How many times have you called the police?

[TommyNever]

Just a thread out of curiosity. I'm middle aged and have found cause to call the police four times in my life so far.

Once for an attempted burglary, once late at night when a woman in the street was screaming for help, and twice for street fights outside my house, when I lived in an unsavoury part of town.

Is that a more or less than average tally for the Mumsnet readership?

Never 999, for any service. I dont even know how to call police, I'd have to google it. I have reported crimes in past. DS got beaten up, I got jumped, drug dealing near my home. (online). It's a faff to report anything.

Only once, after we were burgled.
They did come another time, when some wretched neighbour’s kid who’d come to play, pushed the panic button by the front door. I was impressed with how quickly they turned up. I was suitably apologetic, but they said never mind, it happens a lot.

Twice that I can think of. Once to tell them that I'd caught a dog who had been running loose on the motorway and was sitting on the escape steps with her - we had our own two dogs plus our toddler with us, so we couldn't put her in our car and we needed them to come and collect her. It was quite funny in the end - she was a huge German Shepherd and the two policemen who came to get her were both terrified of her, so I had to get her into the back of the van for them 🙄

The second time was to ask them to do a welfare check on my dad, who turned out to be very seriously ill. They were fab - got into the house and got an ambulance out, undoubtedly saving his life.

Once, when someone broke in the flat upstairs at 3am.

not Sure how many

called them when I was burgled (they were horrible about it)
called them when my ex (partner at the time) attacked me (never again)

Four times.
Once for burglary. Once for attempted burglary. Once because I was a witness to events that led to an (infamous) armed raid. And recently because there was an unmanned vehicle rolling down the road and hitting the sides of parked vehicles, though not enough to stop it rolling, and it was heading for a busy junction - it did stop eventually after hitting the back of a parked van, ironically just as an off duty policeman was driving past. He got out and dealt with the situation.

At least 4 times. Once when I was mugged. Once when I got home and found my front door wide open. Once when there was a gang fighting in the street outside in the middle of the night and someone had rammed the other gang's car. Once when I found a naked toddler wandering around alone about 3 feet from a busy main road.

About 30 times. The first time was when my ex husband hit me. Then I reported erratic drivers etc and an attack I was watching in real time.

A few times unfortunately, have a DD who liked to run away!

I think I may have called 999 for help when a car collided with such force, the back doors of my car buckled and I couldn't get to the car seats to get my kids out.

I did call 999 when I was a student and saw a man walking up the slip road of the M6 at spaghetti junction with a small child and a large rucksack.

More recently I called when a drunk bloke randomly stepped out in front of me in the pitch black on a dual carriageway. Thankfully I managed to swerve and avoid him, but really frightening

Twice.

People trying to break into my house.

Teenagers throwing stones / rocks at cars on a dual carriageway.

Several times because of my ex's behaviour, and once when a drunk man grabbed DD on the street. I think that's it. Other times I've had to contact them it was non-urgent and I did it online instead.

Loads!

Used to be a Community Mental Health Nurse so loads for that.

Have a nasty neighbour who stalks me and made death threats, so many times for that until they got a harassment warning.

Drunks/drug users putting themselves and others at risk from the dodgy HMO at the end of the street.

When my teen ran off.

When my ex assaulted me (several times - during court ordered contact).

Gosh I sound like a right rough loser 🤣

Also called the fire brigade three times - once for a bin fire across the road and twice for deliberate grass fires in the local countryside.

Four times:

Drunk/stoned teenager/young adult wobbling around in the middle of a country road

Teenager sitting on the wall of a railway bridge (but looked relaxed, as though they were sketching a picture. I didn't want to approach the wrong way and risk startling them so that they fell so decided better phone the police who are trained in approaching this situation)

I was on a train and as it pulled out of a station I saw a member of station staff being shouted at aggressively being cornered nearer and nearer to the platform edge

To report debris in the road

A couple of times due to fights when I used to work in a town centre bar.

Once the non-emergency line to ask if they could check on a lone drunk female I was worried about (but couldn't stop myself to help her).

Touch wood never for anything I've been directly involved in.

Once when I had been burgled. They did come very quickly, within 10 mins, and dusted for prints etc, but I wouldn't bother if it happened again in the future.

Hmmm
Twice when I was in a DV relationship
Once when my female neighbour was getting beaten up
Once when someone broke into our flat share and sexually assaulted my flat mate as she slept
Another one, man attempting to break into my flat during the day
When a man broke into our flatshare and stole my handbag off the table then stole my car

I'm seeing a theme here...

Multiple times for work

Emergency - twice. Once when some creep was trying to break into my flat and yelling obscenities at me as to what he intended to do once in - I did not know this man; second time as a witness to a car crash.
Both times response times were good.

Non emergency - twice that I remember - attempted car theft , and then when I came across a burnt out car in the woods. They responded to the first of these same night; the car was eventually recovered a year later with Police complaining that the public should have reported 🤷🏻‍♀️

Twice. Once when there was a car crash outside my house and another when (very unusually) two men were fighting, also outside my house!

Once when we arrived at the scene of a car accident; the car was upside down in a field 10 feet lower than the road. The driver was okay but was a drunk teenager who had 'borrowed' his mother's car and was hopelessly lost, two counties away from where he thought he was, with no licence or insurance. Luckily he was uninjured, because everything else that could have been wrong in that situation was!

Once for an attempted burglary of our house. They never turned up.

Twice for cows loose on roads.

I don’t think I ever have. I did make an online report to the CEOP team a few years ago when we discovered DS was being groomed online. School made a report on our behalf 6 months ago after DS was seriously assaulted at school.

Years ago we woke up to find our car jacked up on bricks on our drive and some of the wheels missing so DH must have called then.

Twice. Once when mugged, another time when burgled.

Police:
1x attempted break in
1x because I heard someone screaming "help me!" (think it was a teen being silly from what they said to me afterwards, but they said right to call)
3x aggressive/dangerous behaviour (probably fuelled by drink/drugs)
2x car accident
1x when we passed a motorbike that had come off the motorway and landed in bushes and I couldn't see if there was anyone injured nearby.
3x welfare check (trying to keep someone calm on one phone and talk to the police on another was an interesting experience)
1x lost child (which included someone who kept trying to take the child away saying "I'll find mummy". They disappeared once I'd called the police)
1x parent refusing to return child to other parent (neither were me)
1x when there was a noisy group after a party in the street which started getting aggressive

Ambulance:
1x when my grandad fell and we couldn't get him up
About 6x at work for various reasons
1x for dd when she had sudden extreme pain (it wore off half an hour later so I cancelled it and took her in myself)

Fire:
1x when next door's BBQ went wrong and nearly took their house up too
1x when kids were lighting fires in the park and jumping over them

2

Police 999 too many times due to violent ex ambulance few times mainly due to same reason and miscarriages