I live on the near-East side of Indianapolis. While my neighborhood isn't that bad by any means, the area between here and downtown is a bit rough and sometimes the rif raf migrates through here. We did recently have a murder in the house behind us across the alley, but it was a domestic thing involving two drunk friends....not that it makes murder any less violent, but it wasn't a home invasion or something of that sort at least.
I think the key to avoiding crime in the hood is having an active neighborhood association....or at least communicating with your neighbors and keeping an eye out for each other. If we see anything at all....even someone parked in their car on our street that we don't know or acting suspicious, we call the cops immediately and they come check it out. The cops here have told us on a number of occasions that they don't mind checking things out at all and to call anytime....so we do. I happen to live adjacent to a few retired couples who know EVERYTHING that happens in the neighborhood during the day, so that is really helpful.
Our property hasn't been messed with (knock on wood) and I think that's because of our "fort knox" attitude. The back yard is surrounded by privacy fence and all gates are always locked. All house doors are bolted locked and we keep the glass storm doors locked even when we are home.
Another thing we have is LOTS of lights outside and they are on all night (photo sensors so they go off at dawn). Each side of the house is lit up with at least one flood light and the back yard has three flood lights. The back of the garage on the alley side has two flood lights. They are flourescent floods so they don't use alot of power. Overkill?....probably.....but studies say that properties that are well lit are less likely to be burglarized. I tend to believe that.
Finally, we recently put in a four-channel DVR camera system. All entrances are covered and there is one facing the garage doors on the alley side. A funny story.....one night I walked by the monitor showing the cameras (it's down in the basement) and saw something in front of our garage doors.....I rewound the DVR and watched a car pull right up next to our garage, shut off its lights, and sit for a time.....then toss something out the window and drive off. Of course I had to go out and see what it was.....
....it was a purple sweatshirt with Eyore (Disney) on it....and it was covered in jizz. Nice.
