I called the cops a week ago about loud music at 5am and they refused to come. Then 3 days ago a house near me

Question

was burgled and emptied of all it's contents, then, all of a sudden they were knocking on my door to ask if I had seen anything on the night in question, I didn't answer the door because they refused to help me when I needed their help a week earlier so I refused to help them when they needed help because of a burgalry.

Was that the right thing to do?

Answer 1

It may not be morally right BUT the Police weren't thinking of that when they refused to come out.

Loud music at 5AM is a crime.
I would complain to your local MP and the regional Head of the force that serves your area.


If you did see something or someone suspicious on the night of the Burglary then report it. It may be your house next! :~{

Remember that 2 wrongs don't make a right.
3 lefts do!

Answer 2

If you knew it was the cops at the door you should have answered. Then you could have talked to them about the way you were treated on the phone when you called for help and no one came.Your neighborhood needs a few extra eyes and the police aren't going to know without your help as well as any of your neighbors you may know that are concerned too.
I have had somewhat the same experience. I live in a not-so-good neighborhood and I have had to call the cops several times.Yes, there was a time when they didn't show until the next day, but I let them have it and I have seen police patrolling increased about 15%. A neighborhood is only as safe as the neighbors make it to be. Maybe think about starting a neighborhood watch program or something like that. I would call the police, if I were you, and explain the situation from the start and ask about neighborhood watch. It couldn't hurt, could it?

Answer 3

No I don't think it was the right thing to do. All police calls are graded on the basis of severity and how urgent police attendance is required. Excessive noise is not an urgent priority. In fact it's not really a criminal offence. Although a breach of the peace has occurred, they can lower the volume and they'd be de-arrested.

Plus, most issues relating to noise are dealt with by your local Environmental Health Officer at your local council. If you keep a log of it and give that to them, they can action it and the log can help towards the gaining of an ASBO if required.

However, if you saw the people who committed the burglary and intentionally failed to report it to the police or obstructed them in the course of their investigations or even lied to them, you can be done for perverting the course of justice under a certain set of circumstances.

Therefore, if I were you, if you know anything, call the police and tell them everything you know. Otherwise it's the possibility of a criminal record for you for perverting the course of justice if not obstruction.

Answer 4

Lets get one thing straight, The reason the police did not come at 5am to deal with loud music from your neighbour is because about 4 or 5 years ago your local authority environmental health office took over noise nuisance and they deal with it. the police have no powers over noise coming from someones home. If they did go around the occupant does not have to take any notice, so there is no point in the police attending. Some local Authorities have on call Env Health officers but because of the cost this is rare.

Answer 5

Many agencies won't respond to a loud music complaint if the complainant (you) refuses to speak with an officer or doesn't wish to see an officer. Many times, if an officer rides that sort of call, if there is no loud music when they arrive on scene, then it's a waist of time, UNLESS you feel strongly enough about the noise to speak with the officer and risk a summons to testify in court. You didn't mention any of this in your question, so who knows if you did or didn't. In the future though, I'd recommend that you tell the dispatcher you are willing to testify about the noise in court and wish to see an officer. There is also a possibility that the police in your area do not by policy handle noise complaints. At my agency, if we receive about three to four complaints on noise from the same complainant, and they refuse to testify or assist in the prosecution, then we still ride the call, but if we don't hear any noise, no noise ordinance citation is issued, since we didn't witness a violation.

But in question to to you question about refusing to help the police; Well, it's my personal belief that it's every citizens civic duty to serve it's community, as both a witness and an advocate. We have a common decency to our neighbours to at least serve as a witness when they are victimised, and to call the police when we see it happening. No, it wasn't the right thing to do.

Answer 6

Perhaps not, the local councils deal with noise pollution (which this is classed as) What if the loud music came from the house being burgled, wouldn't that be funny? I mean almost everybody knows the police are not going to respond to noise or other similarly petty incidents.

Answer 7

The right thing for you to do was answer the door and help in any way you could. All citizens have a duty to help the police and our neighbors. You could have also taken the time to ask why they didn't respond when you called. You might have needed to call again, maybe noise complaints are a low priority or possibly something more urgent was going on at the same time.

Answer 8

Deary me! You think that you weren't helping the Police by not answering the door? How about you weren't helping the 'victim' of the burglary?
Noise nuisance is an issue for the Environmental Health people at the Council. That frees up the Police to investigate burglaries - and get no reply!!

Answer 9

First thing you need to understand about the police is they do have a different set of priorities. They must look at felonious acts more closely than something as simple as a noise violation. Another thing is because they get so many fake calls and false alarms that if someone else didnt report the noise and you were the only one who called, they may have felt it was just an angry revenge call or something and didnt respond. If you actually know anything about the theft, I would recommend doing the right thing and going to the police. If you didnt know anything, then I guess it really doesnt matter.

Answer 10

No you should have helped them but expressed your anger. In larger cities or when weather conditions get bad they take the calls by priority. If someone is holding a gun on someone and your call is next up where do you think they will go? Here in Toledo, Ohio I remember New Years Eve. they were 2 hours behind on some calls. Don't blame the police, blame the immature idiots in your town who don't know how to act or control their kids.Even teenagers now days are packing guns and robbing people and places,10 years ago it was unheard of.