How many times should you call the police

Question

If you see someone you don't know in your road or visiting your house.

Always? But if you keep doing that with what are most of the time false alarms then when you have a real problem the police will have a record of you 'Crying wolff' and won't bother to take action

Answer 1

Just because you see someone you don't know, doesn't give you the right to phone the police.

You need to have reasonable suspicion that the person is involved in an illegal act.

If you wilfully keep calling the police the you are likely to be arrested for wasting police time.

Answer 2

You can conntact the police at any time, day or night. Please never use 999 unless a crime in progress, lives are in danger, or there has been a serius traffic incident. Try to find your local police station number, or the neighbourhood police team number.

If you are honest with reporting anything, they will respond. Always give your name, and if you call on a regular basis, say you need advice on an issue, rather than an officer there now. The police are very busy, try to avoid phoning Saturday nights for example, unless very urgent.

Try visiting the police website, they have loads of good information and contact numbers.

Like all of us, they have to prioritise on what is urgent, and what is not.

Always give as much information as you can with regard to the situation when contacting them.

The police do a great job, and I feel we should be supporting them, by following out the above.

Hope this helps, and gives good advice. Regards.

Answer 3

If you are concerned about suspicious activity in your area you should call and ask to speak to your local beat officer or community support officer and discuss the issues with them.  They should then be able to arrange the appropriate resources to deal with any issues that have arisen without you fearing being accused of 'crying wolf'.

I would always urge people to be vigilant and to report suspicious activity, as it’s this kind of thing that is often the way to either prevent or assist in detecting crime.  You must however bear in mind that common sense must prevail.

If someone is merely walking down your street then that in itself if not suspicious and may be seen as a false alarm.  If however said person is looking into cars or houses as they walk down the street and going into the gardens of houses then that warrants Police attention in my book and I would be happy to attend such an incident.

I would much rather attend a genuine call to suspicious activity and prevent a crime than have to deal with the consequences (and paperwork!) of a crime having been committed.  Aside from that, there is no victim of suspicious activity where there’s always a victim of a crime and that is the important issue.

Answer 4

You have a responsibility in the real world to make the job of the police as possible to accomplish as you can, especially when it concerns your own safety. Most digital cameras have good telephoto "zoom" available these days. Get a photo of the perp's face from a safe distance away, using the camera's display in such a way that it doesn't reveal from a distance that you are taking a picture, and give that to the police. (Avoid shooting through glass, as it blurs a telephoto.) Simply calling and saying unknown people are walking around, well, you can't really expect a lot of successful police function on the case! Good Luck! Regards, Larry.

Answer 5

You can't call the police every time you see a stranger walking down the road, I assume it's a public road. If you do then yes, the police will eventually start to ignore you.

Answer 6

Wouldn't bother. The Government want them to respond up to 3 hours for an emergency and 24 hours for an non emergeny and a week for routine enquires. No money and no petrol. Also they are doing a lot of paperwork for the Government spying on you!

Answer 7

Why would you call the police just because there is someone in your road you dont know??  

If i did that, i would be constantly calling them.

If you did that enough times, i would imagine you would be prosecuted for wasting police time...  there are a lot of people out there genuinely needing help and you arent helping by tying up officers time with nonsence, not to mention blocking up the phone lines.  I seriously hope you arent using 999 to report this kind of stuff.

If you want police to attend should you have a real problem, then i suggest you respect them and what they do by ceasing wasting their time.

Answer 8

I wouldn't call the Police because they're hopeless.

If he/she didn't get lost after being told to, I would spark them out.

Answer 9

I don't think seeing "someone you don't know in your road or visiting your house" is a reason to call the police!

Answer 10

IF YOU SEE someone you donot know in your road DO NOT CALL THE POLICE or visitng your house as complete strangers. THIS ARE NOT REASON TO CALL THE POLICE or 911. These number is not given just to dial up when you think there is a threat around you. YOU SHOULD DETERMINE and exactly pin point the danger when you called up the police or something happen already that is the best time to call and dial up the police.

That is correct that is why the police do not entertained more than one call, if you call 3x already with the same threat and nothing happen they will dispatch the mobile and if found false then next time you call again you are now banned from the dispatching police in your area.

Yes there are people always telling us 'i will call the police', if you happen to be on the vicinity of that people tell them or shout WHY NOT CALL SUPERMAN INSTEAD of the police, suddenly all eyes are on you. Then tell them its just a joke ok...lighten up people. It is not yet the end of the world..for now....