i had to call 911 the other night for the first time

[zehava]

the other night i was laying in bed, not yet asleep, hadn't been able to sleep. it's just a tad past 3am when i hear a man shout and a woman start sobbing and sobbing. i sat up still, listening, thinking i must be hearing things b/c i was so tired. nope. it continued. a few more shouts from the man, much much sobbing on the part of the woman. i got up and peeked a little out of the window and still heard it, but saw nothing and was too afraid to actually go outside to see if i could see anything.

i was so freaked out. i called 911 for the first time in my life. i told them i wasn't sure if these people were outside on the street or inside their home with the windows open, but it was definitely happening in pretty close to my house. i was too afraid to look out and see if they were on the street (i'm a single mom here alone wiht my kids... i didn't want to put them in any danger).

so 911 says they'll send someone out right away.

soon the sobbing stops. 4am goes by with still no sign of anyone coming by at all. i saw no police cars, nothing. maybe i missed them, but i had my eye out for anyone driving down the street... nothing that i noticed.

am i wrong to be upset that it seems nobody came by to see what was going on? i know whatever happened was probably really not my business, but i was really really concerned, enough to call 911 for the first time ever, and to be left with the impression that nothing was done...? i don't know what to do... do i go to the police station and ask if everything was okay? do i just let it go?

-z

[savannahrose44]

No you were not wrong. Shouting matches like that are a signal fire....someone is calling for help, but unable to do so themselves. Yes it could be that is was just an argument and there wasn't anything out of the ordinary, but more often than not these things can escalate into domestic vilolence. If I was concerned enough to call 911 and no one responded I would be upset the same as you. :chattin:

[Flar's Freyja]

I hope you're wrong in that nobody responded and that you missed it.

You did the right thing to call. It is better to take that step and let them determine whether there's a crisis. It's best to let it go unless the situation presents itself again, at which time you could take more action. It depends on the agency involved as to whether they will give you any information. If it would make you feel better to know, give them a call since knowing will help you let it go.

A few weeks ago, I called in what I thought was a fire and figured out later that it was just someone dissolving a tree stump! I felt really stupid........ But I still think I did the right thing, because there were small flames that could have spread, and no one around supervising the thing. It could have gotten out of control.

[Crystal_Raye]

Are you sure you gave them the right address? Jeez, I'd be calling my 911 service back if they never came. What if your house was on fire? And you called and they never came?

[Boogins]

Right on, Zehava, and good for you. I do hope somebody responded and you missed it.

[sincerebliss]

That's horrible....I am glad you had the kindness to give that a call :lilangel: . It's ashame that no one came. There is nothing you can really do about it now, right? You did what you could.. Police (who sometimes make me mad! :shaker: ) are just regular people with a pretty big job and you can't always depend on them to do the right thing...The point is, is that you did what you could and that is all that you really can do at this point.

[alesay]

That's happened with my friend. Someone keeps coming to her apartment and ringing the doorbell and knocking and trying to get in her house.. and she's called the police numerous times and they haven't responded until WAYY after the person left... I dunno, i have no faith in the system :( The dispatch even put her on hold while she talked to an officer about a paper...

[WynterWynd]

I'm glad you called! Maybe if one of my neighbors had bother to call the cops many moons ago when I was screaming, I wouldn't have got my @$$ kicked so often.

I think your within every right to call 911 for a screaming match. And if you didn't see them show up, I'd call and find out if they did respond at all.

[Druchii]

It was you just doing the right thing, and trying to prevent more from going wrong. :) In a day and age when many will turn the other way, that was a good thing you did. :hugz:

[zehava]

ah, somebody else pointed out to me that perhaps they came by in an unmarked car. that's entirely possible. there were two or three regular plain ol' cars that passed by after the call. *shrug*

-z

[Antoninus]

Id call the 911 Emergency Response office and rip someone's head off. If they didnt respond to your call, thats BS, 911 is there for emergencies. I called the cops once in my life and they were at my house within 20 minnutes (Never thought Id be so glad to see a police car in my whole life). I told them that someone had been going around and trying all the doors and windows to see if they could get in. Thier fast response could have something to do with the fact that theres nothing to do in my town, nothing happens so cops get bored quickly. But even so, if what happend around your place had been a serious incident, someone could have gotten seriously hurt or even died and no one couldve helped them because 911 Emergency Response didnt bother to show up so Id DEFINATELY call the 911 offices on thier non-emergency line and rip someone's head off.

[Wascally Wabbit]

It's possible they came and didn't hear anything and left. What you can do is secretly gather specific information which would help get a response. You can clandestinely do this when you hear the noises again, or now you can clandestinely write down the addresses and descriptions of your neighbors homes, etc, in case you need that information. You can secretly get license numbers and descriptions of vehicles in the neighborhood There may be outstanding warrants on their registered owners, especially if they are troublemakers. You can write these down and call them in to the police. Just tell them that you think a neighbor's car might could have outstanding warrants because there is yelling and fighting in the neighborhood at night and would they check? They will probably ask the license, color and type of vehicle. It's not only cars; motorbikes or boats might have been stolen. Do all this secretly.

[mucgwyrt]

:uhhuhuh:
My cousin was getting abuse from some local kids; throwing stuff at the house and so forth, trying to break in. He called the police and they said they'd be right over. No one ever came. What would have happened if they'd managed to get in, and would have harmed my cousin or even killed him? I'm horrified at how often this kind of thing happens.

[carmenmaria]

It's such a good thing that you called in even though it's horrible to even have to. The first and only time I've called it was when I was 7. My neighbors got into a fight that got bad - i dont know the details, except that my dad handed me and a few of the kids the phone and said to dial 911. the older kids dialed and handed the phone to me :blushake:

luckily it helped. the police came and the issue was resolved.

[blugirrl1]

you did the right thing. :) hopefully they did stop by. but it wouldn't surprise me if they didn't. way to go for doing what felt right to you.

[asamananara]

It's possible they came and didn't hear anything and left. What you can do is secretly gather specific information which would help get a response. You can clandestinely do this when you hear the noises again, or now you can clandestinely write down the addresses and descriptions of your neighbors homes, etc, in case you need that information. You can secretly get license numbers and descriptions of vehicles in the neighborhood There may be outstanding warrants on their registered owners, especially if they are troublemakers. You can write these down and call them in to the police. Just tell them that you think a neighbor's car might could have outstanding warrants because there is yelling and fighting in the neighborhood at night and would they check? They will probably ask the license, color and type of vehicle. It's not only cars; motorbikes or boats might have been stolen. Do all this secretly.
I read this post, blinked, and went back to read it again.
Then I read it again, and again. And again. Twelve times
in all. Please... Please tell me that this is feeble attempt
at humor?

[Wascally Wabbit]

That was really unnecessary. You must be tired and not tracking.

[mucgwyrt]

I read this post, blinked, and went back to read it again.
Then I read it again, and again. And again. Twelve times
in all. Please... Please tell me that this is feeble attempt
at humor?
I dont geddit :wah:

[asamananara]

That was really unnecessary. You must be tired and not tracking.
Not unnecessary at all. I would very much like to believe
that people like you do not exist. There is nothing I can
say in response to the above which won't get me banned from
the board, so I'll bite my tongue.

[Antoninus]

[INDENT]It's possible they came and didn't hear anything and left.
No, if cops get called for a domestic violence situation they go up and knock on the door and tell you they got a call about your house. Theyll ask if its ok for them to come in and look around but they cant forcibly come in without a warrant.

And guys...chill, we dont need to get worked up over one topic.