A handwritten sign posted in the Northland was the center of commotion on Facebook Thursday morning.
A mother took a picture of a sign posted at Topping and NE 48th and posted it to a large, private Northland Facebook group. The sign read, 'neighborhood meth house,' with an address and an arrow pointing to a nearby home.
With no one knowing who posted it, hundreds of comments immediately poured in. Some called the sign "hilarious," "brilliant" even. Others said they would "call the cops."
The picture was posted on Facebook around 8:30 a.m. The sign was removed by the North Kansas City School District a short time later since it was on high school property.
41 Action News spoke with a neighbor, who wanted to remain anonymous. She was surprised to see the sign, but understood why it was posted.
"Our children live in this neighborhood and I say somebody is finally doing something. Somebody is tired of it," she said. "It's embarrassing but you gotta do what you gotta do."
The Clay County Sheriff's Office wasn't impressed.
"Do we encourage that kind of attention, ya know, bring it to light? No, we don't," said Capt. Will Akin. "If the person who is putting it out there was seen by someone who's participating in that activity, what does that do to them? Now they could potentially be a target."
Akin noted that no matter how one looks at it, such a sign complicates matters. It could jeopardize an investigation, or, if completely untrue, could bring a libel lawsuit.
"Now we've got thousands of people who think that is a drug house, when in fact it perhaps it's not. And now we've brought a whole bunch of negative attention on a family who doesn't need that kind of attention," said Akin.
"Everyone may think they know a house is participating in drug activity. The problem is that might be true, but we still have a responsibility of gathering as much evidence as possible, because what we think or gut feelings doesn't fly in court," he said.
So if you see something suspicious, police want you to call them. They don't want someone posting signs.
Police say it only takes one phone call to file a report. More phone calls make the report a higher priority.
What are signs of drug activity at a house? Police say several cars/visitors coming and going at all hours of day and night is one red flag. Also, seeing constant package deliveries can be another.
