# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![d1a1s1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f6c823/32.png) [@d1a1s1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/d1a1s1)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2005, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-call-the-cops-with-nothing-but-a-vauge-suspicion/321787/61 "2005-09-19T16:48:25Z")
> [@Trunk](#): > > Well, that just sounds like more paranoia. > > Violent crime is typically lower today than it was in the 60s. Couldn’t find anything right off for south carolina from the 1960’s, but [this](http://www.scdps.org/ojp/statistics.asp) link (PDF!) says, “the murder victimization rate declined from 1.18 per 10,000 in 1977 to .74 per 10,000 for 2000.” > > And [here’s](http://www.disastercenter.com/crime/nccrimn.htm) North Carolina’s murders from 1960 to the present, also declining (in rate, of course, not number). > > I’d expect the people who think the OP should call the police with her paranoid suspicions to also say things like “I don’t feel that is a very safe way to look at the world today.” > > Unless you’re talking about compared to 1890. Of course, I just read that Manhattan was on pace to have fewer than 100 murders this year, the first time that’s happened since 1880 (if I recall the exact date correctly). > > Just keep repeating those media-created fears to yourselves though. That’s a real fun way to go through life. . .peaking through the curtains at the basketball players and imagining that they’re lookouts. Is this my Dad? This is the exact same things he would say…in another words, well put. What bothers me about the things being said id here we have a woman sitting home alone and worrying about whats going on accross the street. Who am I or anyone else to say that her fears are just paranoia? Not our call. If she feels safer contacting authorities then by all means, she has that right! I dont think certain people are being fair to her at all. ---
**Author:** ![d1a1s1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f6c823/32.png) [@d1a1s1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/d1a1s1)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2005, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-call-the-cops-with-nothing-but-a-vauge-suspicion/321787/62 "2005-09-19T17:00:54Z")
> [@Kalhoun](#): > > Maybe you like suspicious authority figures questioning you on your own turf, but it’s an invasion of privacy to the rest of the world. No, of course I dont “like” it but I understand that there are activities in this world that may warrant a few questions. No harm, no foul. Theres really only two things that will come of Zsofia contacting the police in this case. One, they keep a closer eye on the house, possibly question the inhabitants and find nothing…great. Or two, they keep a closer watch on the house maybe question the inhabitants and find a major drug house and bust them…even better. I am not apposed to the legalization of drugs by the way and I agree with the previous poster on that subject. ---
**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, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-call-the-cops-with-nothing-but-a-vauge-suspicion/321787/63 "2005-09-19T17:03:40Z")
> [@d1a1s1](#): > > Is this my Dad? This is the exact same things he would say…in another words, well put. What bothers me about the things being said id here we have a woman sitting home alone and worrying about whats going on accross the street. Who am I or anyone else to say that her fears are just paranoia? Not our call. If she feels safer contacting authorities then by all means, she has that right! I dont think certain people are being fair to her at all. If she saw weapons, packages trading hands, or works laying all over the sidewalk, that’s one thing. She’s seen NOTHING. She’s got as much cause to suspect them of dealing drugs as they’ve got of assuming she’s running a brothel. ---
**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, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-call-the-cops-with-nothing-but-a-vauge-suspicion/321787/64 "2005-09-19T17:06:13Z")
> [@d1a1s1](#): > > No, of course I dont “like” it but I understand that there are activities in this world that may warrant a few questions. No harm, no foul. Theres really only two things that will come of Zsofia contacting the police in this case. One, they keep a closer eye on the house, possibly question the inhabitants and find nothing…great. Or two, they keep a closer watch on the house maybe question the inhabitants and find a major drug house and bust them…even better. I am not apposed to the legalization of drugs by the way and I agree with the previous poster on that subject. The fact that they’re keeping a closer eye on their house AT ALL is an invasion of privacy. Especially when it’s based on the lunatic ravings of someone who is suspicious of basketball players. Keeee-rist. ---
**Author:** ![d1a1s1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f6c823/32.png) [@d1a1s1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/d1a1s1)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2005, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-call-the-cops-with-nothing-but-a-vauge-suspicion/321787/65 "2005-09-19T17:10:58Z")
> [@Kalhoun](#): > > The fact that they’re keeping a closer eye on their house AT ALL is an invasion of privacy. Especially when it’s based on the lunatic ravings of someone who is suspicious of basketball players. Keeee-rist. Since when is looking at someones house an invasion of privacy? If you are the type of person that feels someone looking at your house, in a neighborhood, an invasion of privacy then I would think they wouldnt live in a NEIGHBORHOOD! Take your cats and move to a remote area of Montana with all the other invasion of privacy “lunatics” ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2005, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-call-the-cops-with-nothing-but-a-vauge-suspicion/321787/66 "2005-09-19T17:15:38Z")
So now she’s crazy and wary of basketball players? Good God, people, how did this come so badly off the rails? **She lives alone**. There’s odd behavior going on in her neighborhood. The police will check it out. She’s trying to _prevent_ things from getting worse, if indeed they are drug dealers. Or would you rather she wait until her house is broken into or her car stolen before she “gets involved” and “sticks her nose in where it doesn’t belong?” It’s hardly an invasion of privacy if a cop does a driveby down a public street. And there’s no reason to call from a payphone in another town. It’s her neighborhood too, and she has nothing to be ashamed of if she wants to keep it nice and crime-free. ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2005, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-call-the-cops-with-nothing-but-a-vauge-suspicion/321787/67 "2005-09-19T17:17:14Z")
> [@Kalhoun](#): > > If she saw weapons, packages trading hands, or works laying all over the sidewalk, that’s one thing. She’s seen NOTHING. She’s got as much cause to suspect them of dealing drugs as they’ve got of assuming she’s running a brothel. What about a neighbor I had the misfortune to rent a house by? There were no visible packages trading hands at all, but they’d walk the street, turning the corner to walk in front of my house, and greet “friends” by tapping their hands a couple of times, as they said “Hey man, how you doin?” then casually walk on, each going in a different direction, with him going back to his house after the other was out of sight. (Sleight of hand anyone?) The guy did that twenty times a day some days. They were busted for drug dealing after I had left the neighborhood. From what I was told, they police had been surveying their house for some time, before I arrived in the neighborhood. I believe neighbors tipped them off as to what was going on. It can be very subtle and virtually undectable if you don’t have sharp eyes. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2005, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-call-the-cops-with-nothing-but-a-vauge-suspicion/321787/68 "2005-09-19T17:17:37Z")
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > Well, that’s basically how civil people operate, isn’t it? Live and let live. If someone’s not bothering me, I see no reason to harass them by calling the cops on them. If someone is not personally bothering YOU, **Diogenes the Cynic** , then you see no reason to let the cops know of a prospective danger in the neighborhood? Are you the only person that matters in your neighborhood? ---
**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 19, 2005, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-call-the-cops-with-nothing-but-a-vauge-suspicion/321787/69 "2005-09-19T17:26:49Z")
> [@Contrapuntal](#): > > How about the guy murdered in my neighborhood during a drug deal. Any victim there? Yes. A victim of murder, not drugs. Pleas take note: I said that WEED does not have a victim, not that no drugs do. Please do not make the simplistic mistake of grouping all drugs into the same category > [@](#): > > Is it only victimless crimes that are abhorrent? Or can we pick and choose the ones for which we will provide support to the police? Yes and yes. > [@](#): > > No comment on my cites relating violence to drug use? None, because it’s not relevant. The OP has seen no violence, nor does she actually know that drugs are being dealt in the first place. You’re extropolating from extropolations. > [@](#): > > In rather think my experience with drug dealers trumps yours. I seriously doubt it. > [@](#): > > Can you really extrapolate from your case that in all cases illegal drug dealing is OK? I can conclude that drug dealers aren’t _necessarily_ dangerous and should be given the benefit of the doubt until proven otherwise. Especially if it’s only weed. > [@](#): > > One might as well argue that drunk driving is OK, based on the fact that he drives drunk every night and has never hurt anyone yet. I fail to see how this is analogous. > [@](#): > > Are meth dealers OK? Crack dealers? Heroin dealers? As long as they’re not bothering me, I don’t care. People have the right to do whatever drugs they want. ---
**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 19, 2005, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-call-the-cops-with-nothing-but-a-vauge-suspicion/321787/70 "2005-09-19T17:28:39Z")
> [@Zabali\_Clawbane](#): > > What about a neighbor I had the misfortune to rent a house by? There were no visible packages trading hands at all, but they’d walk the street, turning the corner to walk in front of my house, and greet “friends” by tapping their hands a couple of times, as they said “Hey man, how you doin?” then casually walk on, each going in a different direction, with him going back to his house after the other was out of sight. (Sleight of hand anyone?) The guy did that twenty times a day some days. They were busted for drug dealing after I had left the neighborhood. From what I was told, they police had been surveying their house for some time, before I arrived in the neighborhood. I believe neighbors tipped them off as to what was going on. It can be very subtle and virtually undectable if you don’t have sharp eyes. If it’s so subtle an undetectable, then it’s not really hurting anyone, is it? ---
**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 19, 2005, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-call-the-cops-with-nothing-but-a-vauge-suspicion/321787/71 "2005-09-19T17:30:44Z")
> [@JThunder](#): > > If someone is not personally bothering YOU, **Diogenes the Cynic** , then you see no reason to let the cops know of a prospective danger in the neighborhood? The OP has not said she’s seen them bothering ANYBODY. Of course i would call the cops if I saw a neighbor harassing or threatening someone else. That’s not the case here. ---
**Author:** ![d1a1s1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f6c823/32.png) [@d1a1s1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/d1a1s1)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2005, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-call-the-cops-with-nothing-but-a-vauge-suspicion/321787/72 "2005-09-19T17:31:28Z")
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > As long as they’re not bothering me, I don’t care. People have the right to do whatever drugs they want. Thats where you are wrong. They simply do not have the RIGHT. That may be a problem in on itself but the right is not given. ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2005, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-call-the-cops-with-nothing-but-a-vauge-suspicion/321787/73 "2005-09-19T17:32:41Z")
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > If it’s so subtle an undetectable, then it’s not really hurting anyone, is it? Except for the fact that the guy was dealing cocaine, so those were crackheads going through the neighborhood, most of which was away at work during the day. :rolleyes: ---
**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 19, 2005, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-call-the-cops-with-nothing-but-a-vauge-suspicion/321787/74 "2005-09-19T17:47:18Z")
So what? ---
**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 19, 2005, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-call-the-cops-with-nothing-but-a-vauge-suspicion/321787/75 "2005-09-19T17:48:19Z")
> [@d1a1s1](#): > > Thats where you are wrong. They simply do not have the RIGHT. That may be a problem in on itself but the right is not given. It doesn’t have to be given. The government has to show a reason to take it away. What other people choose to put in their bodies is none of my business. ---
**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, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-call-the-cops-with-nothing-but-a-vauge-suspicion/321787/76 "2005-09-19T17:50:12Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > **She lives alone**. **Maybe she shouldn’t if she’s so scared about a few basketball players.** > [@ivylass](#): > > There’s odd behavior going on in her neighborhood. No, there isn’t. There’s a house with a lot of young people coming and going, some horns honking, and people who play basketball with a degree of concentration suspicious to the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2005, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-call-the-cops-with-nothing-but-a-vauge-suspicion/321787/77 "2005-09-19T17:54:00Z")
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > So what? Apart from the fact that after the dealer was busted petty theft in the neighborhood went down, due to the fact of less foot traffic? (People had things stolen from their yards/garages and houses for a while there.) So dealing crack is ok to you now? Right then, there’s no getting through to you. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2005, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-call-the-cops-with-nothing-but-a-vauge-suspicion/321787/78 "2005-09-19T18:04:29Z")
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > The OP has not said she’s seen them bothering ANYBODY. Of course i would call the cops if I saw a neighbor harassing or threatening someone else. That’s not the case here. Except that earlier, you said that as long as they weren’t bothering YOU, you’d leave them alone. But even if we set that point aside, the point is that she’s trying to prevent trouble before it occurs. It’s no big deal to report suspicions to the police, so that they can discreetly check a situation out. For all you know, they may already be investigating some related trouble in the area, and needed just a few more clues to solve this case. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2005, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-call-the-cops-with-nothing-but-a-vauge-suspicion/321787/79 "2005-09-19T18:08:58Z")
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > I’ve lived next to dope dealers on more than one occasion and never had a problem. I found them to be good neighbors Oh really? Bully for you. My brother lived next door to “nice guy” dealers. Wonderful chaps. Then one day someone came looking for the “nice guys” with waepons and went to the wrong apartment. Waved guns at my brother and his friends while they vapor-locked trying to figure out what to do next. Luckily they left instead of getting rid of witnesses. Too bad if you think drug dealing is a victimless crime. Tell that to all the families of people who were in the wrong place at the wrong time - just “minding their business” when the stray bullets flew. Grow up. Some things are worth being investigated. If there’s a suspicion of illegal activity it should be reported. ---
**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 19, 2005, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-call-the-cops-with-nothing-but-a-vauge-suspicion/321787/80 "2005-09-19T18:22:50Z")
> [@Zabali\_Clawbane](#): > > Apart from the fact that after the dealer was busted petty theft in the neighborhood went down, due to the fact of less foot traffic? (People had things stolen from their yards/garages and houses for a while there.) So dealing crack is ok to you now? Right then, there’s no getting through to you. By all means, if a crackhead steals something from your garage, call the police. Don’t blame the dealer, blame the thief. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-call-the-cops-with-nothing-but-a-vauge-suspicion/321787.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-call-the-cops-with-nothing-but-a-vauge-suspicion/321787.md?page=5)