Should I have called the cops?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I work at a small retail store, and last weekend, there was a man walking around the parking lot of our little strip mall. He was … not harassing customers, exactly. But calling out randomly to people as they walked up to the store or got into their cars. Laughing maniacally at nothing. Shouting at odd intervals. Pointing and laughing at empty space. That sort of thing.

My first thought was, “There’s something not right about that guy.”

My second thought was, “Well, if I was outside in 104 heat all day, my brain would be cooked, too.” (Yes, it really was that hot. Not the heat index, either. Just the temp.)

So, Dopers - since y’all aren’t exactly shy about sharing your opinions - tell me: should I have called the cops?

On the one hand, he did seem mentally unstable, and I’m all by myself at the store sometimes - okay, a lot. On the other hand, I have a personal issue with police harassment BEFORE a crime has been committed, and he didn’t do anything wrong that I ever saw. It’s not against the law to be mentally ill.

The main reason I’m asking is because driving past there yesterday I saw the same guy - in the same ratty shirt, 3 days later - and it occurred to me that I might see him again. So, I’d like to know what to do.

And, if I DO call the cops, what do I tell them? “Help, help, there’s a man walking around pointing and laughing!” I guess that’s the main reason I didn’t call in the 1st place … I couldn’t think of what I’d say.

2

If you live in a good community, sure. They might actually move him out of sight somewhere with the other undesirables. If you live in L.A. though, you see people like that pretty much every day of your life and just have to learn to ignore them.

3

Say it’s a “public disturbance”.

4

Say you’re concerned for his mental well-being.

5

Yes- tell them he needs a “welfare check”. That means it needs a visit but isn’t necessarily regarding a crime.

6

I guess it depends what community you’re in and what the police there are like. In my town, I wouldn’t hesitate for a second to call the police on the non-emergency number, explain the situation, and let them decide what to do. Police attention does not equal “harrassment.” Maybe the guy needs help. And from a business perspective, you and the other merchants have an interest in eliminating factors that might dissuade customers from coming in.

7

Yeah, it’s a nice enough part of town. Solidly middle-class, I’d say. My boss (the owner of the store) told me that b/c of the heat she’s taken to walking her dog at 1:30 a.m. By herself. So take from that what you will about the relative crime rate around here…

I like Alice’s “welfare check” wording. Thanks. Sometimes I know what I need to say, I just don’t know how to say it.

Will keep half an eye out for him this Saturday. Gracias.

8

I would call the police and say I was concerned about someone who was acting strangely. The concern may be that he needs help, that he might accost someone, or both.

9

If I was concerned that he was a danger to himself or to others, I’d call.

If he’s just weird, I’d leave him alone. I feel very strongly that people have a right to be weird.

10

We have a guy with the exact same behavior. The second or third time I saw him, he was around a major intersection - yelling and gesticulating so wildly I was afraid he might reel into traffic. Noticiing a cop at a gas station I stopped at, I informed him about the guy, expressing concern for his safety. 'Course, they already knew about him.

11

As an NYC resident, I would’ve called our 311 number for “quality of life” issues.

I have seen the police in situations like this, they are well trained in this kind of outreach. The will usually approach the peron very respectfully and ask if they want help, at which time they are also assessing whether the person is a risk. If they want help or constitute a risk they will be taken somewhere otherwise they will be left alone.

I saw this happen on my block last week, I observed 2 cops in conversation with a woman. If I had not observed her walking aimlessly up and down the block all morning and acting really strangely I would’ve thought the cops were just engaging in a friendly chat with her.

This conversation must’ve ensured them that she wasn’t a risk to self or others because they let her be.

12

Also an NYC resident, I might have called the 311 (or the non-emergency police number) also. It was really hot, he was outside behaving erratically - he might well have needed help. Or been someone somebody else was missing.

There have been a few cases in the news lately of adult missing persons being turned up by a routine welfare check on a person behaving erratically in public. Mostly they were folks with Alzheimer’s who got separated from their family/caregiver. They had people frantically looking for them - but with advanced Alzheimer’s (or several other mental illnesses) they might not know that, or be able to communicate it clearly if they do know it. Sometimes there are people looking for the random crazy people in the street, you know?

Either way, I’m aware that I’m not competant to judge if someone is just being weird or actually in need of assistance. I also know that they train police officers to make that judgment call. Since I’d rather be safe than sorry, I’d call the police non-emergency and let them decide.

13

If he’s on private property, tell him to go away. If he doesn’t, then you call the cops. If he’s on public property, there isn’t much you can do.

14

He sounds a lot like the guy that followed me around DC, including following me three times when I changed the side of the street I walked on. It can be scary, but generally they don’t touch you and aren’t committing a crime (and have probably been dropped off from a recent “welfare check” anyway).

There’s not much to be done. If enough people complain, they’ll probably relocate him but they usually don’t keep them forever.

My guess is that he has a case worker who will try to find out if he’s been taking his meds.

15

Here is a scenario to consider.

My elderly neighbor has diabetes. He went downtown one day to some art/community event at the park there. He let his blood sugar get all outa wack. He said he could barely stagger from lamp post to lamp post till he finally got back to his car and take care of things. He said he wouldnt ask anyone for help because he was afraid folks would just think he was just a drunk (he is a baptist with issues obviously).

So, unless your local cops have a serious rep for causing grief to anyone they encounter, its much better to be safe than sorry !

I also told my neighbor “Why the fuck do you care if total strangers THINK your a drunk when you havent even had a drink, because GOD knows you arent drunk, and one word from you, diabetes, would have told them all they needed to know! And someone could have then summoned help”

Stubborn baptist coulda died.

16

IME, having low or high blood sugar makes one stupid and stubborn. VERY stupid and stubborn. The brain just isn’t working right.

17

When I was in the US last August, I saw an elderly woman, barefoot and in a white cotton nightie, walking up and down on the shoulder of a very busy road in a fairly fancy neighborhood. I called the police and asked them to please go check on her.

This being the south, she could easily have just been local color. She certainly had every right to walk down that road in her nightie. However, I was troubled by the notion of opening the paper the next day and reading about her being killed when she wandered into the road/of heatstroke/some such thing.

I will say that what I would do when confronted with an elderly white woman in Atlanta who might be in trouble might be different from what I would do confronted with, say, a young black man in Forsyth County who might be in trouble.