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Original poster

Would you report this?

25 replies

InMyShoes · 20/10/2004 12:52

I am a regular poster, so no troll alerts please!
Behind our house is another house which is currently being rented by a group of 3 men. The curtains are always closed, and they keep very strange hours. They sometimes leave their living room curtains slightly open, and there always seems to be an awful lot of computer equipment coming and going.
The thing is, DH is convinced something strange is going on. So do we report this, like it says in that 'What to do in an Emergency' leaflet thing? Not really sure what to do....

OP posts:

Bunglie · 20/10/2004 12:59

Sorry InMyShoes...I can not really answer your question..I do not know.
However, next door to me there lives 4 male students...they are up all hours of the night...banging etc and have lot's of computer equipment. They never open their curtains and as for cleaning...I only ever see empty beer cans when the rubbish is put out....so it could be perfectly innocent as they sound just like my neighbours.
I think if you have a real suspicion of something illegal going on then yes you should, but I think you should check it out perhaps with a few of your neighbours, that is if you know them well enough to ask.
I am sorry I can not be of more help.

Twiglett · 20/10/2004 13:00

if you're worried report it .. then at least you know you did your bit

its not likely to be terrorists is it .. more likely they're fencing stolen gear .. or its a bunch of programmers sharing a house

JuniperDewdrop · 20/10/2004 13:00

If you can do it anonymously then there;s no harm in it? If they're not doing anything dodgy they've nothing to worry about

strawberry · 20/10/2004 13:04

Yes if you are concerned.

AussieSim · 20/10/2004 13:16

If only so that you don't have to worry about it anymore. Follow your instincts I say.

Delovely · 20/10/2004 13:21

That's probably exactly what the leaflet is warning us to look out for. If they've nothing to hide, great - it can do no harm. If they HAVE, then you could be averting something serious.

logic · 20/10/2004 13:43

oh FFS!
It'll probably be 3 post-uni, PC gamer mates sharing a rented house. Me and dh used to live like this before ds! It's called nightshifting, especially at weekends - sleep all day, play all night.

I think, honestly, would you be happy if someone called the terrorist hotline because they didn't like your lifestyle? It's not a trivial thing to do. Their house will be raided and their equipment confiscated probably permanently for no good reason.

If you are worried, then speak to them! Make an effort to get to know them. Have a party, invite them round, send them a Christmas card...

zebra · 20/10/2004 14:14

Phone the police & ask what they think? It could b stolen goods...

MarmaladeSun · 20/10/2004 14:22

Yes, it could be exactly what Logic says it might be, and let's hope so. It probably is but then when something kicks off on the news about terrorists being caught, the neighbours always say 'I'm speechless. He seemed like such a nice man, so quiet and polite' or similar. The thing is, they don't have neon lights flashing announcing their intentions, so yes...I think you should phone the police and say something like 'I'm really sorry to bother you and I know this is going to sound stupid but....' and then leave it with them. We ALL need to be a lot more vigilant nowadays, as terrorists are now a scary reality and no longer a character from a Harrison Ford film. Unfortunately.

Original poster

InMyShoes · 20/10/2004 14:25

The reason that we find it strange is becasue this is an estate where 99% of the houses are families. Its not that we don't like their lifestyle, it just seems that their behaviour is very odd. We're not the only ones. When they moved in the other residents on the street made an effort to get to know them, but these new residents gave them the cold shoulder. Its not very likely that anyone would be suspicious of me, we know our neighbours and chat in the street. They have been quite rude from what their next door neighbours have said.
It is probable that terrorists all over the world are operating like this. I'm not saying they are terrorists, just that their behaviour round here is being viewed as suspicious by several residents.

OP posts:

Cam · 20/10/2004 14:30

Don't want to stir you up but worth bearing in mind that IRA cells were (are?) always made up of groups of 3.

puddle · 20/10/2004 14:30

TBH I don't think that even if you did call the hotline these people's house would be raided they'd just check the people out in a low key way. You can't kick down people's doors without a warrant (and a good case to back it up).

Chandra · 20/10/2004 15:16

Oh dear. I'm with Logic on this... it sounds exactly like my student house, lots of computers, working all the night long and in the last month of the studies we never left the house (well actually, one of us did, to take the rubish out). We were three as well (no conections with the IRA though) and I think the neighbours may have been woondering what was going on as I was sharing the place with tho guys (one is currently my husband and the other one, the bestman at my wedding).

harrassedmum · 20/10/2004 15:52

It probably is nothing, but i would report it as well. You cant be sure. Although i would have thought if they were trying not to raise suspisions they would make an effort to integrate, but then again maybe not. Lovely vague advice for you there, sorry.

shalom · 20/10/2004 22:30

heres their number 999

daisy1999 · 20/10/2004 22:35

haven't read the whole thread but if you're worried call the local police and just tell them what you've seen and heard.

Fran1 · 20/10/2004 22:39

They are probably having Lan parties!!!( i think thats what they are called)

My dp used to be into these years ago before family and thinks. Loads of them used to arrive with pc's and all get together playing a game online.

Branster · 20/10/2004 22:40

contact your beat officer and tell him/her the story, not necessarily as an official complaint but as a lead. then he/she will know what to do or if something needs to be done at all about these guys.

SofiaAmes · 20/10/2004 22:43

Well if they are terrorists, they are pretty dumb ones. If you were up to no good, don't you think you'd act totally normal and friendly to the neighbors and do nothing suspicious to make them wonder. (that's what the sept 11 bombers did).

pixiefish · 20/10/2004 22:44

If you don't and something happens... I bet there are a lot of 'what if's' following on from terrorist attacks. The police'll probably only go and have a quick chat. You could always ask other neighbours what they think. they may know them

hunkermunker · 20/10/2004 22:46

If you don't report it and something happens, you'll feel really guilty. If you report it and it's CID watching someone else you'll just feel a bit silly. And if it's nothing, then they shouldn't be behaving so bloody suspiciously!

hunkermunker · 20/10/2004 22:52

Having read what Logic said, can I just add that one of my friends recently had his house damaged by a house fire from two guys next door who were growing cannabis in most of the rooms. The house itself was totally gutted (house was rented and had recently been refurbished to a high standard).

Yes, it may be nothing, but if it is, I seriously doubt they'll bother raiding them and confiscating their equipment forever. If they are students or night-shifters, that'll be very obvious. If they're terrorists planning a big attack or druggies growing a crop, you've done your civic duty

SofiaAmes · 20/10/2004 22:53

Despite my previous post...I have a story...

When I was living in nyc with my first husband, I noticed a lot of men in suits going in and out of the basement of our apartment building. The basement was in theory supposed to be just storage and utilities (not a lot of call for men in suits). I also noticed that there seemed to be a regular rota of men hanging out on the corner opposite (didn't look like homeless types) and they really seemed to be watching our building. The super in our building seemed to wear more gold and have much more expensive clothing than he could afford on a super's salary and he never ever fixed anything in the building. On top of all that "evidence" of something fishy, the very first day that I arrived in the building, I ran into a kid who had been in my 2nd grade class in california. He told me that his first job in nyc had been with an illegal bookie and that bookie had a connection in the building and had helped him get a rent controlled apartment in the building. Sooo, I was absolutely convinced that there was some major illegal activity going on in the basement of the building and that the super was the ring leader and the men outside were the lookouts. My husband thought I was having way out fantasies (he had no imagination at all) and talked me out of calling the police. WELL, a year later, there was a midnight raid on the building and it turned out that the super had been running a major cocaine smuggling ring out of the building and I had been totally right....(No longer married to that boring husband...current dh shares my fantasies of terrorists behind every curtain...had to stop him from reporting the "arab terrorists" in the house behind us, since they were very clearly speaking portuguese to their relatives in brazil and not planning to bomb the london underground).

hermykne · 20/10/2004 23:49

absolutely report it , you dont have to give your name if you dont want and if they are suddenly gone you'll feel pretty glad.

handlemecarefully · 20/10/2004 23:54

Yes....report it. (It's late, so I am being succinct)

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