Bit of an odd thread, but very recently had to phone the police about our neighbours because they were screaming at each other and throwing things and it sounded like it could get quite out of hand. It's kind of been going on for months but it reached that point where it felt like we had to do something about it despite having never met them.
And so it got me to wondering where people think the threshold for intervening is; when is it ok to just leave things be, and is there anything particular that makes you think you'd have to get involved in the domestic situation of strangers? Are there other people around here that have neighbours who are hideous to each other, and have you/would you ever try to do anything about it?
Would love to hear everyone's thoughts. It seems to be a recurring theme where we live so good to build up a bit of a knowledge bank on it ;)
You did the right thing. Our neighbour in out old flat was condtantly screaming abuse at his girlfriend day in, day out. Oh would stay out of it but instead of phoning the police for some stupid reason I would just go mental at him. Lol. - bad idea when the guy was a steroid gym freak and obviously out his face on speed. We used to hear all sorts and let it be, until one night i was sure i heard her drop to the ground a d get dragged along the floor above me . That was it for me I couldn't keep to myself anymore. Don't feel bad for phoning the police these things can get way out of hand and it's bedt to be safe. You don't want it on your concience if something bad happened and you weren't sure to call. I regret getting involved instead of phoning the police .
I think if you suspected something bad was happening and didn't act, you would feel really sick about it. Unfortunately there are nutters who lose the plot depending on what substances they may have take or whatever fermented liquid they had consumed. Mind you, some nutters don't need anything to inflict damage. Got to feel sorry for the vulnerable who are on the receiving end.
I'd be absolutely terrified of getting involved myself. I sometimes try to look out the window to see what's going on because there's been throwing stuff and fires and who knows what else, but they're such aggressive people I'm scared to even be noticed doing that. I think drugs is also a really massive part of it.
It was kind of the same with some of our last neighbours, and I feel kind of bad for never phoning the police about that because it was frightening just being next door to it and I felt so bad thinking that someone was actually having to endure being yelled at like that. I think it was harder to work out what was going on with that though, and it was always that one of them was locked out of the house so I could at least think that there wasn't any chance of one of them getting immediately hurt because of that separation. But because they were right next door it felt like they'd know it was us who phoned the police and it'd be even more difficult to live near them. I think it was also that it felt harder to do anything about it because they were a gay couple, which sounds horrible but I think it would have conformed more to set ideas about abuse if one of them had been a woman. Obviously I'm sure it was just as bad for that person regardless of their gender, but it felt harder to do anything about it.
A while back, i witnessed a now ex friend, assualting her daughter. It's not the first time but this time it was in the middle of the street.
Previous times, I had informed social services but nothing had been done. 6 neighbours all called the police snd finally it was acted on. The child has now been removed and is thriving in her new home.
Unfortunately it takes an 'outsider' to be the one to get things brought to light. If your gut is telling you something ain't right, follow it x
Thanks for sharing that, Blueeyes. Although it's obviously not good to think that it took so much for anything to be done in the case you mentioned, it's reassuring to know that it's ok to report things multiple times because the thing with my neighbours is an ongoing thing that happens every couple of days. It all started back up again about an hour after calling the police, and it seems like it's kicking off again now as well. Because it's so frequent it's not really the sort of thing that I'd feel ok about reporting all the time, but if it seems particularly bad, or like anyone might be in danger, I'll feel more confident about making sure the relevant authorities know about the situation.
On a separate note, you have a lovely profile pic :) x
We've had our fair share of neighbours, our current ones my mum has spoken to the woman as we're worried she is close to having a nervous breakdown as her husband constantly screams at her, demands she hoover eight, yes EIGHT times a day and she has a full time job with 2 children who do nothing but disrespect her. The husband despises us because we stand up to him and mums phoned the police a few times on him. She claims everythings fine but she has broken down in tears to mum before, all we can do is say we're here but they stand by ignoring us.
I've had similar issues with a nutjob who lived in a flat below me. He would just start going mental over nothing and even spend an entire evening or worse an night shouting about how he wanted to do someone some serious harm, he even threatened the someone across the street with a baseball bat. I called the police on him several times and had him arrested twice and his door knocked through once. Luckily I didn't live there for long.
I stop a bloke from beating his wife/girlfriend up once. It's required a little physical action on my side because he wasn't too happy with my getting involved. Next thing I get a crack off his missus. At that point I left them too it. Best phoning the police.
I stop a bloke from beating his wife/girlfriend up once. It's required a little physical action on my side because he wasn't too happy with my getting involved. Next thing I get a crack off his missus. At that point I left them too it. Best phoning the police.