to constantly call the police?

[hibbledobble]

I call the police whenever I see illegal behaviour which is/ can potentially endanger other. Given my locality this is very regularly. This includes fights, joy riding, drunk driving etc. I don't bother reporting drug dealing/illegal drug use, as I know the police don't have the time to deal with it in my area. (Though I did report the local very well known drug den)

When I call I give a clear location and description but it seems like the call handlers aren't keen to take the details, and I never receive any follow up to my calls. I wonder if I have been put on some sort of nuisance caller list now! Though everything I have been calling about has been genuine, and to my mind serious.

Aibu to call in?

True, summit. I called 999 for a woman being beaten. Although I'm not sure 101 existed then.

Don't stop ringing . All info is good info TBH . Op listed fighting , drink driving and joy riding , and that's not tittle tattle , that's reporting crime. If it's happening at the time , and the suspects are still on scene , or you fear imminent threat of harm to yourself or another , call 999 . That's what it's for and no one should criticise you for that . If it's calmed down , or the fight has separated and all parties have left , then by all means call 101 anyway , because that's how crime analysis works . They analyse all kinds of data , from calls received re asb , to crime reports to intelligence , and the few resources there are to task , get tasked with the crime hotspots. I've had people complain they never see police and when I ask "Do you call police often ? " they almost always reply "well, no , not really" . We're not psychic . If people don't tell us about stuff , we are highly unlikely to deal with it . We just don't have the staff .

You won't be a nuisance caller. Those are people who scream abuse , ring for no reason at all and hang up , or just plain talk bollocks . Over and over and over . The reason you might not get a follow up, is probably down to the number of calls . For example , the Met answered 5.25 million calls last year through 101 and 999 in 2015 . 999 calls went up another 11percent over that last year . Can you imagine if every call got a call back at the time ? We'd need to double the workforce . You can ask someone to call you , and if you're a witness where someone gets arrested or a crime reported , then you should be , but you won't get a call back for everything .

I've called 999 three times for police:

• witnessed a gang-related attempted murder (as in right in front of me).
• a woman who told me her drink had been spiked and saying a man was following her and trying to rape her.
• seeing a man getting bundled into the back of a van whilst struggling.
• child at risk.

I reported an act of vandalism on 101 and the police were immediately sent out and caught the yobs in the act. The local police called me back to thank me the next day, and told me never to hesitate and to call 999 if I saw anti social behaviour going on. Better to get a swift response.

I did report suspect drugs dealing to 101 a few months later and didn't get any follow up. But I think it is important that all inceidents are logged.

hks The fact the 999 call was attended wasn't due to you calling 999 it was down to the nature of the call. Someone lying in the middle of the road is in a lot more danger than a drunk wandering about. It could also have been down to luck that a resource was free at that point

Calling 999 does NOT mean your call will get police out any quicker than calling 101 all it means really is your call will be answered quicker by a call taker

summit the knife in question was being brandished and being used to threaten other school children.

Situations that require an immediate response include someone getting beaten up, knife situation etc.

I only call the police about crimes that are/have the potential to cause immediate harm. Sadly they are quite every day in this area.

I don't watch out the windows, but I do these crimes regularly while just doing the school run /going to work. It would be unusual to do the school run and not see drug use or dealing, but I don't bother reporting this.
someone so would you walk past a woman getting beaten up by a bunch of men and not do anything then? One of many examples.

I have called 999 once - when witnessing a stabbing. I live in London where antisocial shit happens a lot... But 999 is for true immediate response emergencies. Not for once a month. You sound excessive.

All info is good info TBH .

Actually, this is not true. If over zealous information is being provided then it isn't actually could info. If you have good reason to suspect a crime is being committed, or about to be committed, or someone is in danger, than yes, please call.

But, if you are calling frequently about little things that may actually not be happening, it may be more of a hinderance particularly in areas where resources are very stretched.

Thank you red glitter for informing me that there is no such thing as a nuisance caller list, and plomin for explaining how things work. Are you a police officer?

summit once again, I only call for actual crimes!

OP thanks for the clarification - I guess you have to make the call. I would, in the examples you have given, definitely expect police follow up though, not to let you know the outcome, but to get statements from you particularly with regards to the brandishing of a knife, or witnessing someone getting beaten up.

Yes . For over twenty years on response and occasionally working in comms when they're short .

I have called the police or an ambulance in a number of occasions over the last few years due to a few accidents on our road. I've only had a call back once, and that was to double check if I had actually witnessed the accident and was from someone in a back office data checking, not from actual police or call handlers.

I had to report my car had been broken into once. They said they couldn't come straight away as there was a bit of a flap on and they were busy.

The next morning I was listening to the radio and found out why.

They have to prioritise.

hibble So how do you know drink driving is being committed? Do you actually witness them drinking more than the limit and then getting in their cars and driving? Or do you see someone driving erratically and report that as drink driving?

Because that's the difference in points I was trying to get across.

Anyway, you've clearly seen some dangerous stuff on an almost daily basis. I hope you have had some support and it's a shame that the police haven't followed up on statements with you for the violent crimes as this would likely improve the outcome in courts.

You used to cal several times a week?!?! Where do you live?! I used to live in a dodgy part of London and never witnessed anything that would make me call the police. And how do you know people are drink driving?

SummitLove someone carrying a knife (then and there, as opposed to general information that they habitually carry a knife) is totally a 999 situation, whether they are brandishing it or not.

You have to call the police several times a week for urgent, life threatening crimes, that you just happen to walk through while doing the school run.
I think you should move, as you are clearly living on the set of the Wire.

Although as others have noted all the calls end up in the same place so not a disaster if it goes through on 101

Summit If officers found a victim or detained a suspect for something like an assault they would contact the OP. They aren't going to have a case go to court without speaking to all the witnesses. The fact they haven't would indicate there's been nothing happening when they got there.

WTF do you live?

Daily drug-dealing in public, knives being brandished, car theft in front of you - I used to live in a grim part of South London but it was nothing like this.

As to where I live, it's a rather notorious inner London area, which has steadfastly resisted attempts of gentrification (though there are signs of change recently).

Embarrassing I wouldn't be calling 999 for a six year old carrying a knife - I'd be asking them where the mum was and removing the knife from them.

She didn't clarify the knife situation - just said it was a child (and therefore I interpreted as young).

I actually know lots of young boys (children and teenagers) that carry knives - but for fishing, not for stabbing. Another different scenario.

Anyway, that's what I was getting at. The OP clearly witnesses a lot of very unfortunate shit on a regular (daily?) basis. That must suck.

redglitter to be fair I did get a call back about a statement regrading the knife incident. I forgot about that one. For the many other times I've called I haven't.

summit when I say a child I'm talking about secondary school age. No fishing around here either!

Redglitter Yes, that's what I was thinking. So, in effect there's been multiple calls, many of which would result in there being "a victim",
yet nothing there when the police turned up, so no follow up for the caller.

I just think it's quite unusual that would happen multiple times from one caller, hence why I asked if she was actually witnessing it or thought it may happen.