is false police call illegal?

Question

I have a friend(A) whom shared a house with her sister's inlaw(B). B called the police on A, stating that A is endangering B's son by leaving knives in the dishwasher. While A never left the dishwasher open without supervision. A believed that it was also her house and that she had a right to do what she wanted as long as no one got hurt. These 2 people hate each other. And the sister in law was just using the excuse to get A in trouble. Nothing happened to A because there was no harm done, no proven criminal intent. Is B's action considered defamation of character? Is there anything A can do legally to protect herself against false police call? Are people allowed to make as many complaints as they want without solid evidence?Thanks for replying

Answer 1

Nope, not defamation of character and not a false alarm call.

B can testify that he/she believed the child to be in danger and that's why he/she called the police.

Yes people can make calls to law enforcement without solid evidence. It is the police's burden to track down the lead and see if it's supported by solid evidence.

I"m not saying "A" has no legal recourse, but it'd be an uphill battle.

Answer 2

First off, it was not illegal, per se, to call the police. She did not file a false report because nothing in it was false. Embellished, maybe, but not false. The truth is, A cannot endanger B's child by leaving the dishwasher open (unless B's child is old and strong enough to open it). That is more neglect than it is endangering a youth. And, like you mentioned, there was no criminal intent. If A said to the child, "Go look in the dishwasher; there's candy and X-Box in there" and kept the knives face up in hopes the child would run to it and open it and climb in, then yea, different story. A's mens rea at the time (if the dishwasher was, in fact, left open) was neglectful. But since B's child did not get harmed, there was no damage done and I'm sure the pigs got a jolly old chuckle out of the call and probably even a cup of coffee... What can A do? A can take photos of the dishwasher and of the child standing next to it to prove that it was not feasible for B's child to open it and harm him/herself.
For the second part of this question, people are, in fact, allowed to make as many complaints as they want to the police. After a while, however, the police will stop listening. And if they truly felt as though the child was being endangered or threatened, they would have called the Department of Children and Families to inspect the house. Usually, though, with overzealous complainers, the police tend to take everything they hear with a grain of salt...
good luck!

Answer 3

Unfortunately yes, people can make a complaint without solid evidence even if the thing they are complaining about isn't illegal. The police will have to have up to make sure moods aren't going to escalate to the point someone is beaten with a toddler (that actually happened recently), then explain to the complainer that what the complainee did was not illegal. As far as calling the police based on false acts..yes is is illegal to call them based on something that did not happen. But the accused has to be able to prove 100% that they did not do it. So you understand what I mean..Lets say Mary calls the police on Bob and says that Bob smacked her. The police get there and there are no marks on Mary and Bob says they didn't argue. Here the police only have the word of the caller with no signs of abuse and the word of the accused who says he didn't do anything. Different police do different things in this kind of situation. Some may take Bob into custody for fear of him killing her after they leave. Some may just tell Mary to call them if anything else happens. It depends on how lazy the patrolmen is feeling that particular day. Now, if Mary calls and reports Bob for smacking her and the police come and Mary tells them that Bob just ran off, and When Bob returns the police are waiting for him, but Bob proves that he has been out of town for three days then Mary is going to jail. That is a blatanty false call for the police.
What your friends sister-in-law did was not illegal though..stupid and petty yes..but not illegal

Answer 4

Filing a false report is a misdemeanor in the state of Georgia - punishable by up to $1000 and a year in jail

Answer 5

Your story is too complicated to follow, but I can tell you that filing a false police report is definitely against the law.

Answer 6

YES!! Have friend(A) get a restraining order against the
sister-in-law(B) This is could be grounds for defamation
of character.People should not be allowed to make com-
plaints against another person without proper proof or
evidence.

Answer 7

Yes it is way illegal to file a false police report.

Answer 8

Woah,if the police think that that is a big deal then they must be living somwhere that does not have alot of outside crime.They shold just part ways.

Answer 9

Yes! He wouldnt have anything to worry about if he had just obeyed the law and become a legal citizen like the rest of us. Thats his own fault.

Answer 10

the cops will lock b up if they keep making false report