Another day in paradise...Wilmington De

[rayinpenn]

I am working on a huge project at work that must be done by next Friday. So it's this past Friday they let everyone go around 3PM - three day weekend and all that...My colleague and I stay and its 5:30 and I suggest we come in on the holiday Monday (I'm tired and soooo hungry). He says he can't I leave he says he'll stay until 7. Around 7 he calls me from his car and says he was sitting at a light near 95 and he hears shooting close by in the shopping center next to his car. As he pulls away he sees in his rear view mirror police coming from every direction....

A couple days before the police arrested a guy with several thousand bags of heroin, guns and money. Sadly it is nearly an every day thing in Wilmington De. Newsweek calls us the most dangerous small city in America.
I hear we are working late this week...sweet Moses! I think I need a carry permit...

61, a great job except the location it just terrible...
1) We can look out the windows and see people being arrested
2) sidewalk cafe patrons are continually harassed by panhandlers on the one decent block
3) there is a soup kitchen next door, the poor souls are lined up every morning. It is sad for them to be sure but it is also not a great way to start the day..
4) when the wind blows right you can smell the city dump which is visible from my window a couple miles away
5) there is a gauntlet of panhandlers at the stop lights. I know them all by sight. I sense some of the locals I see sitting on their row house stairs wouldn't be adverse to stomping a gimpy old white guy in a decent car. No it is not racist remark just ask that guy in Baltimore who asked the kids to get off his truck. He will never really recover from the savage beating he took.

I've got enough to retire...thought I'd wait for SS to cover the medical insurance...the thought of working late into the night and stopping at those intersections on the 2 miles to the relative safety of 95 makes me wonder if it is worth it?
When getting home is like roll of the dice I get a bad feeling.



Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum.

 

[ER1970]

Oh boy. When your surroundings turn into Baghdad, I say pack up and move ASAP! At 61, it's not worth it to live in such dangerous environment just to wait for SS. You only have 4 years to bridge in between and you know you already have enough to retire.

Please, do you and your beloved ones a favor: run! There are plenty of nice and safe places to live in the US and worldwide.

 

[JPatrick]

Wondering what your city code says regarding panhandlers--Legal?
How much rage has been directed at your city government and what is the response?

 

[rodi]

Sorry you are having to work on a holiday. I'll admit it's been a while since I've been to Wilmington, but I remember a decent experience going to a minor league ball game there and there are some nice suburbs (within city limits)... like my husband's aunt's house.

 

[rayinpenn]

True, Rodney square is a trendy part of town...but we are quite a ways from there in the most dangerous section...


Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum.

 

[rayinpenn]

Wondering what your city code says regarding panhandlers--Legal?

How much rage has been directed at your city government and what is the response?

The police are trying but the crime persist...


Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum.

 

[MRG]

Rayinpenn,

No use in finding out how your Megacorp's death benis work! Get outa dodge while you can.

Check out HealthSherpa or healthcare.gov . for insurance.

 

[Walt34]

At the least, get a concealed carry permit and practice. A lot.

Recent practice is important, new skills like shooting decay rapidly. With 27 officers in my academy class we shot over 50,000 rounds in two weeks. And back then we were using 6-shot revolvers.

Another suggestion: Ditch the decent car and get a POS-looking-one to drive and have a mechanic go over it to be sure of reliability. You know, one with fenders and doors different colors, a hole in the dash where the radio used to be, like that. But with in-shape running gear, brakes, steering, engine, etc.

But yeah, if you can, get outa there.

 

[rayinpenn]

http://www.delawareonline.com/story...an-shot-wilmington-monday-afternoon/71845968/



Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum.

 

[powerplay]

Seriously hoping you are going to run your ER numbers one more time, look into ACA health insurance, and RETIRE! It doesn't sound like the atmosphere of your location is healthy for anyone.

 

[JPatrick]

The police are trying but the crime persist...


Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum.

I've often wondered what would happen if cities were required to compile and issue color coded crime maps to travel agents, available in rest areas, etc.
Motels and the like would be required to note their "crime code" with any advertisement.
Just a random thought..

 

[prudent_one]

No job is worth that kind of worry.


If I was in that position (given you have enough to retire) I would consider a couple options.
1. Drive a different route to the highway even if a couple miles out of the way, if it would avoid the danger areas.
2. Change my hours. I'll come in at 6 AM if necessary but I'm leaving no later than 5 no matter what. No late nights.
3. (my likely choice) Quit and explain the location and its lack of personal safety was the deciding factor. Who knows, they might allow you to work from home. Or they might realize they need to relocate and you might have saved a co-worker's life.

 

[Likes_to_Lurk]

Wow. Just Wow.

I thought I had some stressful jobs in my career, but nothing comes close to this.

If I could not work from home or a safe place, I'd get out and fast. My $.02.

As a side note, how do your colleagues and manager deal with this?

Stay safe.

 

[rayinpenn]

Colleagues generally kinda clam up... The uneasy silence of fear - they all have a mortgage and bills to pay. Many live too far from philly to commute so Wilmington De is the only game in town... They also run out at 5 in groups. One of our consultants asked for indoor parking too was worried about that whole dark at 530 thing.

There was a particularly nasty set of beat down robberies that we were unaware of - the boss worked late one night and a guard mysteriously offered to walk her to her car (we have inside parking) she told us - clearly it troubled her. no he wasn't being nice ...they were concerned.

We all know traveling in groups is the safest... And we all know it's best if your not the slowest in any group. One of the consultants mentioned last week being scared to death walking to his nearby hotel... I think he should be.


Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum.

 

[Letj]

Wow. I am surprised by responses here. What the OP described is typical of many cities. I didn't see where the OP said there were marauding bands of killers randomly targeting people. The reality is that the odds of being killed in the US if you're not part of a gang, drug dealer or involved in a domestic dispute is minimal. I lived and worked in NYC for years and police activity, vagrants on the street, panhandlers and hustlers were a common sight and yes their were a few shootings and robberies. While I do think the OP needs to take reasonable precaution and should definitely consider coming early and leaving early if they can, I don't think OP needs to be overly fearful. I am afraid some of the responses may have scared the bejesus out of him. I imagine that this is a busy area with pedestrians everywhere.


Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum

 

[rayinpenn]

Actually it is a relative ghost town after 6... 445 probably 400 cars in the lot by 615 maybe 10. They put the garage doors down early. I came in on a Saturday once..never again. Heroin makes for desperate people. I won't say I'm scared but I will say I see all the ingredients for a bad experience..

The city has installed electronic devices to triangulate where gunfire (shots) are coming from. That tells me something.


Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum.

 

[harley]

Where in Wilmington do you work? Location, not company. I've been there many times, and while it's a typical small industrial city (as in ugly), it doesn't seem unsafe. I've wandered around downtown and Riverfront a few times. Dave Bromberg's Violin Shop is right there. It doesn't seem any worse (in the daytime when I'm there) than Richmond or DC or Baltimore. I have read about it being dangerous there, but it must all happen after dark. And maybe in other parts of the city than I go to.

 

[rayinpenn]

The riverfront is a very small brand new block or two of town that the city built as a showcase. And yes there is a couple of nice restaurants and a few big apartment and mixed use buildings.
1) But look closely there is no supermarket there which is kinda odd.
2) my buddy's firm which is right there just issued a warning about cell phone robberies. Essentially - Keep your head out of your phone when walking.

My colleagues have seen dead vagrants between there and your violin shop. Speaking of which
I doubt you've much time there. The violin shop on market street the best street I know of is where you simply cannot eat outside... To many panhandlers and other crime recently the police have a heavy undercover presence there.

Read this:
http://www.newsweek.com/2014/12/19/wilmington-delaware-murder-crime-290232.html

Excerpt from a Newsweek article - reporter visits and does ride along.

"During my four days in Wilmington last month, there were four shootings, all involving male victims between 17 and 19. None occurred while I was driving around with Janvier, 41, or when I did a ride-along with two cops. But as Janvier texted me the morning after I went home, “I just left a homicide scene, wouldn’t it figure!” A few hours later, another text: “And a shooting just came in on Hilltop. It’s usually always busy, it was just slow when you were here.”

This is not unusual for a place that’s routinely called one of the most dangerous small cities in America. This year, there have been 27 homicides in Wilmington, tying its record 27 murders in 2010, and 135 people have been shot. Twenty-two of them died. With a population of just over 71,000, Wilmington had a violent-crime rate of 1,625 per 100,000 people last year, according to the FBI’s 2013 Uniform Crime Report (that crime rate measures murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, rape, robbery and aggravated assault). The national average was 368 per 100,000 people. Wilmington ranks third for violence among 450 cities of comparable size, behind the Michigan towns of Saginaw and Flint, according to a Wilmington News Journal report. For a city mired in violence, the most stunning fact of all may be that Wilmington just got its first homicide unit."

1625 per 1000 -That is 4 times the national average for violent crimes. I assure you I am not a fearful person I was a night watchman for a few years during college summers. At some point when you look out the widow or while driving and see young people being led off in cuffs on multiple occasions and you get a steady stream of police arrest bulletins (guns, money and heroin - bank robberies too ) you get a sense ...hey this place isn't safe.

To answer your questions - crime isn't usually a problem at 8AM it 'sleeps in' and I can't say where I work ...they have strict rules about discussing the firm on social media ...which I will not do.

A minority colleague friend told me she used to walk in the road when passing the small park on her way to the train station. (There was nooks for bad people to lie in wait.) Her husband is a police lieutenant.

I have a friend a little younger who actually lives in town (parent are still there) I told him if he stays - there will be a drawing on soc sec day on who gets to mug him... He wants out but his home is worth so little he can't trade out.

Oh and I found this too

http://www.delawareonline.com/story...ffic-stop-leads-seizure-bags-heroin/71639148/

 

[Badger]

3. (my likely choice) Quit and explain the location and its lack of personal safety was the deciding factor. Who knows, they might allow you to work from home. Or they might realize they need to relocate and you might have saved a co-worker's life.

This would be my first choice. And live on beans and ramen noodles like I did in college until SS kicks in if I have to. Then start looking for another job to fill in the time before SS.

Otherwise I would only arrive and leave with a large group and never when dark. And Buy a large term life policy to take care of my family

Or put a cot in my office/cubicle if I have to stay late
Or (only as final resort and definitely not a recommendation) get a permit to carry This most likely not be effective when there are groups or individuals hiding to mug you. You would have to have your hand on the gun and be really really fast. Even if successful there will be a mess of legal issues and a lot of mental baggage to carry the rest of your life. (Does your company even allow you to bring a gun inside the workplace?).

 

[Bestwifeever]

I've got enough to retire...thought I'd wait for SS to cover the medical insurance...the thought of working late into the night and stopping at those intersections on the 2 miles to the relative safety of 95 makes me wonder if it is worth it?
....

Something about it must be "worth it" to you because you are still doing it even though you financially don't have to. Good luck.