Should I report to the police? Stranger with torch

[starrysimon]

I posted a lighthearted thread a few days ago about strange behaviour from unknown cars on our quiet cul-de-sac. We’re in a big estate and very set back from any main roads. All road signs are very clear and it’s a spacious estate so would be hard to get lost so regularly.

Almost 20 different cars over the past few days have driven up our cul-de-sac, turned around and driven off again. A few cars have done it twice in one day a few hours apart. No one got in or out of these vehicles. Some pause for up to 5 minutes and then leave, some just turn around and drive straight off. None of us have CCTV good enough to see exactly what they’re looking at.

I was shrugging it off until last night at 9pm when a man was walking around the cul-de-sac shining a torch at everyone’s house and worryingly shined it at ours a lot. He was staring at our house a lot as well. Everyone has exterior lights that are on all night so you can clearly see the house numbers so he wouldn’t have been looking at that. He didn’t go into/come out of any of the houses on the dead end. I was also sat in the living room so would have heard him if he was shouting for a lost pet. The way he was walking gives me shivers. I wish I had noticed it at the time so I could have confronted him from the window. Walking around an essentially private road shining your torch in people’s windows at 9pm isn’t acceptable behaviour no matter what the circumstances.

Should we inform the police? Nothing like this has happened before. Especially the cars driving up and down as it’s quiet on our estate and you’d have to be very lost to use it to turn around in. There’s also a large area at the start of the cul-de-sac where cars an easily turn so driving down the bottom of the dead end is unnecessary. The man’s erratic behaviour last night is my highest concern. The way he was walking was creepy, so slow and he was almost assessing everyone’s homes the way he was looking at them. He’s shining the torch at our house in the second pic and did it several times whilst staring. He seemed to focus on our house quite a lot. We were the only house with no vehicles on the drive so it would appear to a stranger that no one was home.

I think it would be prudent to speak to 101 if they have capacity. It does sound odd, although I’d imagine now would be the worst time for burglars as everyone is home all the time?!

Sorry, I should have been more specific. Not open a case with them but just make them aware of the unusual behaviours. All the cars and the man with the torch last night are making quite a lot of us feel unsafe. Our local police force posted on FB about people finding the vulnerable, ‘going to get them shopping’ with their money and doing a runner. They added at the end to report any suspicious behaviour so I might just send them a FB message with the CCTV clips instead of calling 101

do you have a neighbourhood watch scheme that you could raise your concerns with?
neighbourhood facebook group

sorry, cross posted!

Some of the people in the vehicles, and possibly the man as well, could have been scouting out houses that are displaying signs stating they need help. Some could be genuinely helpful and some could have been trying to extort them. A lot of people have been posting on our local FB page that strangers have been knocking on their doors seeing if they need help. Maybe our CCTV is putting them off that’s why they drive off

Some of your neighbours haven't clubbed together for a private security patrol have they?

The man with the torch has made me feel very uncomfortable! He was walking around very very slowly staring at all the houses. Shining his torch directly into windows not just at the ground. You wouldn’t be shining a torch into windows if you were looking for something you’ve lost surely? It also looked like he was carrying something but concealed behind his back. It’s hard to tell as I’ve got a crap camera!

Am on the Nextdoor app with a few other neighbours and no ones posted anything about any sort of patrol. It’s just the way he was shining it in windows was so unnerving!

That is creepy, I would report it and they might send a patrol round a couple of nights a week if there's a pattern to times.

yes report this

its obvious he was up to no good

i work in retail, we have had a massive increase in thefts since covid became more serious. Drug money will become limited so i think they are stealing more openly and panic stealing to be ready for lockdown

burglaries and looting will happen so we do all need to up our security

9pm is early to break in though..

Please report it to 101 at least. We had something similar a couple of years ago, and the local police took to parking on our road to keep an eye on things. It stopped.

Getting a neighbourhood watch scheme going is also a good idea.

Could be people looking for packages left outside to steal.

It could also be entirely benign. He could be looking for empty houses to see if there's anyone collapsed/post/milk left outside/pets barking

In case someone is ill with the virus

I've had my doorbell rung every day this week with lovely people asking if I need help or asking if I want to help

I would definitely report and take down as many of the cars registrations, make, model,colour of cars as you can. And description of driver and passenger.

Just a thought but a couple of years ago we were in Cornwall looking for our cottage we were about to rent for the week but the sat nav kept sending us into a quiet grove

Why did you not go out and ask the man with the torch what he was doing? Surely that’d be the easiest way to find out!

Sorry posted too soon. The residents said this had been a gradually increasing problem over the last few months

Could he be looking for a cat? Lots of my neighbors are out at night with torches, calling cats in for bed.

Have you had a look on Google Maps to see what their Sat Navs might be directing them to ?

What contact do you have with your neighbours? Are you on nodding terms? First name terms? Are you in a WhatsApp group? Facebook group? If not, why not start one?

When something like this happens down our street, households are alerted so that people can turn on external lights, go in to their front gardens or on to the street - whatever they feel comfortable with. Our aim is to send the message that this is a street where people look out for each other.

tiredanddangerous I didn’t check the CCTV until an hour or so later but recall being sat downstairs so would have heard him if he was calling out for a cat as another poster suggested. You wouldn’t shine your torch in everyone’s windows and stare at their houses if you were looking for a cat. It’s all open plan with no bushes or trees for a cat to hide under so would be easy to look for. I have a bad feeling about it! Have sent a FB message notifying our local police force as I doubt we’ll be the only street he’s been round

It is odd, but If I were a burglar I would not be waving a torch openly. I think that is going to be something routine. What looks creepy can also be seen to mean relaxed. Maybe he was checking out cables for a utility company or something dull like that and wishing they'd told him exactly where to find the broken one.

I would ring 101 and report the strange behaviour, description of cars etc. It may encourage the police to patrol the area. Also, other areas may have had similar weirdness.

@LastTrainEast burglars are pretty brazen nowadays. Our next door was burgled on a Thursday afternoon through the back garden which you can clearly see from the road, and the house has cctv.