Did I overreact?

[Hanzo581]

CALL 911, that was the first thing to do.

Sometimes I question where the line between vigilance and paranoia lies, then I read some of these responses. Guy parks his car on a public street, has a smoke and walks away and gets the cops called on him?

 

[Bonesinium]

Sometimes I question where the line between vigilance and paranoia lies, then I read some of these responses. Guy parks his car on a public street, has a smoke and walks away and gets the cops called on him?

I'd agree except it sounds like he did so in a residential neighborhood, parked in an area where there were no other cars or people, and walked somewhere not in the immediate area. That actually sounds pretty suspicious, albeit maybe not for ill intent or malicious reasons, but how could he know?

 

[Ringolevio]

Repo man?

When I was in the repo biz, I would sometimes stake out a home or apartment, sometimes even overnight. I had a van that even had a porta-potty inside. But if anybody had called the cops on me I'd have had no problem explaining exactly what I was doing there.

 

[DCR]

I'd always call it in, and take photo or video. It can turn out to be really funny in some cases.

Years ago, our mayor was found lurking in a car in a residential neighborhood at 3-4 a.m....his wife thought he was helping their kid on his paper route (which he also told the cop who stopped to investigate). Neither the kid nor newspapers were in the car...but it turned out not to be coincidence he was by a woman's house....hilarity, and resignation, ensued.

 

[Creature]

I always trust my hinky detector.

 

[chrt396]

If someone pulled up in front of my house...parked..sat...lit a cigarette..got out and walked down the street...you can rest assured..the police would have been called. It does depend on where you live. In my neighborhood..there are only 28 homes and I know most of them since I've lived there almost twenty years. That occurance would most assuredly set off a red flag. Trust no one these days. 10:00 pm is not that late..but ya never know or can you be too careful. I have to call the Sherrifs office in my area and I do call 911 and have them direct me to the Sherrifs office so that I can make the report. I think calling 911 may be due to the fact that many citizens feel that it's an emergency when a strange person is acting perculiar at a time of night when he should not. It really depends on what is normal on your neighborhood. If I lived in the crappy part of town, then this probably wouldn't be very strange or considered a 911 type emergency.

 

[jerkface11]

Doesn't really matter where you live. A guy smoking in his car then getting out and walking down the street isn't an emergency. Calling 911 on that would be wasting peoples time.

 

[JustinJ]

I don't like the idea of living in 1984 so am reluctant to call the cops on someone unless they do more than just sit in their vehicle. I would probably invent an excuse to walk out to my car or step on the porch to talk on the phone or have a cigarrete and watch for his reaction.

 

[7.62 Nato]

All LE Departments have a non emergency number as well. Unless you deem a guy sitting in his car smoking an emergency there is no need to call 911. Use the non emergency number and report the vehicle, the guy, and what he is doing. A car will be sent around to check it out.

Not in Detroit ! The ONLY way to get a car sent is by calling 911. Then IF they show up they MIGHT stop and not just keep driving.

 

[MedWheeler]

I got sent once to check out a car parked outside a bank during normal working hours, occupied by two male subjects. Turned out they were FBI agents setting up to participate in a raid on a business that shared the plaza on some big-time IRA terrorism sting. Their supervisors got chewed out by mine for not letting us know they were in town. I was then asked to remain in the area to establish "police presence" while the raid went down, though I was told to be ready for possible "heavy automatic weapon fire" (which did not materialize.)

 

[coyotehitman]

I am amazed at the number of people suggesting a 911 call. What the OP described is not an emergency and should never be reported as such. Tying up a 911 call taker with this issue prevents them from handling real emergencies.

 

[rexesq]

Suspicious, Indeed.... but as said by others, he could have been doing any number of legal things. But, I would have surely gotten the make and model of the car, and a description of the fella, as well as, of course, the plate numbers. But yes I do not think that would qualify as an emergency like coyotehitman said, or anything worth calling 911 over, but yes I suppose where you live would factor into such a decision. I live on a dirt road, mostly ranchland with the smallest lots available being 3.3 acres and most people have 6.6 acres, two lots, so we have plenty of idiot kids who park at the end of the road to do some underage drinking or smoke cigarettes and the like while acting disrespectful(littering etc) I think my paranoid neighbor has called the cops on them enough that this area has gotten a reputation as 'a bad place to party maan...' When I see a car full of kids parked like that near my property, especially late at night if they are being loud, I will walk out and confront them, (not carrying a shotgun or anything heh, at least nothing visible) but just me walking towards their car is usually enough for them to get scared and drive off, if they stay I just politely try to talk to them and ask them to leave and tell them that I have alot of neighbors around who are much less friendly than I am, and wouldn't take too kindly to such behavior

Most cities do have a non-emergency line you could call if it concerned you enough, but I would just sit on the info, and if you find out in a few days that something happened up the street, you might have some good info for the local LEOs.

 

[HOWARD J]

Our daughter came flying in our house yesterday saying that some young
newcomer ( what I call them) ran across the street twice & just missed her car. We called the cops to have them check & see if this guy lived in the neighborhood & had all his brains still with him.
The cops came & when we told them the location of the event they knew who it was immediately--the cops came back 3 times--I ask them what is going on---they said houses are being broken into & they believe this kid is the one--they have not been able to catch him in the act.
It is a shame the housing market took such a dive because it allows these
newcomers to buy or rent a house with no downpayment--make a few payments & stop paying---then it takes the court 12 months to get them out of the house.
As soon as they come in---the breakins start.
I keep my hardware handy & don't worry too much about it.-

 

[Carl N. Brown]

I would call 911 on overt emergency only. There are other police lines for routine matters, which is what I would consider a mere suspicion on my part to be: a non-emergency suspicion.

 

[MrWesson]

I would be glad to have you around the neighborhood.

 

[MedWheeler]

Coyotehitman, in my county, 911 is the only number residents are expected to use when calling for any type of law enforcement response. It has bothered me since I moved here 20 years ago. In my city, there is no other number released to the public that is staffed 24/7. In fact, I tried last year to report a lost vehicle registration sticker via the PD's website online reporting system. I received an email back saying that, because there was the possibility that it was stolen (it wasn't; I lost it before I could affix it to my vehicle), I needed to "call 911 and request an officer to come and take a report in person." I never did.
Just saying.. some areas use the actual numbers of 911 for any complaint, and some people don't mean to literally call 911 when suggesting a police response.