# Would you ever call the police on someone for what they wrote online? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 26, 2011, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-ever-call-the-police-on-someone-for-what-they-wrote-online/590344 "2011-07-26T01:53:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-ever-call-the-police-on-someone-for-what-they-wrote-online/590344/1 "2011-07-26T01:53:55Z")
Obviously excluding something like they were trying to groom a child are there circumstances where what someone wrote on a messageboard, a blog, twitter or whatever forum online would make you call the police and what circumstances would they be? ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-ever-call-the-police-on-someone-for-what-they-wrote-online/590344/2 "2011-07-26T02:21:25Z")
I think specific physical threats would qualify if the threat maker was identified. There is a point of exhaustion however. There is a conservative blogger in my area who is a rabid, egomaniacal shit stirrer. So much so that he is despised by a large chunk of the local population. He especially enjoys stirring up the local volunteer fire departments with all kinds of baseless accusations, and (to be frank) they are an easy bunch to get wound up. The last time he hit the hornets nest he got several anonymous “watch your back threats” and he insisted the FBI come in and instigate each one by going after the ISPs data to track down the miscreants. I think the FBI told him to pound sand. ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-ever-call-the-police-on-someone-for-what-they-wrote-online/590344/3 "2011-07-26T02:52:51Z")
I think most death threats posted on the internet come from losers who are desperately seeking publicity. Involving the police would only boost their egos and encourage others to make the same kind of posts. Ignoring them is the better option. ---
**Author:** ![YaraMateo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/58f4c7/32.png) [@YaraMateo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YaraMateo)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-ever-call-the-police-on-someone-for-what-they-wrote-online/590344/4 "2011-07-26T03:12:43Z")
I don’t think I would. I would have a hard time believing it. Honestly, most people who write these type of confessions are liars and attention seekers. Most people who get away with a crime usually deny they ever did it, even offline. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-ever-call-the-police-on-someone-for-what-they-wrote-online/590344/5 "2011-07-26T03:15:02Z")
I’d call for a suicide threat. Can’t think of much else that would make me pick up a phone. ---
**Author:** ![Toucanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3bc359/32.png) [@Toucanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toucanna)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-ever-call-the-police-on-someone-for-what-they-wrote-online/590344/6 "2011-07-26T03:54:06Z")
Yes: suicide threat, violence threatened against a specific person/structure, child porn. ---
**Author:** ![Namkcalb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Namkcalb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Namkcalb)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-ever-call-the-police-on-someone-for-what-they-wrote-online/590344/7 "2011-07-26T05:04:24Z")
Didn’t the recent Norwegian shooter post lots of material online before his rampage? ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-ever-call-the-police-on-someone-for-what-they-wrote-online/590344/8 "2011-07-26T11:58:04Z")
I _wanted_ to call for someone threatening suicide on a message board - he had a plan, fairly detailed, so I took him seriously - but I simply could not locate where he was, which could have been anywhere in North America. He never posted again… so… I do wonder… ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-ever-call-the-police-on-someone-for-what-they-wrote-online/590344/9 "2011-07-26T12:03:34Z")
Funny that this topic is coming up. My cousin’s 16-year-old son just posted on his FB wall something to the effect that “the people of Columbine didn’t get the point.” Made me pause, to be sure. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-ever-call-the-police-on-someone-for-what-they-wrote-online/590344/10 "2011-07-26T12:04:45Z")
> [@astro](#): > > There is a conservative blogger in my area who is a rabid, egomaniacal shit stirrer. Phred? ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-ever-call-the-police-on-someone-for-what-they-wrote-online/590344/11 "2011-07-26T17:28:48Z")
No. If someone in WoW threatens to kill themselves though, I always report it to a GM (and then THEY call the police–I wouldn’t know where to start, but they have players’ personal information and are obliged to do something). Because if they are really suicidal, then I helped save a life. And if they’re an internet tough kid, getting a visit from the cops is going to scare the shit out of them, piss off their parents, and be really, really hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![EmAnJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@EmAnJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmAnJ)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-ever-call-the-police-on-someone-for-what-they-wrote-online/590344/12 "2011-07-26T17:48:03Z")
A few years ago, I was on the local Craigs List Rants and Raves page and noticed a person had posted saying they were going to commit suicide, and listed their reasons why. Of course, 95% of the replies to this person were from jerks trying to get him to actually go through with it. I ended up sending him a response with the typical ‘it’s not worth it, get help, here’s the help line number’, etc., and he responded using the function that sends an email to the one I’d registered with for CL. He essentially was arguing about why he needed to die and I kept trying to offer help. I knew he lived in the same city as me, and through our emails, I learned the area he lived in, his first name, and the name of a family member. Using that, I was able to find his last known address. He told me how he was going to do it and where. The emails went back and forth for about 48 hours. He started asking me to meet him, which I obviously declined, and kept insisting that he get help or go to the hospital. Finally, he said that he was going to go carry out his plan. I immediately called the police non-emergency line. I spoke with an officer and explained the situation. I told her the address and what he had said. The police went and knocked on the door and there was no answer. The officer called me back to tell me no one was home, so I asked her to get in to the house/break down the door, as he may have possibly committed suicide there. They couldn’t do it because they had no cause, even though he told me he was going to off himself, I didn’t know him personally (so couldn’t ask them to do a wellness check), and they couldn’t confirm that he still lived at that address. So, she had the details I was given about where he was going to do the deed and we left it at that. I checked the papers for a few weeks to see if anything happened at that particular bridge, but didn’t see anything, though I know now that suicides often aren’t reported in the paper. Never heard from him again. Always wonder. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-ever-call-the-police-on-someone-for-what-they-wrote-online/590344/13 "2011-07-26T17:55:35Z")
[Stalkin’ Broadway](http://www.talkinbroadway.com/talkin/stalkin.html). Reporting this person probably saved Deborah Gibson’s life when she was starring in Broadway’s Beauty & The Beast > [@](#): > > Let’s put it this way – the Debbie Gibson stuff [a lot of it, at least] will be settled in person, live, and in living color this weekend when I go to New York. I plan to ask Deborah for some time outside of all the fan line hullaballoo to talk to her about several issues which have me utterly irked. > > After Broadway Bares, if Gibson wants to be looked at that sexily and not want to talk about it with me, then maybe they better have me locked up before something really bad happens. That’s why I need to talk to her now. > > I plan to make it clear: We either talk about this, or they ban me from ever seeing her again. IN ANY FORUM… > > As far as them getting my goat regarding DG, if not for her, I wouldn’t waste my time with the Broadway theatre. I said that before, and especially with the people on Talkin’, I believe that now. > > My temper is short, and my fuse even shorter. If someone wants to threaten me with a lead pipe, a gun, whatever, LET’S GO!!! I have lost all respect for a lot of these posters, and if I ever do see [name omitted], that’ll probably be the last you ever see of me… > > Mike