No not really. I might have called them accidentally
We salute your bravery.
Sadly, about an hour ago. Two dogs got out of an idiot neighbor’s yard, jumped the fence to another neighbor’s yard and attacked his dog. The owner couldn’t scare the dogs away so he shot and killed one while the other took off. I heard the shots and yelping and called 911.
Owner is at the vet with his dog, l hope she will be OK. Animal control has picked up the dead dog and is looking for the other one. Idiot neighbor is wailing in her front yard but her dogs are always getting out and roaming the neighborhood. I hope she decides that dog ownership is not her thing.
Had a neighbor who had an aggressive* pit bull, and they would put it outside while they received typical “5 minute visitors”. The dog would be tied to a tree and the leash was cut in such a way that the dogs head would barely come to the sidewalk.
My wife walks a lot and was quite intimidated by this dog, having been the victim of a dog attack or two. So, once while the dog was out, I called the cops and, after the officer arrived at my house, I explained to him that I needed him to go to the neighbors and explain to them their rights and obligations under SA city ordinances regarding dogs and what would happen to them if this dog ever got loose and attacked.
So he did, and we haven’t seen the dog since. Problem solved!
*I don’t mean the dog was barking. I mean the dog was trained to intimidate people.
Several times, but only to report traffic accidents. One I was involved in and the rest I witnessed. The place I used to work was on an intersection where there was no traffic signal, just stop signs for the cross streets. A Target and a few other stores went in across the street, and the city put in a full traffic signal. The first few weeks after the signal was activated we witnessed many wrecks at that intersection where people weren’t expecting the signal to be there and blew through the red light. We could hear the screech of tires and then a crunch, then one of the tellers would say “Call the cops, there’s been another accident!” It got to the point where we got to know the cops that responded to the wrecks, they would come in and get some coffee or water before they left. No one ever was killed or seriously injured that we knew of, just lots of banged-up cars.
Sounds as though those drivers saw what they expected to see. 
True as it ever was. Hippies are much less inclined to fuck you over. I’ve never needed the police. Not once.
No ya’ don’t. I salute your sarcasm, but not enthusiastically. Smart-ass is an easy trick.
You’re lucky.
A few times (always the local station, not 999). Most recently a month or two ago when some scruffy guy with a greasy nonspecific ID showed up on our doorstep claiming he was from a water laboratory and needed a sample of our water. My husband said OK, give me your sample bottle and I’ll get you one. The guy - who as far as we could see didn’t have a sample bottle, or anything else - looked taken aback and said no, he had to take it himself, it’d only take five minutes. (How would taking a water sample even take five minutes?) We both said ‘No,’ and he vanished so fast we practically heard a sonic boom.
We called the station, and a detective - not a uniformed cop - was down to us in like ten minutes. We gave them a decent description of the guy, but we hadn’t seen whatever he was driving so we couldn’t describe that. Obviously they were taking this pretty seriously; we figure it must’ve been an ongoing scam - if you let the guy in, he winds up sending you to mess with the water supply or get him something, while he cases or robs your house or lets in his mate… It’s well timed, too, because the whole country is getting water meters put in, so people would be more likely to think that something to do with the water supply is legit.
Clearly we didn’t ‘need the police’ - the guy was gone and hadn’t done us any damage - but that’s not the only reason to ring them.
I’ve called the cops several times.
The first time I called I was 5. I was at my neighbor’s house, and decided to play with the phone. I dialed 911, waited until someone answered, and hung up. Guess who learned that cops could trace a call, and got a visit that day? I was scared the whole time they were there that I was in serious trouble.
The second time I was probably 10. My step father had come home drunk, after losing our rent money in a game of pool. My mom got into an argument with him, and he hit her. She snatched my youngest brother and sister, got me and my other sister out, and we went to the pay phones nearby. She couldn’t call due to the wrangling the other kids, so I did. Now the police department was 5 minutes down the road. They arrived about 30 minutes later, talked to my mom, and left. Didn’t do a damn thing about my step dad.
Fast forward about 6 months, and the same thing happens. We make the trudge to the pay phone again, and call the cops. 45 minutes later they arrive, talk to my mom, talk to my step dad, and leave.
The next time, it’s the dead of winter. One of the worst snow storms I’d seen in my life. Same sort of situation, except this time my step dad punches my mom in the face several times. Blacks her eye, knocks her tooth out, and bloodies her nose. We go back to the pay phone, and call the cops. We stand there, in the blinding snow, shivering, and the cops never fucking show. We stayed there until we were sure my step dad had passed out, and went back home.
Fast forward 9 years. I’m 19, just started a job at Dollar General. I had been on shift about 5 minutes, when I get a call from my mom, I need to come home if at all possible. I explain what’s going on, and my boss lets me leave.
I get home, and the power is out. Seems my step dad (different one at this time), hadn’t been paying the bills like he said. He’d been blowing it on pot. (Up to this point, he had been an outstanding guy. Never drank, never did drugs that we could tell, didn’t cuss, wasn’t violent, etc. Turns out it was all a ruse.) He comes home, gets into an argument with my mom. He demands what little money she has. When she refuses, he starts strangling her. I knock him off of her, and hold him back while my mom and siblings get out. We rush over to the pay phones (different county by this time) and call the cops. 45 minutes later they show up. My mom shows them the marks, and says she wants to press charges.
They go over and talk to my step dad, and come back to us. They’re not going to arrest him. They’re going to escort us back to our house, let us get our clothes, and leave. They give us 15 minutes to do so. We were all shocked. His name wasn’t even on the lease yet, it was mine and my mom’s. The cops didn’t care; we had to leave, he would get to stay for the next 48 hours.
Needless to say, I have a strong dislike for law enforcement, as they’ve never done a damned thing to help when they were needed.
Harder than anonymous basement raging against the machine.
Maybe once by accident
That sounds really awful - I’m sorry you, your mom and your siblings were forced to go through that.
How long ago did this happen? Domestic violence is treated as a must-arrest in most jurisdictions today. This is one of the big accomplishments of the feminist movement - domestic violence used to be winked at, and now it’s taken seriously.
The first incidents were in the early 90s. The one where my mom got strangled happened in early 2000.
Since then we have gotten better officers in the counties. I was even arrested for domestic violence in 2004, so I’m glad the laws got changed where something like that gets dealt with appropriately.
We (my so called Mom’s side of the family) have has issues in the past with a son of hers who had some problems.The cops loved us so much that our phone number was on their contact list.
Neighbors would only call the cops when the so called prodigal son caused so much ruckus it was dangerous.
We don’t have the same relationship as we used to but to be honest we never had a normal life.
I called to report a woman having fled her house after being hit by her boyfriend when I overheard her screaming about a block away. Hung out until they showed up, then let them take it from there.
I have called 911 several times.
-I witnessed a stabbing
-I witnessed a robbery
-A corolla smashed into a 50-footer truck on the freeway. The corolla was spun about by the impact and crashed headfirst into the center divider.
-A group of people were fist-fighting on a street corner
-Lightning struck my neighbor’s palm tree during a thunderstorm and set it on fire (the house was fine)
-A different neighbor had a garage fire (don’t know how that one started)
-A car hit a jaywalking pedestrian, before swerving into my lane and hitting me. The pedestrian was an old lady, who was hurt very badly but not killed. A traffic light was installed right where the accident happened less than 3 months later.
nm
My call to the cops must have seemed strange. “Y’ know, they say nobody ever calls Maintenance to say everything’s working fine. Well, I’m calling you to thank you for your vigilance.”
Weird, huh? Then again, I’m the guy who called the street department in the snowstorm to thank 'em for working overtime to clear the streets. The lady on the phone was speechless at first. Then she asked if I’d mind telling her boss the same thing. I told him, and he asked where I lived; 25 minutes later, a big truck plowed our street.
When spring came, they laid new asphalt on two parts of our street. One was right in front of my house, from lot line to lot line.