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I am a tad incensed. My farm has been broken into..trespassed and squatted upon(literally and figuratively) ..my creek polluted and decades old trees topped off

I am a tad incensed. My farm has been broken into..trespassed and squatted upon(literally and figuratively) ..my creek polluted and decades old trees topped off by not so innocent trespassers. And I was told by my insurance that it was my responsibility to install gates and fences as protection against liability. It costs thousands. How do you fence off creek banks and abutting wilderness for the bird life and wildlife? The law enforcement’s hands are tied as they declare themselves homeless and they have advocates and activists. I pay taxes and I have no rights. Except to ask them to leave and they keep coming back after dismantling their tents. And when they leave, they destroy my farm a little more out of spite..tractor and trailer stolen,Metal arches pulled away and placed as tents just outside my property line to throw it at my face because I can’t complain about property that isn’t mine and power lines running zig zag in my orchard stealing my electricity...greenhouse panels pulled out to build a bridge to cross the creek...trees with nesting birds topped off for campfires. Fences that I put up repeatedly run over by visitors of said homeless camp dwellers. I could go on..but this is what I surmised: when one thinks it’s ok to break one rule(trespassing), it becomes easier to break others. I consider unrepentant trespassing as character flaw and am wary of those who exhibit it.

cmurf 7y ago
What about shooting at them?
iamthirsty 7y ago
I would consult a lawyer. Depending on the state, I would personally be walking the perimeter of my farm with a gun, shooting at anyone who's stealing my property/power on sight. Homeless people have advocates, sure, but this is basically home invasion, burglary, and probably many other things that are just plain unacceptable by &/or from anyone.
- yourbandsucks 7y ago
  How.. how many people have you shot on sight?
- jelliclesfarm 7y ago
  California. I have a standing request with the sheriff’s Dept to arrest upon trespassing. At least give a warning. But every time they say that we should give them a week’s warning. The old group leaves and another group comes in. They have a hierarchy and a leader. Once the deputy told me that he didn’t know this one, but the other one was actually nicer. I was like..speechless. They have dogs! Small yappy dogs and big ones. They run around unleashed and barking their heads off. I used to volunteer at shelters and I am not afraid of them..I know how to handle animals, but my workers won’t come anymore. It’s absolutely ridiculous..you just have to step back and wonder if this is all real. But it is. Sometimes LEOs are instructed not to disturb them because they have homeless liaisons and should only go through them. That’s why they ask for a week’s grace period. I don’t care..I just want them gone. In the beginning, the deputy shamed me and told me curtly that it’s not a crime to be homeless. After three something years and noting that nothing is slowing them down, he softened and suggested to complain that their activities are a fire hazard(this is Sonoma county and close to Santa Rosa/Napa Area fires a few years ago) ..and that would actually get other people involved...and that could be effective. I don’t think they have any power. They can only act after a crime has been committed. But even that is not possible when the advocates area are involved, I think. At this point, I don’t care anymore. I am not ashamed to admit that this has caused me multiple panic attacks but I now realize that my losses are less if I don’t Farm. So I have taken a break. It’s throwing good money after bad to create deterrents. Nothing can be done. It’s a waiting game.
  - eigenvalue 7y ago
    You should hire a security company that can have scary looking big guys to tell them to get off your property. Generally people like that completely fold when they are presented with any sign of physical confrontation from someone bigger than them. After a while they will learn to find an easier target.
voldacar 7y ago
That's heartbreaking - have you thought about setting up cameras so you have unambiguous evidence in case you ever have to bring legal action? Are they ever armed? Would it be worth while patrolling the perimeter of your land with a rifle every now and then or would they just leave and come back later?
- jelliclesfarm 7y ago
  They stole cameras, lighting, greenhouse shelving, packing house tables. I employ a lot of girls part time and I am a sole operator of a female run business. They just refused to come back and work. And I don’t blame them. I know they are dealing drugs. Sonoma county has legal pot ..so it’s not pot. Why would a homeless camping site have BMWs and Hummers and SUVs and other cars come by..they even had a system..bicycles near where they parked to get to the creek area hidden by trees. So people don’t have to walk to get to the little apartment like units they built. I was being punished for calling on the cops because they’d defecate, fornicate and leave poop and condoms and tampons and bottles filled with pee..there is now a sign that says ‘restroom’ on a tree by the creek. And law enforcement won’t do anything. This is California. I don’t think I can patrol with a firearm.
  - carapace 7y ago
    Are the local law enforcement outgunned? I was living near Boonville and there was an illegal grow op run by Mexican gangsters. There was a car that had "broken down" by the side of the road and the lookouts openly hung out there "fixing" it. For months. I was told that, although the Sheriff knew all about it, he wouldn't do anything because the gang was just too well-armed, violent, and well-connected to bother. Otherwise, if it's not some weird shit like that, I can't understand how/why the law wouldn't be more on your side. - - - - If your particular tormentors are gang-connected I would recommend you GTFO ASAP. - - - - Are you willing to injure or even kill another human being, considering that these bastards are not threatening your life, just trashing your material possessions? (Which is still really really bad!) Remember that you don't have to actually shoot the people. A bullet whizzing overhead is known to have a cleansing and tonic effect on muddled thinking. It might be sufficient to simply post some of your old targets from the shooting range up around the place. Ones with bullet holes in them. It's a subtle way to let your unruly neighbors know that you are reaching the limits of your patience. - - - - edit: Reading some of your additional comments, it seems like guns are totally not going to help your situation at all. Like, not even a little bit. I don't know what to tell you. It sounds like you're at the front lines of the apocalypse. My heart goes out to you.
noworld 7y ago
I understand your frustration. I moved my family (actually sold my home and moved to a different town) due to trespassers. I put up signs, but they were torn down or uprooted and thrown on the lawn. I also called the police, and they said that they would be as helpful as they could be, but unless they caught someone in the act then they couldn't do anything. The police said that if the trespassers were aggravated then they may destroy property, and that without solid evidence prosecution was unlikely to go anywhere. So if you irritate someone and "get a brick through your window" (this was the example the police gave), even if you get a picture, it won't prove they threw the brick. The solution was to move.
- jelliclesfarm 7y ago
  I don’t understand the law is being punitive to those who are productive. This is a my place of business and has hundreds of thousands of dollars of capital infrastructure. And many of them on credit lines. If there aren’t any credit lines, farmers can’t survive. And farm land with infrastructure isn’t easy to avail..it’s not just the space but also soil, weather, being close to market, labour availablility and so many other factors.
jelliclesfarm 7y ago
Oh! And then there are the mentally ill. There was this one woman who would hold meetings in my shade structure. She would arrange chairs in a semi circle and talk to the chairs. There weren’t any others...it was just her and her dog. She’d talk to them and ‘hear’ them. She would be so irritated when I come by and she’s hold the door open to let ‘them’ out..thanking each one of her invisible friends for coming. I knew she was harmless but i always locked my tools away. Once I forgot to lock a pair of shears and the next morning, the lavender hedges were all razed..she had gone on a rampage on the greenhouse plastic..shredding it. I finally called the cops. They were sympathetic but said they can’t do anything unless I file a complaint and ask that she be arrested. I was reluctant to do this..and they said that their hands are tied unless they book her. If she is mentally ill and someone had filed a missing person report, this was the only way they can question her and detain her..maybe get fingerprints. I don’t want anyone to ever stay in jail because they are mentally ill..but I relented. She came by a few more times and then she moved on to another area from what I heard. This is a whole another kind of trespassing. I have no answers. Just frustrated and really sad and angry.

cmurf 7y ago

What about shooting at them?

iamthirsty 7y ago

I would consult a lawyer. Depending on the state, I would personally be walking the perimeter of my farm with a gun, shooting at anyone who's stealing my property/power on sight. Homeless people have advocates, sure, but this is basically home invasion, burglary, and probably many other things that are just plain unacceptable by &/or from anyone.

yourbandsucks 7y ago
How.. how many people have you shot on sight?
jelliclesfarm 7y ago
California. I have a standing request with the sheriff’s Dept to arrest upon trespassing. At least give a warning. But every time they say that we should give them a week’s warning. The old group leaves and another group comes in. They have a hierarchy and a leader. Once the deputy told me that he didn’t know this one, but the other one was actually nicer. I was like..speechless. They have dogs! Small yappy dogs and big ones. They run around unleashed and barking their heads off. I used to volunteer at shelters and I am not afraid of them..I know how to handle animals, but my workers won’t come anymore. It’s absolutely ridiculous..you just have to step back and wonder if this is all real. But it is. Sometimes LEOs are instructed not to disturb them because they have homeless liaisons and should only go through them. That’s why they ask for a week’s grace period. I don’t care..I just want them gone. In the beginning, the deputy shamed me and told me curtly that it’s not a crime to be homeless. After three something years and noting that nothing is slowing them down, he softened and suggested to complain that their activities are a fire hazard(this is Sonoma county and close to Santa Rosa/Napa Area fires a few years ago) ..and that would actually get other people involved...and that could be effective. I don’t think they have any power. They can only act after a crime has been committed. But even that is not possible when the advocates area are involved, I think. At this point, I don’t care anymore. I am not ashamed to admit that this has caused me multiple panic attacks but I now realize that my losses are less if I don’t Farm. So I have taken a break. It’s throwing good money after bad to create deterrents. Nothing can be done. It’s a waiting game.
- eigenvalue 7y ago
  You should hire a security company that can have scary looking big guys to tell them to get off your property. Generally people like that completely fold when they are presented with any sign of physical confrontation from someone bigger than them. After a while they will learn to find an easier target.

voldacar 7y ago

That's heartbreaking - have you thought about setting up cameras so you have unambiguous evidence in case you ever have to bring legal action? Are they ever armed? Would it be worth while patrolling the perimeter of your land with a rifle every now and then or would they just leave and come back later?

jelliclesfarm 7y ago
They stole cameras, lighting, greenhouse shelving, packing house tables. I employ a lot of girls part time and I am a sole operator of a female run business. They just refused to come back and work. And I don’t blame them. I know they are dealing drugs. Sonoma county has legal pot ..so it’s not pot. Why would a homeless camping site have BMWs and Hummers and SUVs and other cars come by..they even had a system..bicycles near where they parked to get to the creek area hidden by trees. So people don’t have to walk to get to the little apartment like units they built. I was being punished for calling on the cops because they’d defecate, fornicate and leave poop and condoms and tampons and bottles filled with pee..there is now a sign that says ‘restroom’ on a tree by the creek. And law enforcement won’t do anything. This is California. I don’t think I can patrol with a firearm.
- carapace 7y ago
  Are the local law enforcement outgunned? I was living near Boonville and there was an illegal grow op run by Mexican gangsters. There was a car that had "broken down" by the side of the road and the lookouts openly hung out there "fixing" it. For months. I was told that, although the Sheriff knew all about it, he wouldn't do anything because the gang was just too well-armed, violent, and well-connected to bother. Otherwise, if it's not some weird shit like that, I can't understand how/why the law wouldn't be more on your side. - - - - If your particular tormentors are gang-connected I would recommend you GTFO ASAP. - - - - Are you willing to injure or even kill another human being, considering that these bastards are not threatening your life, just trashing your material possessions? (Which is still really really bad!) Remember that you don't have to actually shoot the people. A bullet whizzing overhead is known to have a cleansing and tonic effect on muddled thinking. It might be sufficient to simply post some of your old targets from the shooting range up around the place. Ones with bullet holes in them. It's a subtle way to let your unruly neighbors know that you are reaching the limits of your patience. - - - - edit: Reading some of your additional comments, it seems like guns are totally not going to help your situation at all. Like, not even a little bit. I don't know what to tell you. It sounds like you're at the front lines of the apocalypse. My heart goes out to you.

noworld 7y ago

I understand your frustration. I moved my family (actually sold my home and moved to a different town) due to trespassers. I put up signs, but they were torn down or uprooted and thrown on the lawn. I also called the police, and they said that they would be as helpful as they could be, but unless they caught someone in the act then they couldn't do anything. The police said that if the trespassers were aggravated then they may destroy property, and that without solid evidence prosecution was unlikely to go anywhere. So if you irritate someone and "get a brick through your window" (this was the example the police gave), even if you get a picture, it won't prove they threw the brick. The solution was to move.

jelliclesfarm 7y ago
I don’t understand the law is being punitive to those who are productive. This is a my place of business and has hundreds of thousands of dollars of capital infrastructure. And many of them on credit lines. If there aren’t any credit lines, farmers can’t survive. And farm land with infrastructure isn’t easy to avail..it’s not just the space but also soil, weather, being close to market, labour availablility and so many other factors.

jelliclesfarm 7y ago

Oh! And then there are the mentally ill. There was this one woman who would hold meetings in my shade structure. She would arrange chairs in a semi circle and talk to the chairs. There weren’t any others...it was just her and her dog. She’d talk to them and ‘hear’ them. She would be so irritated when I come by and she’s hold the door open to let ‘them’ out..thanking each one of her invisible friends for coming. I knew she was harmless but i always locked my tools away. Once I forgot to lock a pair of shears and the next morning, the lavender hedges were all razed..she had gone on a rampage on the greenhouse plastic..shredding it. I finally called the cops. They were sympathetic but said they can’t do anything unless I file a complaint and ask that she be arrested. I was reluctant to do this..and they said that their hands are tied unless they book her. If she is mentally ill and someone had filed a missing person report, this was the only way they can question her and detain her..maybe get fingerprints. I don’t want anyone to ever stay in jail because they are mentally ill..but I relented. She came by a few more times and then she moved on to another area from what I heard. This is a whole another kind of trespassing. I have no answers. Just frustrated and really sad and angry.