to expect 999 operator to tell police attending that they bloke was threatening to kill us!!

[meerkatsandkookaburras]

im absolutely fuming and scared and shaking all at the same time. Tonight - almost 3 hrs ago me and my dp are woken by shouting outside our house- we live on a quiet cul de sac so very out of the ordinary for here!! immediately realise that its the bloke up the road, hes shouting hes going to kill us and then starts trying to kick door down, i obviously phoned 999 in a panic and told them everything as it was happening still and they sent police straight out with dogs too and said once they had dealt with matter and arrested him or whatever is necessary they would come and speak to us to take statement etc. well its 2.5hrs later so i phoned control room to ask whats happening and if they are still coming to take statement and get told that they have closed the incident and not arrrested anyone, i ask why and they say they didnt find anyone - ffs he lives a couple of doors down and was threatening to kill us!!! i explained this and said that he and the people who he was with (not sure who they were) had tried to break down our door, threatened to kill us very loudly yelling it so all neighbours must have heard too and apparently they had numerous call outs to it. i said so why is nothing happening and why was i not told this. he looked into it and said it has only been recorded by the 999 operator as suspected attempted break in and could hear voices outside!!! i said to this control room officer that i said all what happened on 999 call and he said he would listen to its recording and check it out and send someone over when they could but all officers are currently busy and it would probably blow over - i said well im terrified and cant sleep when will someone be over and he just said as soon as tey are free!! im so jumpy now and cant believe how little they seem to be caring that soemone tried to kick my door down and threatened to kill us!!

not really a proper aibu but im worried and annoyed and just needed to rant

YANBU. Police cntrol rooms are shot sometimes. My very eldery Grandma once rang in a panic from her bed to say that were people in her house right now. She didn't dare move to call again untill it was daylight the next morning, the police came to ask her about the break-in that happened the night before.

They had been told that she had discovered her house had already been burgeled upon waking in the night

Ring back and demand that they send some one back.

Hope you are okay.

your poor grandma, did the police apologise to her for it? hope she is ok and it didnt shake her too much

i said that they should send someone back and their answer was they willl when tey have time but cant guarantee when that will be as they are very busy!! plus they said well alls been fine for the last few hours hasnt it so try not to worry!!! well it has been fine but doesnt stop me worrying what will hapen next and what he will think he can get away with now he seemingly is getting away with this. ill wait up then ring at like 5 or something when surely tey cant be too busy to send someone back then!! were normal decent people why wont they care that hes threatening to kill us!!!! its mad.

YANBU. They can't just let it 'blow over'.

That sounds absolutely shit. Can you call them back?

bitoffun - i was thinking of giving it til around 4.30 when they are probably quietest to call back again as at the moment they left it as that they were very busy but when someone was free they would come and speak to us then but couldnt give us any idea how long this would be. i guess as it was a few hours ago now im not so worried for tonight just need it sorting as dont want to have more problems tomorrow or anything, i guess the bloke is asleep now and will wake up with a hangover!! doesnt stop me worrying though, were normal people and shouldnt have to deal with all this weve never done anything wrong! i thought that given he threatened to kill us whilst trying to break in by kicking very forcibly at the door they would at least interview him under caution or arrest him to see what he says, not just come and have a look around then discover that as they cant see anyone when they got here its ok!! dp has gone up to bed again so im up on my own waiting for them and ill just wake him up if/when they arrive, in the meantime at least one of us will be awake enough to deal with ds when he gets up soon enough!

I would imagine that given the threats that were involved drugs of some sort were involved and hopefully the man in question is comatose now.

If I were you I'd ring them back now and underline the severity of the threats.

Hope everything is still okay now?

Btw my gran is fine but what happened was the proverbial straw so to speak. Her daughter has moved in with her and she dare not leave her house anymore.

oh no your poor gran, cant believe how useless they are!!

still all ok here, think ill ring back now and see what they have to say!! hes an oldish bloke - well ill probably get slated for that but about 50-60 i would guess and doesnt seem like a drugs type so i guess maybe just a lot of alcohol!!! im intrigued though as to which neighbours phoned police as apparently a few people phoned for us too, not sure who though as not many of the houses here would have been able to see where the bloke was shouting due to layout of street, and next door neighbours that were only ones i think that could have seen are very friendly with this bloke so i dunno! suprised anyone did to be honest they are all very much nothing to do with me type of people!

Hmm. perhaps too alcohol mixed with early onset of dementia/alzheimers? I find it hard to believe that alcohol alone could have such an effect on a person, but perhaps that is the optomist in me speaking?

I hope nothing more has happened?

thanks, police came and taken statements, they went out with us to check car and thats been damaged too. they have arrested him now so just waiting to see what happens and whether he denys it etc

should add police that came had no idea why they were not told the full story initially but said they would chck it out and see why they were told wrong!

What do you know of this man? Is he "normal" usually? Have you ever spoken to him?

Your story and ShineyandNew's story are appalling. It sounds like the police are overstretched and so they are deliberately misunderstanding how serious calls are so they don't have to come out. Which is very worrying.

Hi, sorry to see you have had to experience this tonight. I manage a police control room. When you make a 999 call it is usually taken by a member of staff, your comments recorded and an incident log is created. The operator should ask enough questions to identify the appropriate response.

If, for example, you are fighting with someone you receive an immediate response, clearly where you are in direct contact with someone trying to cause you harm. In your case the operator has identified a possible break in progress - person outside your address, you being inside, and abusive known person.
This will likely have elicited an immediate response as it is considered a crime in progress.

I understand that his threats to kill you are very concerning - and also a crime in their own right. I would have expected the attending officers to conform your welfare and attend your address.

Am glad he has been arrested - do you know what for?is this the first problem you have had with him?

If other people reported this chap then it is likely that your call came in after the original call. Subsequent calls about the same Inc are usually linked to the original call rather than being created as seperate incidents. This can often mean that the original info is first passed to the attending officers with subsequent calls being passed as updates. The title page of the Inc will usually show the first info passed hence the subsequent attending officers would have probably been passed the title and a précis over the radio rather than what can often be pages of logs.

Clear as mud?

well he is a very strange man, doesnt like us but for no apparent reason why really, think really he thinks its his street and god forbid anyone else would live here let alone with a child and renting!!! About 2 months ago out of the blue he accused us of scratching his car - it had been keyed, it wasnt us but then he refused to believe that in the private car park shared by another 5 houses too that it wasnt us and threatened us then, we didnt report it though as believed it was a one off and no evidence etc.

oh makes sense thn why they got it wrong if a neighbour essentially described it as a break in, i was terrified on the phone.

he was arrested for "threats to kill" and "vandalism" as he also kicked and dented our car! however according to th oc that dealt with us its unlikely they will be able to prove the threats to kill so he may get a lesser charge of threatening behaviour or something i think he said. i think it also depends if he has a criminal record to some degree as when he threatened us months ago over the car keyed thing he said he had been in prison before and would happily do it again if it meant getting rid of people like us!

incidentally were a couple with one child who is 4 and autistic, hes no trouble at all and due to his issues doesnt often play outside in the garden and never on the street with the other kids about the area, weve never done anything wrong to anyone around here and really keep ourselves to ourselves!! so no motive whatsoever!!

Sounds like he has been arrested for public order offences. Hopefully he will be charged - likely if he does have a criminal record - did they mention anything about bail conditions?

You won't need to have done anything to lead some people to act this way, unfortunately hundreds do for no motivating factor at all every day.

I would call late this morning to see if you can find out if he has/will be charged and request he is given bail conditions not to contact you.

they have just phoned me - the police that is! and sai thy are just about to interview him but then he will probably be let home, depending on whether he is charged will depend on his bail conditions if he has any. though they said being as he only lives a few doors down they cant easily enforces he doesnt come near us!! where do we stand?? other than saying i want him to have bail conditions whereby he cant contact us/witnesses is there anything else i can ask for that might help?? what if they say they are not charging him is there anything i can say that might change their minds? im terrified of this bloke now what if he does it again and gets in and police dont come in time?what if he keeps kicking our car i cant afford to have it repaired each time and have to as its leased? what if his wife contacts me or they try to gte the neighbours to gte me to withdraw statement is that still classed as intimidation even if hes not charged??

any answers or ideas anyone has please tell me im worried about it and have no idea what thy will say but im sure wont be long til i get a call back saying wat they are doing! i just want to feel safe in my home is that much to ask surely not?!

Momdeguerre - thats a rubbish system
so you rneighbour phone sup and says there someon eprowling your garden. Minutes later you phone up to say theres a man in your living room but the polices first information they see is theres a man prowling as your call just gets tagged on. I can see serious incidents happening because of the way these are dealt with

I was a police officer for 10 years (I left 3 years ago to care for my autistic son). Here's what I would do.

The first thing you need to do is make your fears known to the police in no uncertain terms. Make sure they know that he has made threats in the past, threatened to kill you and tried to kick your door down last night and damaged your car. Tell them how you feel and that you are in fear for your family. Make sure they are aware of your sons disability and how much this situation is likely impact on him. It may seem obvious but really really spell it out to them.

Insist Ask that your address is flagged on the computer so that if you call again they will know you are a priority. That way even if you call and can't speak they will know to send someone straight to you. Ask if they can install a panic button, they will almost certainally say no at this stage, but it will re-inforce how scared you are.

Also make a record of everything that happens, however minor it may seem. If this is an ongoing situation it may be possible for the police to deal with him under the Harassment Act. Also phone the police everytime something happens (not 999 unless its urgent) and ask them to record the incident.

thanks 123andaway they are good ideas, will definately say all those. im just hoping the do charge him as wont know what to do if they dont

I agree with 123. Hopefully the situation will not arise again but do report anything that happens.

Bronze - hard to explain what is a very complex system and perhaps I have oversimplified. In essence reports of the same type of behaviour, involving the same location and offender can go onto the same incident log. Clearly, in the circs you describe that is a minor Inc followed by something much more serious and different, these would generate seperate incidents. The less serious then becoming secondary to the initial report.

well i thought i would update. this afternoon the officer who was dealing with our case phoned to say they were just giing him a caution as he admits he was loud and hsouting but denys that it was anything to do with us and it was aimed at the lamppost at the end of the street too. well i was upset and i said to the pc that i am terrified to leave the house, it clearly was aimed at us who else did he aim it at by shouting through our private letter box "fing come out her im going to fing kill you whilst also trying to smash our door down. he said well he did not say our names - he does not know them o obviously wasnt going to was he!!!! so he said all he can do is refer it to the cps to see what they say but he said they could well say the same. how can they say it was not directed at us when it was our letterbox, our door he was kicking in , and our gate and car he was kicking around the back of the house and he did not do this to anyone else however apparently because he also kicked a lampost at the top of the road and fully admits shouting but not at us they reckon at the moment unless cps disagre it only warrants a caution!!!!! so at the moment they have reluctantly put him on bail while they try to ask other neighbours if they saw or heard anything and then amend some details on my statement to clarify what was said specifically through the letter box. really hoping cps agree it was clearly threatening us and not just anyone as im scared of him and our safety when he clearly felt so strongly that he wanted to kill us tat he repeatedly shouted through our letter box this and also repeatedly tried and almost suceeded to kick down our door.

anyone any advice, what will the cps likely say, does it sound like we have enough proof given it was our letterbox he shouted through that it was us he was intending to threaten etc.

I do the same job as Momdeguerre and it is a VERY difficult job with ridicliously short resources and difficult circumstances.

the OP has had a terrible time for which there should be some consequences HOWEVER people have very poor understanding of what actually goes on in a police control room, or any emergency services control room for that matter - it is NOTHING like it is portrayed on television and unfortunately (like all other businesses) we are trying to make the best with what we have, cops included.

OP I do hope they manage to get it sorted in a way that provides you with peace of mind and some security, I'm very for what happened to you in this case but please be assured that every 999 call we recieve gets the response it merits to the best of our ability

and I agree with 123andaway - an occurrence can be added for your address to recieve immediate attendence if you call is regarding this male; do also ask to speak to your local community officer regarding this man as phoning at any other time of night/day may get you the beat officer on duty/nearest/available at the time which means you will have to start from the beginning

you could ask a solicitor to look into a restraining order for you (not sure of the legalities of this though)

and please DO log ALL events, dates, times, comments, actions, witnesses, registration numbers etc - sounds like I'm asking you to do the officers job for them however every little helps and it will also serve to keep events clear in your mind as well

does anyone know if i was to ask around if anyone had witnessed it and hadnt spoke to police if they could do so or if i did that would it be considered harrassment or aanything??

YANBU-- friend of mine in middle of work dispute discovered that bloke she worked with was threatening her, her ch
ildren and dh.He'd made these threats to co-workers who were too scared (wimpy!) to tell her until he was already being disciplined.Anyway 3 times the police told her to make a statement and no-one was available.Her dh phoned and was told 'there are other priorities,too'.Eventually got sorted, but not good enough!