Man in a car parked outside my house all afternoon

[PyongyangKipperbang]

Since at least 2 pm. Terraces with on street parked so directly outside the house. He is has just been sat there all the time, engine on for half an hour then off again, presumably to stop the battery draining if he is using something electrical.

There are plenty of car parks in the area so no reason to be here. He saw my come back and go in the house so presumably its nothing to do with me, but its freaking me out a bit (and pissed me off as I had to park on another road!).

We are not on a road with shops or a school or doctors etc so no reason to be waiting there for someone for such a long time!

Worth taking the reg in case he comes back tomorrow do we think?

People spout such bollocks. Do you think the police merrily laugh and confirm to an absolute random that they have CID officers monitoring someone. Thick as 🐽 💩

Why contact the police? The man in his car is not breaking the law, the police will say exactly that. It could be anything from a benefits fraud investigator, needed a quiet spot to do some work, anything. Just because someone parks up outside your home doesn't mean they are upto no good. There is no law against it...

Police may have too much on their plate to take an active interest if the car isn't already marked by them for investigation, but they should still be interested, especially with a registration and a description. This may well be innocent behaviour from someone just going about their life, but sitting around in cars is also relatively common for street crime. Keeping tabs on that is a part of day to day policing that, over time builds up information that helps catch and convict prolific criminals.

As l said the man in the car isn't breaking the law, so the police will not act upon it

I wonder if it's my neighbour. He sits in his car, on his drive, for ages, several times a day to take phone calls. With his engine running. Quite often late at night. I'm not sure why, but possibly so he can smoke and cough (not annoying at all!).

I heard a radio programme about this and its part of a scam to do with ordering stuff online and waiting outside the property they have sent it to. They wait in the road until its delivered and then knock on the door and say their parcel had been misdirected to their house and they take the parcel. I think they then report it undelivered or it might be drugs. Sorry I can't remember. But yes do report the registration to the police. It is dodgy

Private detectives routinely charge £80-150 per hour plus mileage expenses.The idea of a detective sitting in a car outside someone's house is a persistent myth - usually promoted by tabloid stories meant to act as a disincentive to those who would cheat the benefits system. Paying multiple officers to sit in a vehicle for days on end is a poor use of finite government budgets. Such methods are unlikely to be used in routine benefit fraud investigations. Surveillance of this kind is reserved for complex high value fraud cases. The DWP must show that the expense involved is proportionate to the end result. There are also restrictions as to how such evidence can be used in court. So the idea that someone is being investigated in this manner because of an anonymous snitch is unrealistic. While insurance companies may also use such methods they are likewise reserved for high value cases.

YANBU I would be freaked out as well. But then I have an ex husband and I would think it was something to do with him. I’m wondering if you have another reason for being a bit jumpy?

The man has not done anything illegal. He can sit in his car on that road for a week if he wants too.

But you are the only person freaked out by it.
And even if you weren't, so what?
I'd be freaked out by you, if you came on my radar. 😖

Yes take reg number, photo if you can discreetly, times etc. Hes not actually committing a crime but many crimes would have been solved quicker if people paid attention to unusual behaviour or odd instances etc. Chances are he will disappear and you will never see him again or know what he was doing...but if it is anything untoward you have some details which might be useful x

Yes take reg number, photo if you can discreetly, times etc. Hes not actually committing a crime but many crimes would have been solved quicker if people paid attention to unusual behaviour or odd instances etc. Chances are he will disappear and you will never see him again or know what he was doing...but if it is anything untoward you have some details which might be useful x

Are you parking police

What do you mean by “act”? Police frequently check out or collate reports of suspicious behaviour without knowing if a crime has been committed.

edit to add: as with most cases - no one knows if (aside from the idling) the man is breaking the law. But police don’t need to know a law is being broken to investigate suspicious activity and would be completely stymied in their job if they waited for that sort of certainty.

Are you parking police

It could be an EV though. EV ignitions are always on when you’re sat in them. After 30 mins of you not touching anything it switches itself off then as soon as you nudge the steering wheel, it switches on again. They don’t have an engine so no pollution or law breaking!

No they’re definitely not! Four of them were sat in a black Audi at my local BP garage once. Honest to god, all four had sunglasses on and black long sleeved shirts! As I was walking in I stopped, looked right at them and laughed! They were gone when I came out.

I mean the police will do nothing. The person is not committing a crime, he is not doing anything illegal. Police have enough to do, far more than you will ever know, without going after someone who hasn't done anything

I am well aware of what the police have to do having been a police officer. If this had been reported to our control room, assuming there wasn’t some massive action in the offing in the middle of the day, the call operator would have run the plates and noted the information on the call ststem. If the plates came back as of interest in some way, further action would be taken. If there was someone patrolling in the area with nothing else to do (and yes, that happens a fair bit) they may have swung round to check it out because idling your car is illegal and antisocial and worth a quick word if an officer is available. But mainly the information would be available to help with investigation should anything else be reported later.

Must depend where you policed. In my force that what we do, do, today. As you say, you were a police officer, things change

I would go and tell him to turn the engine off.

It wouldn't be making any sound though. Totally different to the sound of a petrol or diesel engine idling.

I've sat in a car outside a terraced house for a few hours once (while getting a very expensive diamond set into a ring I'd made, a few hours from home so just stayed there and read) but at least I didn't have the engine on. Guys sometimes sit in their parked cars with the engine running outside my house, but always in the middle of the night. People must be rich if they can afford to leave the engine running.

Most likely some form of surveillance and needs engineering on for tech stuff. Wouldn't worry about it, indeed take a photo of car reg if you want to.

Police/social services staking out houses have to park nearby and it was easier without so many cars years ago.

Sounds more like the Mafia - were they also wearing white ties? How did you know beyond doubt that they were undercover police?