Moral quandary- To call, or not to call?

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I think the word you were looking for is "prosecuting."

Persecuting is a somewhat different word conjuring images of Moses wondering around a desert for 40 years.

And if you are calling the cops to "report suspecious activity," then you're accusing them of doing something wrong. They have a right to know who accused them of commiting a crime--this would be the person who called the police as the act of calling the police is an accusation of wrong-doing. If you didn't think they were doing something illegal, you wouldn't have called the police.
 
Stop persecuting the guy for using the wrong word...or would that be prosecuting? You decide. :)
 
Really is the same if you thought that someone was getting beat out on the sidewalk. Either go help or get someone else to do it. That is why you pay taxes for public servants.
 
And if you are calling the cops to "report suspecious activity," then you're accusing them of doing something wrong.
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No, you're suspicious that they're doing something suspicious.

They have a right to know who accused them of commiting a crime
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Having a suspicion and expressing it is far from making an accusation.

If you didn't think they were doing something illegal, you wouldn't have called the police.
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You have a suspicion that a wrongdoing is happening, so you call the police to see if that's actually the case. And it's not like being asked a few questions by the police is any sort of accusation or even an indication that criminal charges or civil suit will follow.
 
I agree with Crunker. The job of the police is to investigate and determine whether further action is merited, not to mediate or prosecute or issue habeas corpus.

If I say "Mr. Smith is stealing my hens," the cops may well mention that I said so in the course of the arrest if they feel like it. If they're wise and, for example, the guy isn't stealing them when they encounter him, they'll use their discretion to keep him from knowing he's being accused of a crime.

On the other hand, if another neighbor says "I keep hearing rustling at night in that there chicken house," no one is being accused of anything. The cops don't have to have a reason to show up and ask you questions; they just need a reason to detain or charge you. For that matter, they can charge you and throw you in the back of the squad car for no apparent reason or explanation, and they are not the ones required to give all the details. Someone is, it just ain't them.
 
Did you mean nosy or noisy? LOL. It would kind of make sense either way...
 
Call the cops. Odds are she'll deny anything happened. Just keep calling.

To bring some firearms relevance to this, the same thing happened to me.

I called the cops on the guy. The violence was so loud that the guy in the apartment UNDER mine came and complained to ME. He got huffy because I didn't complain. I told HIM to complain if he didn't like it. This was before I finally heard the woman scream "Please don't hit me!" one day.

One of the cops who responded was a sniper with whom I'd shot some service rifle matches. Apparently the woman denied anything had happened. I went upstairs to a friend's apartment and was looking at his Model 70 Varmint when I saw the wife beater sitting on his 6th floor window ledge with his body outside and his legs inside. Suddenly he climbed out on the ledge, with the woman hysterically trying to pull him back in. He started kicking her in the face and chest. It occurred to me that I could have solved everybody's problems with that Model 70. It wasn't more than 75 yards.

My friend didn't have a phone, so I had to wander up and down the hallways until I found a stoner who had a telephone who called the police.

The same sniper and his partner showed up and told the guy to come in. When he kicked the cop, they yanked him in and beat him 'til he couldn't grow anymore. They brought her down on a gurney, followed by him in cuffs, so filthy he looked like a Welsh coal miner. He then sat in the back of a squad car beating his head against the side glass, a la "Cops".

Call the cops. Eventually, he'll kill her and she'll let him. Worry more about the kids than her.
 
Just hope they didn't say something like, "By the way, your downstairs neighbor, a Mr. F. N. Foxtrot, called on you. Good night."
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In my case, I figured that was a possibility. I wasn't too worried. I always had the Series 70 loaded anyway.

Guys generally hit women instead of seeking out 6'5" bikers because it's safer. I imagine the look on his face would have been priceless if he'd kicked in my door... just before those 230gr. FMJs hit him in the face.
 
MYOB is pretty much a life philosophy for me, and it rubbed me the wrong way to have to call.
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+1

First, unless you are SURE someone's life or serious safety is in peril, I think it's a good idea to MYOB and stay out of domestic issues, especially with neighbors. They will turn on you because it will be obvious who reported (even if the cops don't tell). Next time you have your property vandalized, a dead pet, etc.you'll know why - your neighbors are retaliating.

Second, and I can't say this strongly enough, I *VEHEMENTLY* DISAGREE WITH THE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE LAWS IN THIS NATION!!!! THEY ARE UNFAIR AND UNCONSTITUTIONAL!!!! Many states have mandatory arrests when they respond to domestic calls like this one. Along with this non-sense comes the absurdity of restraining orders and Lautenburg - if you don't know about it, it's the law that effectively and permanently strips people of their 2nd Amendment rights for little more than an accusation of wrongdoing followed by a 'preponderance' of evidence necessitating a restraining order or domestic abuse.

So, next time you think of calling the cops because your neighbor couple is having a loud argument, consider a time when you had a loud argument with a significant other and imagine having to give up your gun rights forever as a result.
 
So, next time you think of calling the cops because your neighbor couple is having a loud argument, consider a time when you had a loud argument with a significant other and imagine having to give up your gun rights forever as a result.
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"Please don't hit me!" in the middle of what sounds like a judo tournament going on in the apartment above me isn't a "loud argument". It's a coward hitting a woman. It's also depriving me of my right to verbally abuse anti-gunners and neo-Nazi simpletons on FidoNet in peace and quiet (which I was trying to do when I first became aware of the situation). I shouldn't have to wear earplugs in my own apartment and I'm not going to.

As far as retaliation goes, it would have saved Cuyahoga County some money. Hitting a scared woman is one thing. Hitting a guy with a .45 automatic and not much human sympathy is quite another. I'm thinking he'd pass. Maybe not. No doubt she would have found another guy to kick the crap out of her, but not because I didn't do anything.
 
I don't know what the laws are in your state, but in mine, when a citizen calls in suspicious activity, they have a right to remain anonymous unless they volunteer - upon being formally asked - to testify against a perpetrator.

I called in suspicious activity in the sandlot next door. The cops came - 4 of them - captured and arrested the guy for possession of stolen electronic gear and for resisting arrest (he tried to run when they came because he had a warrant for his arrest).

The fact that he was in possession of stolen goods, had a warrant and resisted arrest was enough.
They didn't need me to "accuse" him of anything.

The proper action by the police would have been to contact me AFTER they removed him from the scene.
Instead, while he was in full sight of my door, they came to my door and knocked.

That was not cool. As I understand it, it was not legal either.

I'll think twice about calling in suspicious activity in the future.
 
Some things just need doing! In this case you did the right thing! You suspected a beating and called 5-O. The Beater already knows it could have only been a neighbor who called, this will do one of two things, they will quiet down or they will move. I suspect the first. Why worry? You deserve the peace and quiet.
 
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