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so what's your threshold for calling police on random situations in your area that appear strange and potentially violent? (sopuli.xyz)

submitted 2 months ago by unemployedclaquer@sopuli.xyz to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

55 comments fedilink hide all child comments

background: staying in a roadside motel in the US. Man and Woman in the next room are screaming at each other. 1:30 in the morning. Not my problem.

But I did get voyeuristic and plant my ear on the wall. Most I could comprehend was "your daughter, but what about MY daughter?" from the woman. That's what I thought I heard.

I was like, if I am certain I can tell that someone is beating on someone, and trying to kill them, or you know just violence is happening, then I'll call 911. but I was far from certain. all i could discern was crying and screaming.

Hour later, someone is pounding on my door. is it someone in distress? I am in the least accessible and least desirable room in the place. It's probably one of those two neighbors, but which one?

Anyways, I'm in the US, so I have one or more guns, but I don't keep them loaded or accessible. by the time I had something ready, I think the neighbors were about to pass out. they currently are quiet after hours of screaming.

So I'm not a fan of cops, but not entirely against them. Situations in which I did call the cops:

-Neighbors were screaming at each other, 3 a.m.; their 6-year-old girl was out in the street crying.

-I heard broken glass and looked out the window, and saw a pair of big man's boots going into what I thought was a single woman's apartment.

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[–] Manalith@midwest.social 28 points 2 months ago (2 children)

I might call the non-emergency line for things, like if my car was stolen or house broken into. I think the only time I'd call the emergency line is if I felt actively in danger.

Calling the police is a lot like firearm training, never call them on something you don't intend to kill.

[–] todd_bonzalez@lemm.ee 11 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Have you ever actually called a non-emergency line?

It's usually just a phone tree telling you what part of the city's website to go to. If you're lucky enough to talk to a real person, the moment you start telling OP's story, they will tell you to hang up and call 911 if you think there's an emergency.

The non-emergency line isn't 911-lite - don't call it because you don't know if the situation is an emergency or not...

[–] BCsven@lemmy.ca 7 points 2 months ago

Ours is not like that. Non emergency gets you to an officer or dispatch, they take the info and your info. In the handful of times we called they have shown up within reasonable time for non-emerge call.