Called police about neighbor's car alarm, and police did nothing...?

Question

Recently, my neighbors' car alarm, inside their open garage, went off from 11:30 p.m. to 4:30 a.m. What a nightmare! I called the police twice. The officer banged on their door and got no response. He told me their phone number is unlisted, therefore there was no way he could contact them about it. "Hopefully the battery will run down soon" was his only consolation. And that was it. I was outraged and spent a long night in car alarm misery. Are the police that helpless? Shouldn't the officer have been able to do SOMETHING? And if a household's phone number is unlisted, does it truly grant them anonymity from the law like that??? UGH!!!

Answer 1

i hate responding to these types of lame calls.  what in the world is a police officer supposed to do when the car alarm is the suspect of the crime?  if i knocked on the door and no one answers.. oh well... sucks to be you.  im sure they didnt set the alarm to go off on purpose.

Answer 2

Ring there door till they answer when the alarm is going off and tell them to shut it off.

Answer 3

Can't break into the garage, car or the house to wake them. In my town all we can do is what the officer did plus if the sound is steady for more than five minutes write them a ticket. That is why most alarms stop for a little while after a few moments before they start up again.

You need a subpoena to get an unlisted number. A car alarm sounding is not enough to get an emergency to get the phone company to give the info, that is reserved for kidnappings and murders and such, then they will do it and let you get the subpoena the next day.

If it occurs often you might threaten a civil suit.

Answer 4

what did you expect the officer would do. If he can not contact the owner or get a hold of them then hes done all he can do. You cant get a warrent to get in the garage and break into the car to shut it off. Its one of those SOL situations that really suck but arent that big of a deal. Its just one night of a car alarm going off. Not a big deal.

Answer 5

He cannot go into the home only if it was an emergency and if there was consent.

Preety much any one hearing it is screwed

Answer 6

While i understand that having to hear an alarm go off can be very annoying i really thing the officer did all he could do. Did you really expect the officer to bang down the door?  The officer was NOT the one to cause the alarm to go off and the person you really should be mad at is the people who let it go off in the first place. why don't YOU go and talk to neighbors yourself. Are YOU really that helpless?!?