# At what point do you call the cops with nothing but a vauge suspicion? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 15, 2005, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-call-the-cops-with-nothing-but-a-vauge-suspicion/321787 "2005-09-15T14:52:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-call-the-cops-with-nothing-but-a-vauge-suspicion/321787/21 "2005-09-16T14:54:35Z")
> [@Silver Fire](#): > > If that were the case, I don’t think they’d have their clients honking from the street upon arrival. The honking drives my dog NUTS, which is part of what I’m worried about! Anyway, when have junkies ever been smart people? (Or, er, people who have a perfectly good reason to drive up to this house?) County property website says the owners live there, but the listed owners are two women and I mostly see young men there. Since I didn’t get the first dissenting opinion here, and in fact upon examination of responses I feel really dumb for not calling already, I’m gonna call. (But my boyfriend thinks I’m a snoop.) ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-call-the-cops-with-nothing-but-a-vauge-suspicion/321787/22 "2005-09-16T15:07:06Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > Here’s the story - I’ve just bought a house in the less-nice edge of a nice neighborhood. (It’s on a busier street than most, and has more renters - but the street’s not super-busy and there aren’t that many renters, and the houses are quite nice - I didn’t buy a house in the ghetto or anything. I _think_ I made a good investment.) Anyway, most of my neighbors are very nice but some are not so nice at all. I’m on a corner, and it’s the people catty-corner from me that have me concerned. > > I had painters doing interior and exterior for a week before I moved in, so for a while they were here a lot more than I were. One of them tells my mom he kinda thinks the people across the corner might be drug dealers. I kind of pooh-poohed the notion at the time - it’s certainly not _that_ kind of neighborhood - but now I’m not so sure. There’s a whole lot of people who seem to be living/staying there, for one thing. They’re kinda loud. There’s cars driving up at all hours of the day or night, and nobody really seems to get out of their car - they honk the horn (GRR!) or maybe call on a cel or something, because people sort of come out of the house and they talk and then the other people drive off. (I don’t watch _too_ closely.) > > Also, and here’s where I might be going off the paranoid deep end, there’s often young people (teenagers, I guess, maybe a little older - hard to tell at night) playing basketball in the intersection. Always at night, about once a week that I’ve noticed. There’s a very nice park a very short block away. Could they maybe be lookouts? They just seem kinda… suspicious. They’re not really playing very hard, and they’re not really talking and fooling around either. > > So obviously, all this could be my paranoid mind, or it could be something else. I’m concerned - like I said, I just bought this house, it’s the biggest investment by far that I’ve ever made in my life! Also I’m a young woman alone in the house (i do have a security system and a dog, but it’s a small dog.) I certainly don’t want to be involved in any way, but if they _are_ doing something illegal I want them outta my neighborhood! It’s a nice place! I don’t want to think about the woman next door with all the ferns living across the street from the criminal element any more than I want to think of _me_ that way. Should I call the cops, tell them what I’ve noticed? Am I just being silly? If I did call, would it be garaunteed to be anonymous? What if they found out somehow? (What if they hurt my dog?!) If I do call the cops are they going to just laugh at me? Maybe they have a file or something? Am I turning into a little old lady with binoculars before my time? Advise me. You watch way too much tv. You have no business stirring up trouble for people when you don’t know anything. It they’re loud after 10:00, call the cops. You have that right. Note to others who may be thinking of buying a home: Hang around in the neighborhood and see if you like the tone of it. If there’s too much “basketball” you may want to consider buying elsewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-call-the-cops-with-nothing-but-a-vauge-suspicion/321787/23 "2005-09-16T15:40:10Z")
I tell you what, it doesn’t make you feel really confident when you get the “This number has been disconnected” message at CrimeStoppers. 🙂 I called the city police and I think the lady I spoke to thought I was kinda silly - she kind of reduced it to “So there’s people in and out all the time, and there’s ball playing?” Argh, no, there’s people buying smack and lookouts! Maybe! Anyway, I tried to explain why I thought it was supicious, but I don’t know that it made much of an impression. I assume the report will go to the right people, though, and that I’ve pretty much done what I can do. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-call-the-cops-with-nothing-but-a-vauge-suspicion/321787/24 "2005-09-16T15:43:03Z")
And I _did_ hang around the neighborhood before I bought - I knew it was a busy street, but it’s kind of hard to pick up on this kind of extended pattern before you actually live in a place. And I never saw the Intersection Basketball game before I moved in. (And if you’re saying “basketball” in scare quotes to intimate that I’m afraid of the young black men roaming my neighborhood, I’m not even going to bother getting offended. If you’re saying it in scare quotes to infer “not really basketball at all”, then why shouldn’t I call the cops?) ---
**Author:** ![Millit\_the\_Frail](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/51bf81/32.png) [@Millit\_the\_Frail](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Millit_the_Frail)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2005, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-call-the-cops-with-nothing-but-a-vauge-suspicion/321787/25 "2005-09-17T02:46:48Z")
I once lived close to a house like that–miscellaneous and varied tenants, lots of people driving up, etc. Unfortunately, there were also two pre-school-aged girls living there. Eeek. They were often playing unsupervised on the lawn. I felt bad for them. I was only about twelve, so of course I didn’t do anything or tell my mom what I suspected. Now I wish I had. Zsofia, you’re doing the right thing by calling–there’s no telling who can get hurt in a situation like what you suspect it might be. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2005, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-call-the-cops-with-nothing-but-a-vauge-suspicion/321787/26 "2005-09-17T10:06:37Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > I tell you what, it doesn’t make you feel really confident when you get the “This number has been disconnected” message at CrimeStoppers. 🙂 I called the city police and I think the lady I spoke to thought I was kinda silly - she kind of reduced it to “So there’s people in and out all the time, and there’s ball playing?” Argh, no, there’s people buying smack and lookouts! Maybe! Anyway, I tried to explain why I thought it was supicious, but I don’t know that it made much of an impression. I assume the report will go to the right people, though, and that I’ve pretty much done what I can do. Look…lots of people have a lot of in-and-out traffic…especially if there are lots of teenagers around. They’re going to school with friends, going to and from work, meeting to hang out (I hung out at my friend’s house. She was one of six kids. Never less than a couple dozen people, and they came and went all day). If they’re playing ball in the street, so what? I can think of a million reasons they’re doing that in the street rather than in the park. Watching a younger sibling, waiting for a call, lazy, that’s where the food is… I currently live across the street from a house that has traffic 24/7. It may _look_ suspicious (in fact, we jokingly call them “The Drug Dealers” because that’s what they’d call them on a Movie of the Week) but we don’t call the cops because we don’t know them and they aren’t bothering us. You have nothing to base your suspicions on. They aren’t hurting you and you don’t KNOW anything illegal is going on. You seem to think spying on activities of people who don’t live like you do is OK. Do they behave violently? Do you see them waving weapons around? If not, why on earth would you be afraid? They’re teenagers. If you’re not able to live with the differences that go along with a neighborhood, you might want to consider moving to a less populated area. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2005, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-call-the-cops-with-nothing-but-a-vauge-suspicion/321787/27 "2005-09-17T10:46:23Z")
We’ve had a somewhat similar situation in my neighborhood. A couple of guys moved in to the apartments across the street and they are, I’m pretty certain, doing business out there in front of the apartments. I’ve seen money exchanged and “CDs” being passed into cars, etc. Also, and I’m not trying to bring race into this, but they’re a couple of big black guys and all of their “friends” seem to be young white guys who only visit for a few minutes at a time. They don’t seem terribly friendly with their “friends” who visit, either. I live in a nice neighborhood, and this sticks out like a sore thumb. The whole freakin’ neighborhood has seen this, and some calls have been made. This is because the dealers have been seen sitting on the front steps of neighbors houses, dealing, when neighbors weren’t home. There were cops out there a couple of nights ago, but the two guys are still there, so they didn’t get busted. Yet. Now all our neighbors are emailing our other neighbors if we see something suspicious and we are working with Vice on this problem. I’d say definitely talk with your neighbors and once you’ve got a few people watching and reporting, it’s just a matter of time before there will be some police action. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2005, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-call-the-cops-with-nothing-but-a-vauge-suspicion/321787/28 "2005-09-17T14:52:45Z")
Look, if it’s nothing then nothing will happen to them and I didn’t “make trouble for them”. If it’s something, I’m a little distressed that people think I should just be okay with people dealing smack across the street just because nobody’s brandished any guns at me! Isn’t it obvious that dealers and junkies aren’t something you want in your neighborhood? That they increase your breakin risk? That they lower your property values? That people who are willing to deal illegal drugs may also be willing to commit other crimes? Sure, maybe it’s nothing. It’s _probably_ nothing. But the costs associated with making a report if it’s nothing are, you know, pretty much nothing. The costs associated with _not_ making a report if it’s _something_ could be pretty freaking high. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2005, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-call-the-cops-with-nothing-but-a-vauge-suspicion/321787/29 "2005-09-17T15:50:35Z")
**Zsofia** , you’re a smart lady. Trust your instincts. If something feels “not right” then something is probably up. Cops can’t be everywhere, and if you give them a heads up they’ll probably do a couple of drivebys, do a little investigating, and if it’s nothing it’s not like they were doing it off the clock. If they’re not doing anything wrong, you won’t be causing problems. What do you think, the cops are going to bust down the door and toss tear gas grenades on the basis of an anonymous phone call? For all they know, you could be an ex-girlfriend with an axe to grind. They will check out the place first and if there’s something going on, they’ll do something. But they can’t do anything if they don’t know about it. Keep us posted. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2005, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-call-the-cops-with-nothing-but-a-vauge-suspicion/321787/30 "2005-09-17T17:38:20Z")
If you can verify that small packages are being handed to the come and go drivers I think the probability of drug dealing is extremely high. If the police are reluctant to take action (and some departments are much less proactive than others) you can easily find the actual owners of the rental house via online real estate tax records, and send a letter to the legal address for notices listed and double check the name and address with [www.zabasearch.com](http://www.zabasearch.com) to confirm. You can inform them anonymously that in your opinion drug dealing is obviously taking place at the residence, and before the lever is pulled to have the house raided, at which point significant property damage is likely to ensue in gaining entry and searching for hidden drugs, you are offering them to opportunity to solve the problem themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2005, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-call-the-cops-with-nothing-but-a-vauge-suspicion/321787/31 "2005-09-17T21:41:44Z")
From the property records online it doesn’t seem to be rented - the property address and the owners’ address is the same. I haven’t seen two homeowner-looking ladies around the place, though, so they may be absentee. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2005, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-call-the-cops-with-nothing-but-a-vauge-suspicion/321787/32 "2005-09-17T21:50:58Z")
Am I the only one who thinks the OP should mind her own business? She has seen nothing illegal and she has not been harassed. Who cares if they’re dealing drugs as long as they’re not bothering her? ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2005, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-call-the-cops-with-nothing-but-a-vauge-suspicion/321787/33 "2005-09-17T21:51:01Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > From the property records online it doesn’t seem to be rented - the property address and the owners’ address is the same. I haven’t seen two homeowner-looking ladies around the place, though, so they may be absentee. In most cases the owners address is where tax bills and such are to be sent, so if the tax bills are being sent to that location it’s likely they are aware (on some level) of what’s going on. If the police aren’t being proactive and the activity is obvious and confirmed (by you), I’d schedule an appointment with the Mayor or Town Manager or the Chief of Police. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2005, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-call-the-cops-with-nothing-but-a-vauge-suspicion/321787/34 "2005-09-17T22:06:56Z")
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > Am I the only one who thinks the OP should mind her own business? Well, I don’t agree with you, but then I hardly ever do, so that’s a moot point. 😛 > [@](#): > > She has seen nothing illegal and she has not been harassed. True, but she’s seen enough to get a blip on her radar. And that’s part of the reason she pays taxes, to have the cops check things out. > [@](#): > > Who cares if they’re dealing drugs as long as they’re not bothering her? Now, while I am in favor of legalizing drugs (that’s a whole 'nuther debate) drug dealing is currently illegal and can lead to a whole bunch of other crimes and attract a criminal element. I’m on the side of “Call the cops and have them check it out.” At worst, you’ve wasted the cops’s time. At best, you may help break up a major drug ring. I don’t live where you are, so I can’t tell you whether or not your suspicions are well-founded. But you are a single lady living alone, and it is _your_ neighborhood too, and unless you’re planning to move, you have a right to feel comfortable and safe in your own little corner of the world. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2005, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-call-the-cops-with-nothing-but-a-vauge-suspicion/321787/35 "2005-09-17T22:12:32Z")
But it doesn’t sound like they’ve done anything to threaten her or harass her or make her uncomfortable. She said herself that she never even noticed them until a painter called her attention to them. She doesn’t know that they’re dealing drugs, but even if they are, they’re not hurting her. Maybe they’re just selling weed, in which case I would actually be morally opposed to having them busted. Why help the man enforce an abhorrent law? ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2005, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-call-the-cops-with-nothing-but-a-vauge-suspicion/321787/36 "2005-09-17T22:23:32Z")
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > Maybe they’re just selling weed, in which case I would actually be morally opposed to having them busted. Why help the man enforce an abhorrent law? Because we don’t know exactly what they’re doing, and **Zsofia** is living by herself with a small dog. If it helps ease her mind to call the cops and sleep easy at night, what harm is a phone call? She says she is concerned about the situation. Look, we’re all just wildly speculating here. They could be selling pot, they could be making crystal meth in the basement, they could be involved in a white slavery ring. The painters may have drawn her attention to the situation, but she’s seen enough to raise a flag with her. What’s the harm in having the cops check things out? I am not a police officer, but I can’t imagine they’d go banging on the door demanding answers. They may start out with a few drive bys in an unmarked car to assess the situation for themselves. If there’s nothing suspicious going on, the neighbors won’t be hassled and **Zsofia** can rest easy knowing law enforcement has been notified. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2005, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-call-the-cops-with-nothing-but-a-vauge-suspicion/321787/37 "2005-09-19T13:32:45Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > Look, if it’s nothing then nothing will happen to them and I didn’t “make trouble for them”. If it’s something, I’m a little distressed that people think I should just be okay with people dealing smack across the street just because nobody’s brandished any guns at me! Isn’t it obvious that dealers and junkies aren’t something you want in your neighborhood? That they increase your breakin risk? That they lower your property values? That people who are willing to deal illegal drugs may also be willing to commit other crimes? Sure, maybe it’s nothing. It’s _probably_ nothing. But the costs associated with making a report if it’s nothing are, you know, pretty much nothing. The costs associated with _not_ making a report if it’s _something_ could be pretty freaking high. Dealers and junkies _are_ something you don’t want in your neighborhood. BUT YOU DON’T KNOW THAT THAT’S WHAT THEY ARE!!! Does everyone have to pass your test on how to behave in the neighborhood? You’ve caused trouble for them simply by telling the police. No one wants the police watching them play basketball or hang out in their yard. When you KNOW something, call the cops. Your paranoid suspicions are making trouble for your neighbors. ---
**Author:** ![Metacom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecae2f/32.png) [@Metacom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Metacom)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2005, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-call-the-cops-with-nothing-but-a-vauge-suspicion/321787/38 "2005-09-19T13:55:49Z")
**Zsofia** , **Kalhoun** and **Diogenes the Cynic** are completely wrong. If you suspect drug dealing is happening there, you should contact the police. Investigating and keeping an eye on the neighborhood is what you pay them to do. I’ve called the cops on my neighbors before, and I’ve never had a problem with the cops telling my neighbors who called or talking to me in-person afterwards–I simply told the dispatcher that I wished to remain anonymous, although that may have been unecessary. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2005, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-call-the-cops-with-nothing-but-a-vauge-suspicion/321787/39 "2005-09-19T14:08:43Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > Look, if it’s nothing then nothing will happen to them and I didn’t “make trouble for them”. Ah, the old “if you’re not doing anything wrong, why should you be worried about having your privacy invaded” line. Look, I don’t know if “playing basketball” is code for “black people” or what. But all we have to go on here is no evidence of wrong doing, and an OP who sounds like she’s worked up paranoid fantasies about what sounds like to me, pretty typical behavior. Your dog is probably bugging people more than the car horns. Maybe someone should call the cops on you. ---
**Author:** ![Metacom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecae2f/32.png) [@Metacom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Metacom)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2005, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-call-the-cops-with-nothing-but-a-vauge-suspicion/321787/40 "2005-09-19T14:14:46Z")
> [@Trunk](#): > > Ah, the old “if you’re not doing anything wrong, why should you be worried about having your privacy invaded” line. No one’s privacy is going to be invaded. The cops aren’t going to bust down the door and ransack the place based solely on what she’s described. What’s more likely is that they patrol the area a bit more and keep a non-invasive eye on things (if they even bother doing that). The police aren’t the bad guys. And the accusation of racism is disgusting, **Trunk**. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-call-the-cops-with-nothing-but-a-vauge-suspicion/321787.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-call-the-cops-with-nothing-but-a-vauge-suspicion/321787.md?page=3)