Neighbour kicked my door down/broke in

I can totally understand being reluctant to wait for the police to just show up 'whenever' vs a fixed appointment to see someone.

Years ago, I had police kick in the door to my flat whilst I was asleep, when I was expecting them to come and take a statement!

I lived in a ground floor flat opposite a row of shops - at 3am, I spotted a robbery in action, couple of men jemmying the shutters open, kicking in a door and then loading up a vehicle parked on the side street beside my building (so over the road from the shop) with cigs/booze and buggering off.

I dialled 999 and reported this, and when I thought they'd gone, went outside for a ciggy, and at 3am in a northern winter, was wearing hoody/big coat etc.

Watched police show up, check it and one came over and I said id witnessed the whole thing and they said someone would come by for a statement later that day, and I went to bed.

Then I wake up to my flat door being kicked in, and my flat searched for stolen goods.

I had a search warrant (unsigned as it turned out) shoved in my face and they tipped my flat upside down... found nothing of course despite shouting at me to tell them where it was (at this point I didnt know what 'it' was!).

And later someone returned with a begrudging apology and took a statement.

As a nervous, anxious 19 year old with some pretty major mental health problems at the time, it was a horrific experience.

It appears that someone made a series of errors that involved another witness report of someone dressed in a dark hoody disappearing seemingly into my flat (or past it down the side, if you were watching from a building on the same side of the road a few doors up it'd be hard to tell in the dark if they were turning right, up my path, or right a few feet further on, up the side road along the end of the building), and a ' go to this address for a statement' note.

I'd hope that these days such fuckery couldn't occur, but I think that would be very naive of me!

We've also had police at our door here, banging on the door yelling for someone to answer in that 'or we will smash it in' way... They were looking for someone who used to live here donkeys years ago, on a 'welfare check' and because I answer the door realllllllllly slowly due to the wheelchair and getting out of various internal doorways, I nearly had the door kicked in, they had the wham ram ready!

Maybe these are things that don't happen if you live in 'naice' areas, I really wouldn't know!

Your mistake was not reading the OP's very first post properly...

Thanks for the update OP, have been thinking about you today. I think the camera pointed at your door is a good idea - I guess I would ask the agent what they are doing to beef up security given that the leasing of one of the flats in this way means that other unstable people may be housed there.

You mistake in this situation was not filing 999 it is an emergency it was an emergency when he broke in, it is an emergency incase he harms you

You know what really kills me - we get a foreign dignitary to our shores (Ireland) and more police resources are wasted on flashy motorcades.
Hell it doesn't even have to be a foreign dignitary, a high ranking politician will do.

Yet the poor beleaguered taxpayer gets a sh*t police service.

Aaaand, quoting fail there ffs...

Doesn't surprise me. We are a largely rural borough covering 150 square miles. We used to have four police stations, now we have none. The result is that police, if they do come at all, are simply not familiar with the area and unable to navigate the country lanes and can't find properties. If a crime location is some distance from a road (as a lot of rural crime is) you've basically got no hope. They are also utterly hopeless when it comes to rural crimes. I've had to explain to an utterly mystified copper what 'feed bags' are and why the theft of 300 of them from a barn in the middle of the night might be something that they would want to investigate. Wildlife crime in particular has rocketed as there is simply no enforcement and no investigation.

I had similar in 2020. Again, it was a neighbour off his head on god knows what, kicking in our door 3 times over a 5 day period. Obviously, I called the police. First time, they didn't turn up. Second time They only surfaced when neighbour keeled over in the hallway, then handed him over to the care of paramedics. The third time it happened, they were out there chatting to him, then later tried to turn it on me. I could say more, but my blood pressure is already high writing this.

OP, I wouldn't have told them where I was, either. Couldn't trust them to organise a piss-up in a brewery. I hope things are settled now and your arsehole neighbour is long gone.

You're 'in his head'? I would be absolutely terrified.
He sounds like his having a mental health episode and projecting on to you, Who knows what he could do next.
Hes already broken your door down.
Honestly the police and mental health team need to make an urgent visit!

I had a similar situation a several years ago. The police attended almost 24 hours later and took a statement. I knew they were a friend of my neighbour but not their name. He wasn't found, I don't have much faith the police did anything.
A neighbour helped me barricade myself in, there was a wall opposite the door so it was relatively easy to block access until the housing association could send someone to replace the door.
Back to the police, the male officer returned a few hours without the female officer to "take some more details". Except that wasn't why. He decided that it was the perfect time to try it on with a vulnerable 18yo. I complained, his superior completely downplayed it but it must have stayed on his file because 10+ years later the force contacted me for a witness statement. He had gone on to do much worse and ended up being jailed for 5 years.
I know this part isn't the same as op but I would have done the same as op and made an appointment. I certainly wouldn't tell them where I was once I was safe. Sadly, we're all aware that some police are dangerous criminals themselves.
Complaining wise, I didn't want the hassle of going through the procedure but I'm glad I did. It all paints a picture and eventually something might get done.

Given what has happened and the fact that you have constantly changing temporary residents in your building it might be worth talking to your permanent neighbours. Perhaps they would see a Ring doorbell or similar to be of mutual benefit? Might be worth a discussion at least.

Sorry gat should say left a mess not a message!

OP I'm sorry you've had this experience. I really don't know why there were so many previous posters giving you such a fucking hard time either. Wankers.
FWIW I had a similar (but less terrifying as I wasn't home) experience a few years ago. I was out at the time but came home to see the door to my flat had been smashed open - the wood had literally been kicked through and splintered, a great big massive hole and the entire thing was hanging off the wall - and my UNDERWEAR was rifled through with a few items having been dropped on the floor and the communal stairs and quite a lot more missing.
Really weird and creepy. Like you I loved alone and rang police to ask for help, thinking they would attend ASAP since I had no front door at all and the strange underwear angle. Like you they did not attend. For 2 days. Then when they did they fingerprinted a few areas, left a message and then nothing more. Luckily for me I had a friend who lived nearby I stayed with that night and then my landlord replaced my door the next day. But opened my eyes to how much the police don't give a shit. This was the Met police.

Gosh, this has been a really upsetting and tough read. I'm so sorry that you have been through all that. FWIW, I think that you handled the situation admirably, given how unsafe you potentially were.

Going forward, please carry a personal alarm on you and keep it next to you at the flat. Those things are loud and it will not only notify the other residents that you need immediate assistance but will hopefully be enough to shock the offender and send them running.

Hopefully he has gone now but I still think it's worth having an alarm at the ready.

I wish you all the best.

As long as the doorbell camera is visible (and maybe a sticker informing about it), you can put one there regardless of the fact that it would cover of people coming and going. No doorbell cameras, only cover the owner's front door and nothing else.

I’m wondering if the police don’t have wide enough power in the UK?

I am so upset for the OP. I’ve had many good experiences with police, and only a couple of bad ones. I’ve recently had excellent support over an online report, and in the past I got home and heard movement in my home and called 999. 2 cars full of huge policemen were there in 5 minutes and were in my house checking every room as soon as possible. This was the Met police. I’ve found the Met police to be really good. I would have expected the OP to have had the same support in the circumstances where someone had actually broke her door down. im really sorry she didn’t.

Now this isn't a have-a-bitch-at-the-police rant, but if that is the way the system currently works, I am allowed to consider the practicalities and impact on me. If you don't give me a timeframe, and are likely to either wake me up or even burst in, climb through an open window however many days/weeks from now, and expect a coherent statement from me when I'm in that state, then I was absolutely right to insist that a firm appt was made and I could just go and get it done.

The police are never going to burst into a house or climb in through the windows in order to get a witness statement from a complainant.

No need to justify anything in my opinion, that must have been terrifying.

could you get a ring doorbell to make you feel more safe whilst this incident is still new ?

This is why normal law abiding citizens DO NOT TRUST THE POLICE. I have never even had any speeding points let alone be arrested ect. I have had different issues with different forces.

my friend caught a man trying to film her whilst having sex (voyeurism). I encouraged her to put the complaint to the police. The police admitted they visited his address and informed them that she made the complaint.
he obviously denied it. Didn’t even confiscate any property to check.

can You get your other neighbour to knock and check that they’ve definitely gone?

I get it OP. It sounds like you felt powerless in the immediate, and the police inaction and vague timelines have further fed into that. There also doesn't seem to have been any consideration of PTSD/trauma response/victim support? It's all "we'll get to you when we get to you, but until then, you're on your own".