JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A local woman said she's fed up with the drug deals in her Oceanway neighborhood and she wants everyone to know it.
She put up a sign to let drug dealers and buyers know she isn't messing around. The sign reads, in part:
“If u are a buyer, pictures of u – car – tag will be sent to JSO. We’ve had enough.”
But her crime-fighting method comes at a price. Kathy Livingston said she's now facing retaliation.
There were two different incidents happened Thursday night alone. Action News Jax’s crew was also threatened while we were in the area covering Livingston’s story.
But she said she's not afraid and is working with the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office to rid her community of drugs.
“Every day I take it down and put it up,” Livingston said of the sign.
Livingston said keeping the sign safe in her front yard is just as difficult as keeping heroin junkies out of her neighborhood.
“They stole it, I paid $5 for the cardboard and the stickers and put it back,” Livingston said.
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The reason for the sign: Livingston said the amount of people coming to her Oceanway street to score drugs has picked up over the last couple of months.
“There's about 18 people on foot and bicycles, that's not counting cars,” Livingston said.
Now she says everyone on the block is taking notice—both good and bad.
A brick was thrown in Livingston’s window and her tires were slashed.
“That tells you she has their attention, and it also tells you they’re cowards,” said Action News Jax crime and safety expert Ken Jefferson.
“I know who did it but I can’t prove it,” Livingston said.
Jefferson said the actions Livingston has taken to prevent crime in her neighborhood have proven to be successful in the past in other situations.
“I’m old school, I want them gone, I want my neighborhood back,” Livingston said.
Livingston said since she put the sign up, drug activity has slowed in her neighborhood and JSO is working to make arrests.