second was a queen size mattress!, and just this week was about a dozen paint cans, some of which were spilled all over the pavement and the side of my garage. Checked with the neighbors on our pretty tight knit street and they are frusterated as well. I called 311 and talked to a lady who basically said it was my problem now and I would need to dispose of the items myslef. I had to twist her arm to send someone out to pick up the brush the first time around.

I would assume this is happening to others? Is there any recourse or is this "my problem now". Short of installing a surveillance system, how are others dealing with this?

Thank you for any feedback!

[MnMomma]

A motion-sensor light may be enough of a deterrent.

[Glenfield]

I would suggest that you call your council member's office instead of 311. I have always found the staff at John Quincy's office (Ward 11) to be very helpful.

[uptown_urbanist]

We haven't had this problem, but I second the suggestion to call your city council member. They tend to be very responsive to issues like this. Since this is a recurrent problem you may also want to call or email your local neighborhood organization; some neighborhood groups are more active than others, but if it's happening on your block it's probably an issue for other blocks in your neighborhood, too. The more you can band together to present this as a problem for everyone, the harder it will be for the city to brush it off as just a personal inconvenience. Also call your local police precinct and talk to the community relations liason (don't think they've cut those positions yet, although there was talk of it); ours was great and will come to blocks or neighborhood groups to talk about safety/crime concerns. I would think that he or she could help figure out what block residents could do to deter this, as well as can help tip off local cops to the dumping problem. When it comes to livability issues there is definitely power in numbers!

Motion detector lights are also a good investment, if you don't have them already. Someone on a block near us also has a video camera mounted on the garage facing towards the alley; seems like overkill, but if you are really desperate you could put up a dummy one and see if it deters anything?