Would you call the police about a vandal?

[SpaceGal]

It's been a super hot day here and it took a long time to get DS to settle down to sleep at about midnight. So this was the last thing I wanted to happen before I dozed off...granted it could be a 1000 times worst or scarier but still I'm a bit bothered.

And I say a vandal, because I am not sure what or how to title this thing.

At 12:20am, I heard some noise outside. I'm very conscious of it since we have all the windows open, including the windows downstairs and DH is sleeping in the living room since it's cooler there. Anyways, at 12:20am there was some young guy probably a teenager someone around that age who must have been drunk or what not and fell off his bike and made some noise what I thought was some bouncing a stroller to get the wheels to lock but when I looked it was this guy fussing with his bike...he had to be drunk. He fussed with the bike more and tried to throw it but he isn't quite strong enough to do it because he is probably wasted and ends up kicking it over to the street sign. He was on the corner next to the street sign you can see from our window. Well anyways, he proceeds to stumble and what not and then tries to jump over our fence but then misses and pulls the top rail off and continues to walk across the yard. Our fence is a simple PVC post and rail fence so I know it's fairly easy to pull the rails off but never quite saw anyone do this especially at such and hour and in such a state. I freaked but wasn't sure if I should call the police because I knew he wasn't going to break in or something like that. Well anyways, I run downstairs and wake DH up since the guy is slowly walking across our lawn. DH was of course startled when I woke him and I quickly explained what happened. He goes into defense mode and was like I'm going to mess him up but when we looked out the back door and turn the back light on the guy just kept walking so you know he was drunk or stupid or something. Plus DH was in just shorts and had to find his glasses and get oriented...not to say anything but if DH had gone out there I think he would have seriously messed him up since he is well trained in martial arts but I don't want to see him get in a fight either way. Anyways, after all that, we go to the front and looked at the rail and it's cracked where the guy kicked it or whatever it is he did when he tried to jump over it. We managed to put the rail back in and come back to the house. DH was kind of annoyed and told me I should have called the cops right away but I didn't think it was so serious that I should have called.

Should I have?

I don't know, parts of me knew the kid was drunk and what would we really do just for a cracked rail. The kids bike is still on the street and I asked DH if we should grab it or call the cops but you know we call and it's a whole 1-2 or maybe 3 hours before we can go back to sleep if you know what I mean. Plus it's like watching a train wreck happen, it's like slow motion and then I felt like well if I call, am I overreacting of course if he started darting towards my house that's another story but he just proceeded to walk down the yard. I dunno I feel kind of dumb for not calling now but I don't think it would make a difference, would we press charges and have the stupid kid pay us what $100 bucks for the rail or whatever it is it costs. I do know that the kid lives out behind us in the newer section of our community that probably has less than 20 homes but what would the police do...by the time they got here he'd be sleeping in his bed. And we make the whole neighborhood wake up at an ungodly hour for what a fence rail.

Oh well...now I'm kind of freaked out and can't sleep, not that the kid was going to hurt us but I feel like i have to keep watch. Just kind of shocked at what happened. Now I know this stuff happens especially with teens or drunk 20-somethings but man the stupid things people do when they are drunk or wasted...maybe he was on pot or something...cuz usually you don't see people wandering about at this hour in our neighborhood. Sorry this is so long but I had to "talk" to someone. Thank you for letting me get that off my chest.

[s7714]

I had a similar situation back when I was living in an apartment with my DH. The divorced guy that lived below us got into a huge fight with his ex and her girlfriend. The guy's brother lived with him too, so it was all four of them screaming at the top of their lungs and pushing, shoving, hitting, etc. When one of the guys said something about "I outta stab the sh*t out of you..." we called 911, but they (911) acted like it was no big deal since we didn't actually SEE a weapon. Anyway, the police finally did come by about 5 minutes later, but the women had already left. I didn't sleep very well that night either.

If I were you, I probably would have called the police, but used the non-emergency line. I would be more concerned that the idiot would get hit by a car or something vs. causing damage. Besides, I think being drunk in public is considered illegal in most states anyway, so at the very least police might have hauled him in for that.

((((((Hugs)))))) to you and I hope you manage to get some sleep tonight!

Jennifer
Mommy to
Miss Pure Energy 3/03
Miss Antsy-Pants 6/05

Calling fellow BBB SoCal moms...we'd love to meet you!
(100 posts & BBB member for 3 months req'd)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/babybargainssocal/

[SpaceGal]

Thanks Jenn...yeah I wanted to call a non-emergency line...but sadly I don't know it. I only know 911. But oh well for future reference I shall be programming the local police office number in my phone in case something like this should arise again.

[trumansmom]

Calling 911 is fine. I've done it to report fight neighbors when I lived in an apartment (I heard glass breaking and a woman screaming), when we discovered someone had put our sump pump hose in our window well (could have potentially flooded our basement), to report a drunk driver, you name it.

The older I get the easier calling 911 has gotten. They have never told me to do otherwise. Of course, I live in a smaller community, so there's not the volume of calls other areas may recieve.

Sorry you had to deal with that.

Jeanne
Mom to Truman 11/01 and Eleanor 4/04

[crl]

You can always call 411/information and ask for the non-emergency number. That's what I've done to ask the police to come and check on someone (a neighbor who I thought, correctly, had fallen in her home and a person who seemed mentally unbalanced and without water on a really hot day).

[buddyleebaby]

I probably wouldn't have called but maybe I'm just too used to drunken eejits.
At least in my area, the kid would have been long gone before the police ever showed up.
Of course, if he looked like he posed a threat to you or was doing some serious damage outside, go ahead and call. A drunk guy came into oour house once (growing up). My dad chased him out with a billy club.

[cmdunn1972]

Usually the non-emergency police line is listed with the emergency numbers in the first page of the telephone book. I'd look there before paying for a 411 call or just dial 911 straight up.

IMO no one should be publicly drunk, especially teenagers. Teens sometimes have a hard enough time making good judgement calls, and it gets worse with alcohol in their system. It begs the question, where are his parents?!?

[SpaceGal]

I've never quite dealt with something like this. I grew up in NYC and crazy stuff happened all the time but now in the burbs it's a bit different. Like you mentioned I could have called and by the time they got here he'd be gone...I doubt the police would wake up every house to look for him. Definitely he wasn't posing a threat but man what a weird occurence. I also have never felt inclined to call police other than this time and I somehow felt it wasn't so much of an emergency.

I do wonder about parents a lot these days and it's sad. I know DH told me growing up they did a lot of stupid things when they got drunk or high...but nothing seemed destructive. I grew up a "good girl" and did none of the such so I don't know about the whole hanging out and drinking thing prior to college life. I just hope I can do better by my own kids and guide them along so as not to do stupid things like that.

[tarabenet]

I can't say whether I would have called or not. I'd have to have been there. But I do have some thoughts.

First, know the police non-emergency number. I keep it programed in my cell phone and written on the list of important numbers taped inside a kitchen cabinet door. I have used it several times for things that seemed minor to me at the time, but still worrisome. In a case like this, even if they decided not to send an officer, they'd have a little more to follow up on if the guy had, say, gotten himself hit by a car or actually broken into some other house or whatever. I urge everyone reading this to go *now* and find out the non-emergency number and note it in useful places.

Second, although it makes me a little nervous to do this, I learned it from my parents and it works: when someone is behaving suspiciously, make sure they know they are being watched! Turn on the porch lights, comment audibly to someone else in the house (or pretend there is someone else in there): "No, no. I think everything is OK. Don't call the police after all" may get your point across! I also take pictures (or sometimes just appear to take pictures, LOL!) of suspicious people in my neighborhood. I don't say "smile" or anything, but I make sure they see me doing it. This is great for door-to-door sales people who seem suspicious. After I say "Not today, thanks" and they head to the neighbor's house, I duck inside, grab my camera, and step back out and get a couple of pics. If they are not up to anything, they just think I'm a weirdo (and why would I care what they think?), but if they are not actually so above-board, they know that the police will have the picture immediately should any break-ins occur in the area! And yes, I have actually seen people who made me suspicious clear off my block very fast just because they saw me take their photo. What does that tell you?

And finally, I want to echo what Jeanne said: I get more and more comfortable with calling 911. But don't just wait for some magic age to get OK with doing that! When in doubt, just call. Better to feel silly for reporting something that turns out to be nothing than to feel foolish about not reporting something that could have been stopped before it turned into something serious. And any officer will tell you they'd rather investigate nothing than have to investigate something serious and hear "I thought about calling 911, but I was afraid I was overreacting."

Actually, one more thing: that hyper-vigilant feeling you probably had the rest of the night is no fun. Try to give yourself a break and get some rest tonight. This *was* a single, isolated, no-big-deal incident. So let it go now, in the light of day, so it won't keep you awake all night tonight. ((Hugs))

[SpaceGal]

Thank you all for listening and all the input. I did finally fall asleep last night and when we woke up today we didn't really talk about it because it was such a strange thing.

I did program the police number in our phones and hopefully something like this doesn't happen again. The dude's bike is still out there on the same corner. The homeowner that lives right next to it is a total slob so probably doesn't even care that some odd bike has been lying out all day now.

I appreciate all the advice and tips. I definitely am still unsure if I would have called but seeing how this turned out int he future I might just call right away and heave DH call me overreactive from now on.

I admit I was waiting for the magic thing that tells you it's okay call for something minor. I'm so used to waiting for big bad stuff to happen before I call anything. But now that's it. Next time I won't be so indecisive.

[cmdunn1972]

I was a "good girl" too. I was also a "late bloomer", a bit on the nerdy side. No one in my high school would've even thought to approach me about a party where there was drinking or drugs because I was a tattle tale. ;)

I grew up in the 'burbs, but went to a large public high school with over 400 in my graduating class. The 'burbs can get crazy too, but nothing like NYC! You're right, often the police are underfunded and understaffed and are more worried about violent crime and theft than vandalism (unless the vandalism was of a hate crime nature). Of course, if you could identify the kid it would make the investigation much easier, so they'd be more likely to follow through.

However, if enough of your neighbors report the same sort of thing happening in the same general area (like a pattern), police might at least patrol the area in question more. I called the non-emergency number once and spoke to the officer because the speeding/aggressive driving on one stretch of road gets ridiculous. He told me that they were underfunded and couldn't afford to consistently patrol the area, plus there was no good place for them to sit with a radar gun. This was several months ago. I guess enough people have called to complain recently, because I noticed an "aggressive driving" operation (where an unmarked patrol car uses his radar and several more are around the corner pulling people over for speeding) on that same stretch 3 or 4 times in the last few weeks. So, if they notice a pattern, they are more motivated to correct the problem.

[tarabenet]

Good luck to you in getting some good sleep tonight to make up for it all!