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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Woken in the night by people breaking into a car right outside

42 replies

Bouledeneige · 15/04/2018 04:19

I got up in time to see them running and skipping off with something they've nicked (obviously they must have broken the window and grabbed whatever it is they liked the look of). I didn't bang on the window or call the police, I was a bit bleary eyed and it happened quickly... and on reflection I wouldn't want someone taking against me and throwing a brick through my window.

Should I have done something? I don't know who's car it is. Mine's on the other side of the road.

OP posts:
CiderwithBuda · 15/04/2018 04:27

Not sure there is much you can do if they’ve gone already. But I would maybe call 101 and report it. On the off chance there is a police car in th area they can keep an eye out.

BloodOranges · 15/04/2018 04:34

Eh? Yes, call the Police Hmm

pasturesgreen · 15/04/2018 05:10

I don't know who's car it is. Mine's on the other side of the road

So that makes it alright, I suppose Hmm
You should have called the police.

Original poster
Bouledeneige · 15/04/2018 05:21

I wouldn't have called them straight away if it was my car. When my car did get broken into I simply called them to get a crime number a few hours later. And when my son was mugged before christmas and I called them straightaway they weren't that interested. It took a week for them to take a statement. So maybe thats set my expectations rather low.

As i said, I was a bit bleary.

OP posts:
Original poster
Bouledeneige · 15/04/2018 05:23

When they did come to take a statement from my son the WPC told me their station are dealing with 300 moped thieves a day.

OP posts:
Celticlassie · 15/04/2018 05:29

Of course you should have called the police. I saw someone breaking into a car once, called the police straight away and they caught the guy red handed.

You don't just report crime when you're the direct victim.

MyLawnMowerMan · 15/04/2018 05:30

@Bouledeneige the police officer may have meant 300 thefts a day, not 300 theives a day. There is a big difference and the two would be handled differently, take differing resources, time, officer numbers etc.

If you don't know what to do in future think what you would want someone to do if they saw your car being broken into. Your evidence could be the information that leads to an arrest. Car theives don't tend to go for a solitary vehicle.

TSSDNCOP · 15/04/2018 05:36

My neighbour watched a thief break into my shed and steal my bike. They told me they’d watched and remarked they thought the guy was pissed as it took him an age to extract the bike and wobble off.

I was disappointed that they hadn’t called the police whilst watching the crime unfold.

lalalalyra · 15/04/2018 06:03

Why on earth have you not called the police?

If nothing else you are putting your own car in danger because theives who get away with it tend to revist the same areas.

Zebra31 · 15/04/2018 06:26

You watched them break in and did nothing? Confused I don’t get that. Thank god you are not my neighbour

GhoulWithADragonTattoo · 15/04/2018 06:38

Call the police now! I’m guessing you are in a big city where response times tend to be slower but I’m still shocked you didn’t call. I think you dial 999 for a crime in progress.

himalayansalt · 15/04/2018 06:43

Lol at the idea the police could have done anything there and then! I would call the non emergency number this morning though and report what you saw eg. time of night, even just a vague description of thieves.

Yukbuck · 15/04/2018 06:49

I'm guessing you're in a city.
Our road has a Facebook page which is closed and only people on the street are on there. It's great for this sort if stuff because people can keep a look out. But Yes, I'd have called the non emergency police too to report.

lalalalyra · 15/04/2018 06:51

All it takes when you call is a police car to be in the right place. Round here, because we're rural, response times are slow. When our house got broken into our neighbour called 999 and by pure co-incidence there was a police car nearby and they caught the fuckers.

They certainly can't do anything if no-one calls.

himalayansalt · 15/04/2018 06:57

I expect op took the view that a police car being outside in the direction that the thieves had run off in was so highly unlikely that it wasn't worth wasting everyone's time in the middle of the night.

wonkylegs · 15/04/2018 07:00

Um my neighbours saw someone trying to break into our garage and shed , shouted at them & called us and we called the police and they came out immediately..... turns out the thieves were on a bit of a crime spree and ours was the last house to be hit.
Car on patrol came out immediately and then later that day someone came out to take statements from us our neighbours and everyone else who'd been hit and then a bit later they came out and fingerprinted our garage & the security lights (they had cut the wires)
They didn't catch them that time but the evidence they collected helped when they were caught after another crime spree a week later.
Lots of people say the police aren't interested but we found them to be very good when we called.

bimbobaggins · 15/04/2018 07:11

The police don’t have time to deal with real crime became they are too busy logging all the calls from mnetters.

On this occasions if I saw a crime in progress I would definitely have called the police

SaltireSaltire · 15/04/2018 07:12

I was told off for not ringing 999 many years ago when I saw guys jump out of a car without lights at 5 am and heading to steal (I assume) my neighbours top spec car. I phoned the local police (don’t think 101 existed then).

I stopped the theft as I banged the window and they fled.

Apparently the police were after this crew for some time and were very annoyed I’d not called them in.

In future I’d call 999 if a crime is in action. Previously I thought 999 was for when life was in danger.

eurochick · 15/04/2018 07:14

I would have called the police. That's what they are for!

LadyPenelopeCantDance · 15/04/2018 07:16

There aren’t that many people walking the street at 4am so there’s a good chance they would have been found if called quickly enough.

It’s a sad day when the OP hasn’t bothered to call due to past experiences but you need to give them a chance to respond each time. Officer numbers have been cut to the bone in recent years.

lalalalyra · 15/04/2018 07:19

I expect op took the view that a police car being outside in the direction that the thieves had run off in was so highly unlikely that it wasn't worth wasting everyone's time in the middle of the night.

If everybody took that view no crime would ever get solved.

You can't possibly know where the police are at any given minute.

If they'd been on a spree in the area then someone could have called them earlier? They could have been to deliver bad news locally. Anything.

They might not have been, and they might not have come, but they certainly come come out if no-one bothers to call them.

OliviaStabler · 15/04/2018 07:19

You watched them break in and did nothing? confused I don’t get that. Thank god you are not my neighbour

This ^^

italiancortado · 15/04/2018 07:25

the WPC

Hmm
MsGameandWatching · 15/04/2018 07:26

Lol at the idea the police could have done anything there and then!

I live in London and called the police when I looked out of the window after hearing breaking glass. The police were there almost immediately and caught the thief with a computer monitor he'd taken from the car, a few streets away.

HopefullyAnonymous · 15/04/2018 07:27

Did you write down a description of the suspects so that you can report it later? Although why you wouldn’t at the time I don’t know.

YABVU to refer to us as WPCs though.