Police showed up at my door this morning!

[sunnylady303]

I was cleaning the kitchen and my girls were outside on the porch cutting the feathers on our chickens' wings for me. I glanced out and saw a police car drive by slowly, back up, come up our driveway. DD6 comes running in all panicked. She is scared of police officers. I don't know why.

 

He said that our neighbors behind us who are kind of stuffy, know everything people, had called 911 because they heard a child yelling, "Help! Help!" The girls had been outside for maybe 10 minutes tending the chickens and I would have heard them if they had been yelling. I asked them anyway and they said they hadn't been yelling. DD6 asked with big eyes if she was not allowed to yell help if they were playing. He said she was allowed and it was fine but sometimes other people might worry.

 

He asked if there were other homeschooled kids around - he said he assumed we homeschooled. My 8YO assured him that we did. I told him that my neighbors up the hill (who are our close friends) homeschool and they are actually closer to the neighbor's house who called. I offered to call them and check. I got ahold of them and their kids had been inside all morning and were accounted for. We both have goats so I'm wondering if they heard them?

 

At any rate the officer asked if he could come in and look around for a moment which I thought was weird. I hesitatingly asked him why he needed to, not that it was a problem and he said so that he could say he had checked it out. He walked two steps in the living room, looked around, saw DDs' school things everywhere and walked back out.

 

He offered to let the girls sit in the police car and turn on the lights but they didn't want to. He turned the lights on for them. He seemed nice but it was all really weird and made me uncomfortable.

 

I know police are there to help but after all the CPS drama we went through a couple of years ago, I just want them to stay away!

[mybluesky]

I'm glad everyone's fine!! That would freak me out too. It's funny, I've never had trouble with the police, but I do get a little freaked out by them. Whenever I drive by one I always immediately hit the breaks - it's like an instinct - and I worry that I'm somehow doing something wrong. And I'm a really nerdy, cautious driver! I would be freaked out by the police asking to come inside too.

 

'Course, the funny thing is, there is a police officer in my lifegroup at church, and he is just the nicest guy. Without the uniform on he is not intimidating at all. Maybe it's the uniform thing?

[Miss Marple]

A friend of ours kept cattle on our property. One evening the police called and asked if everything was OK. I said it was. However, they eventually came to the house. Several neighbors had heard "help, help" and were very worried that a woman was being abused. Turns out that our friend had just removed a calf and the momma cow was bawling - it sounded just like "help, help". The police were laughing so hard when they finally figured it out.

[Murphy101]

I'm glad everyone's fine!! That would freak me out too. It's funny, I've never had trouble with the police, but I do get a little freaked out by them. Whenever I drive by one I always immediately hit the breaks - it's like an instinct - and I worry that I'm somehow doing something wrong. And I'm a really nerdy, cautious driver! I would be freaked out by the police asking to come inside too.

 

'Course, the funny thing is, there is a police officer in my lifegroup at church, and he is just the nicest guy. Without the uniform on he is not intimidating at all. Maybe it's the uniform thing?

 

I think most people aren't actually scared of the police so much as anxious. It's normal really bc it's rare for the police to ever bring good news, tho they usually aren't bringing crisis info to us either. It's that waiting for the other shoe to fall feeling. And many people would feel anxious about letting an armed stranger into their home, even if they have no reason to fear them.

 

Add in even one bad experience with a cop and I think it's normal that the anxiety would be more.:grouphug:

[Belacqua]

He offered to let the girls sit in the police car and turn on the lights but they didn't want to. He turned the lights on for them.

 

Just as well...imagine what your snooty neighbors would have thought if they'd seen the kids in the car! You'd forever be known as the Family of Juvenile Delinquents.

 

I'd have been weirded out, as well. Hope you're feeling better.

[momma aimee]

I was cleaning the kitchen and my girls were outside on the porch cutting the feathers on our chickens' wings for me. I glanced out and saw a police car drive by slowly, back up, come up our driveway. DD6 comes running in all panicked. She is scared of police officers. I don't know why.

 

He said that our neighbors behind us who are kind of stuffy, know everything people, had called 911 because they heard a child yelling, "Help! Help!" The girls had been outside for maybe 10 minutes tending the chickens and I would have heard them if they had been yelling. I asked them anyway and they said they hadn't been yelling. DD6 asked with big eyes if she was not allowed to yell help if they were playing. He said she was allowed and it was fine but sometimes other people might worry.

 

He asked if there were other homeschooled kids around - he said he assumed we homeschooled. My 8YO assured him that we did. I told him that my neighbors up the hill (who are our close friends) homeschool and they are actually closer to the neighbor's house who called. I offered to call them and check. I got ahold of them and their kids had been inside all morning and were accounted for. We both have goats so I'm wondering if they heard them?

 

At any rate the officer asked if he could come in and look around for a moment which I thought was weird. I hesitatingly asked him why he needed to, not that it was a problem and he said so that he could say he had checked it out. He walked two steps in the living room, looked around, saw DDs' school things everywhere and walked back out.

 

He offered to let the girls sit in the police car and turn on the lights but they didn't want to. He turned the lights on for them. He seemed nice but it was all really weird and made me uncomfortable.

 

I know police are there to help but after all the CPS drama we went through a couple of years ago, I just want them to stay away!

 

police are just doing their job, glad everything is ok :)

[momto10blessings]

I'm glad everyone's fine!! That would freak me out too. It's funny, I've never had trouble with the police, but I do get a little freaked out by them. Whenever I drive by one I always immediately hit the breaks - it's like an instinct - and I worry that I'm somehow doing something wrong. And I'm a really nerdy, cautious driver! I would be freaked out by the police asking to come inside too.

 

'Course, the funny thing is, there is a police officer in my lifegroup at church, and he is just the nicest guy. Without the uniform on he is not intimidating at all. Maybe it's the uniform thing?

 

 

I am so paranoid about getting pulled over! Even when I'm just taking my kids to practice or something- if there is a police car behind me I freeze up. I don't usually speed or do anything illegal so I have no idea why!

[chepyl]

A police officer rang our doorbell at 11:30 one night last week. They were looking for a man and asked if he lived here or was staying here. DH said no, but the police asked to see his id, just to be sure. He showed the id and they left. It was weird amd a little scary!

[aggieamy]

Having the police show up can be scary and I'm a law abiding citizen that has a high opinion of them.

 

A number of years ago when I was just out of college and living with my grandmother we had the police knock on our door with lights flashing at 2 am. I was terrified. My grandmother was elderly so I answered the door. They had been called by the neighbor lady because she saw a dark mannish figure carrying a trash bag up our driveway and behind our house. It was then that I figured out my younger sister had decided to come up to visit us from college. She was the figure the neighbor saw and the trash bag was her overnight bag. Since it was late my sister didn't want to wake anyone so just came in the side door and slipped into bed quietly. I never told her that she was described as mannish. :001_smile:

 

The neighbor and my grandmother were great friends so we all thought it was funny the next morning.

Edited September 7, 2012 by aggieamy

[Georgiana Daniels]

I'd have been totally freaked too!

 

While I know the majority of officers are doing their job--and are fine and upstanding at what they do--I also realize there are some just looking for stuff "wrong." (At least in our small town.)

 

After my hubby got pulled over for having a light bulb out over the license plate, I lost some good faith. You see, my hubby was driving what's known around here as a "Rez" car, and Native Americans tend to get pulled over WAY more often than non-Natives. That was not the only time he got pulled over in that particular car at night. Sigh.

 

Back to the point, I trust most officers, but there might just be that one....

[idnib]

At any rate the officer asked if he could come in and look around for a moment which I thought was weird.

 

I think they like to do that because sometimes people are saying things are fine under duress. There might be someone holding a gun on you, or perhaps an abusive spouse who's not in direct view.

[Guest submarines]

I think they like to do that because sometimes people are saying things are fine under duress. There might be someone holding a gun on you, or perhaps an abusive spouse who's not in direct view.

 

:iagree:

[Corraleno]

I think they like to do that because sometimes people are saying things are fine under duress. There might be someone holding a gun on you, or perhaps an abusive spouse who's not in direct view.

:iagree:

Or, for all he knew, the child who was yelling "help" might be inside with a black eye, or whatever.

Jackie

[Cinder]

I agree that having the police show up at your house can be scary. Especially when your dh and ds haven't returned from the county fair when they said they would (we didn't have cell phones back then) and it's getting late and a police care shows up in front of your house.

 

Turns out dh's truck wouldn't start and the police officer offered to drive them home. Whew!

 

And there was the time an officer knocked on our door at 2:30am. We'd just moved a couple weeks before. Turns out a previous tenant had served time for a federal offense and now the state was looking for her.

 

Both times turned out to be nothing, but just seeing the police car pull up got my heart racing.

[DianeW88]

They stopped at my house last Saturday at 8 AM because a cell phone had dialed 911, and cell phones just "ping" their general location, not an exact address. Turns out my next door neighbor's toddler had accidentally called. No harm done, but it did startle me.

[Janie Grace]

It's funny; I feel all paranoid and anxious when I see police, too. I should feel peaceful because I'm not doing anything illegal, but for some reason, that's my instinct. I wonder if if comes from having a parent who tended to blame me for everything! Maybe that "eggshells" feeling transfers to other authority as an adult. Anyway, glad everything is okay. I hope your neighbors are just being good neighbors and aren't the meddling types. :001_smile:

[MamaT]

They stopped at my house last Saturday at 8 AM because a cell phone had dialed 911, and cell phones just "ping" their general location, not an exact address. Turns out my next door neighbor's toddler had accidentally called. No harm done, but it did startle me.

 

We used to live in a house that had a full length window overlooking our front porch from the living room. My two boys were at school (20 years ago, before homeschooling), and my dh had gone to work. I had just poured myself a cup of coffee and sat on the couch when I saw two police officers run up my porch steps to the front door. I was shaking so hard when I answered the door, I was spilling coffee all over my hand. They said 911 had been called repeatedly over and over from my home phone. :confused: I told them I hadn't called, but they came in and looked all over the house anyway. Turns out my phone had been dialing it over and over (unplugged it and threw it away!). I was terrified that something had happened to my boys or my dh.

[tntgoodwin]

Yikes! I wouldn't let them into my house without a warrant.

[Mommyof4ks]

Glad everything is ok. We have goats behind our house, and they do sometimes sound like kids screaming. I do not think they sound like they are screaming help though. :tongue_smilie:

[marbel]

Yikes! I wouldn't let them into my house without a warrant.

 

Yes, that is the general advice I've heard all my life. I don't know if I could manage to say no if an office ever asked to come in, but I believe it is the proper response.

[momma aimee]

I think they like to do that because sometimes people are saying things are fine under duress. There might be someone holding a gun on you, or perhaps an abusive spouse who's not in direct view.

 

:iagree:

 

a lot of it is SOP -- an battered wife, after the person next door calls in the fight, may be too afraid not to say "all fine, thanks for stopping"

 

I was a a friends' one night, about 10, when the cops showed up -- her and i, her DH gone and the kids, we THOUGHT in bed.

 

they had a 911 hang up from the house and SOP was to check and make sure we were really ok; and they had to talk to me too after they saw me (i did not answer the door with her) -- to be sure no one in the house, no mad DH hanging out, no battered children hiding some place .. etc. later found out on of the kid dialed 911 then hung up afraid of getting in trouble.

 

might be strange -- but think of the poor police man that goes happy on his way only to come back later to a dead wife who told him she was fine out of fear?

[angela in ohio]

I think they like to do that because sometimes people are saying things are fine under duress. There might be someone holding a gun on you, or perhaps an abusive spouse who's not in direct view.

 

Yep. I always imagine that I would be glad they actually followed through on their job if I was really in trouble. Can you imagine the thread if someone linked to a news article about an officer who came to the door, but then left when told all was well, even though someone inside was in peril? It's sometimes hard to imagine, but people lie all the time. Just watch Cops. :lol:

[hillfarm]

It could definitely be the goats. My in-laws had some and periodically the neighbors would come over and ask if MIL was okay. They kept hearing someone yelling "Help! Help!". I couldn't really imagine it myself until one day I actually heard them. It did sound exactly like my MIL, shouting for help.

 

Regarding the police asking to come inside the home, I don't envy their position. They are ****ed if they do and ****ed if they don't. Everyone gets upset about them asking to come in without a warrant, but at the same time they get mad if the police don't do a thorough inspection in situations where abuse is later found.

[Ravin]

I wouldn't let them in, even to glance around, without a warrant. Trebly so if it was sheriff's deputies vs. city police. Unless I called them and for a reason inside my home, "just doing their job" does not require violating my 4th amendment rights.

[idnib]

I think anyone who doesn't want them to come in would be perfectly fine saying no thanks. But if you really do want them to come in you can indicate that with eyes or subtle gestures while saying no aloud.

 

I'm all about right and would also not allow them in. But I also think it's fine for them to ask.

[marbel]

I think anyone who doesn't want them to come in would be perfectly fine saying no thanks. But if you really do want them to come in you can indicate that with eyes or subtle gestures while saying no aloud.

 

I'm all about right and would also not allow them in. But I also think it's fine for them to ask.

 

I assume that police training includes the study of body language just for this purpose. But maybe that's just on TV.

 

(Though I don't watch many cop shows.)

[Heather in WI]

Jaycee Dugard's non-detection despite multiple police visits to the house along with an equally horrific local case here in WI made me really wish the police were more thorough in verifying nothing is amiss when neighbors call 911.

 

I'm glad nothing was wrong with your girls, but I wouldn't feel weird about it. The officer was just doing their job. :)

[Nestof3]

I think they like to do that because sometimes people are saying things are fine under duress. There might be someone holding a gun on you, or perhaps an abusive spouse who's not in direct view.

 

:iagree:

[Nestof3]

Regarding the police asking to come inside the home, I don't envy their position. They are ****ed if they do and ****ed if they don't. Everyone gets upset about them asking to come in without a warrant, but at the same time they get mad if the police don't do a thorough inspection in situations where abuse is later found.

 

:iagree:

[kiwi3129]

We both have goats so I'm wondering if they heard them?

 

This may be what happened. We used to have goats, and one sounded just like it was screaming "help" when it bleated!

[Sharon37127]

I always wonder what my neighbors are thinking when my husband plays with the kids. He is always playing physically with them and getting them screaming. They love it and I sure don't play like that with them. But, since we live (almost) within an arms length of their house, if they are ever concerned. We don't know them that well either. I wouldn't be surprised if someone was concerned for their safety from the noise.

 

A story...

 

During college, I lived with a male roommate. I was upstairs watching TV and he was downstairs playing some kind of video game. My mother called and he answered the phone. He put her on hold and yelled up the stairs. I did not hear him. About 15-20 minutes later, there was a knock on the door. I did hear that and went to the top of the stairs to look down and see who it was. I could tell it was a pair of cops so I immediately went down to the door. The male room mate had answered the door and they were telling him they got a 911 call about a mom who had called her daughter and was put on hold; the phone was never answered and she could hear a fight ensuing in the background. She hung up after about 5 minutes and called 911 (from another state). The male roommate had yelled for me, then went back to playing his video games. Needless to say, he wasn't winning and was verbally expressing his frustration with the game. My mom thought he was verbally (and possibly physically) assaulting me. :lol:

[BigMamaBird]

Sorry you were in an uncomfortable situation. It sounds like you were lucky to have a friendly, reasonable officer though. If my son knew the cops would come and let him play in the cruiser he'd be screaming his fool head off!