Is this normal? Police visit Update: You won't believe...

[iamonlyone]

So, our son's motorcycle was stolen a year ago, and—hooray!—the police found it! We learned the good news at 4 a.m. this morning when an officer rang our doorbell to tell us. The adrenaline pump (from the doorbell and seeing an officer at our door—not the happy news) kept us up for hours. Does that sound like normal procedure?

 

(I'm not angry; actually, my husband and I are laughing about it.)

 

UPDATE: To respond, yes, our first instinct was fear and thinking of family members' safety.

 

But—I am really not making this up—my husband just got off the phone with the station. They did not find the motorcycle. They found the license plate! :001_huh:

Edited September 4, 2017 by iamonlyone

[regentrude]

That seems like a lack of judgement on part of the officer. Surely this could have waited until regular business hours.

[mellifera33]

Ridiculous. It could have waited until daylight.

[Guest]

Sounds like the officer was bored or out and about anyways and decided to kill two birds with one stone.

[rose]

Crazy! My only point of reference is how a probation officer would come and check on my brother at all hours of the night to see if he was in by curfew and sober. That's different though.

[catz]

Does he know it was missing for a YEAR?   LOL - that is interesting if nothing else and make a good story. 

[Spryte]

Wow. That sounds extreme, after a year. But - yay for the good news! And glad you are laughing about it!

[Arcadia]

Not normal. A 4am knock would have meant shelter in place in my childhood neighborhood as not everyone has internet. For things like stolen items being found, it is office hours and we get a call from the police station's admin staff.

[Annie G]

That seems odd. What are the circumstances of its discovery? Just found it, or taken from someone using it to commit a crime? 

 

You're taking it better than I would. I'd laugh about it a week later but I'd probably still be ticked off today because a police officer knocking on the door at 4 AM would scare me- I'd think a family member was hurt or there was some awful emergency. 

[gardenmom5]

no, it sounds odd.

 

I've had things stolen - and that were later recovered. (it was a ring who stole to support their drug habit.)   we received a letter from the police, with notice to come at __time to receive our items.

[MEmama]

It seems early in the morning for sure, but we have had a police officer come to our house when one of our cars was found stolen. In actuality we had sold it ages before to a friend of a friend who never bothered to register the new title. When they were pulled over, it was still my name on their title.

[gardenmom5]

That seems odd. What are the circumstances of its discovery? Just found it, or taken from someone using it to commit a crime? 

 

You're taking it better than I would. I'd laugh about it a week later but I'd probably still be ticked off today because a police officer knocking on the door at 4 AM would scare me- I'd think a family member was hurt or there was some awful emergency. 

 

same thing with middle of the night phone calls.. . .  mil would call and ask "did I wake you?" enough times that when a friend called with an emergency in the middle of the night (dh was able to go help) - I was too busy laughing it wasn't mil asking (again) . . . "did I wake you?"

[Jean in Newcastle]

Was he from your local police force?  Sometimes if something was found in a different precinct, the officer who found it will still drive the distance to let people know.  In that case, I suppose he could make a case for driving out and back before his shift was over. 

 

The last time we had police pounding on the door at 4 am, it was the last straw for us.  (This was the culmination of being surrounded by SWAT teams, multiple visits by undercover police etc. looking for the previous owners even though we repeatedly showed them that we had recently bought the house and were not the felons being sought.)  I don't know what dh said, but I got a very contrite and profusely apologetic phone call from the Chief of Police after that and it never happened again.  So you could call the Chief of Police. . . . 

[bettyandbob]

I wonder if he didn't realize how long it had been missing and figured you would want to know right away.

[luuknam]

Maybe if he saw you had lights on it'd be a bit less weird, even though it was 4am (and it was something he had on his to-do list while he was just driving rounds patrolling the neighborhood)... otherwise, extremely weird and inconsiderate. 

 

Anyway, iiuc, when my bicycle was stolen and the police found it a year later (may have been several months, not sure - either way, quite a long time later), the police station called, afaik during daylight hours (they called my in-laws' home phone, I think, since that's where we lived when it was stolen, and we did not live there anymore when it was found, so it was my in-laws who dealt with all that, I think... I'm sure they would've ranted about it if a police officer had knocked on their door at 4am, or even called at 4am).  

 

ETA: so sorry that it was only the license plate. 

Edited September 4, 2017 by luuknam

[regentrude]

They wake you at 4am to tell you they have found the LICENSE PLATE??? Are they nuts?

[iamonlyone]

They wake you at 4am to tell you they have found the LICENSE PLATE??? Are they nuts?

 

The officer at the station (someone different) apologized and said the officer who came to us was very confused.

 

I'm sure we'll be joking about this for years.

 

We are just so, so glad we had not told our son about his bike's supposed recovery yet! He morns that bike!

[Lanny]

This story reminded me of when the Colombian National Police called our house. I think it was one year after my Stepson's motorcycle was stolen.  Fortunately, they did NOT call at 4 A.M. and worse than that, they did not send a police officer to our house at 4 A.M., to give us the news the motorcycle had been found.

 

I tried to explain, in fluent Spanglish, that the Insurance company had paid my Stepson for the motorcycle and that it was their property. However, I couldn't remember the name of the Insurance Company and had no information on the policy number or claim number or who the police could call...

 

I think my Stepson was able to get in touch with the insurance company and let them know the motorcycle had been recovered.  They found it approximately 20 miles from where we live. I suspect the person who had it was coming up to a Police roadblock and they abandoned it, by the side of the highway, or they would have been in big trouble.

 

For a license plate recovered, to wake you at 4 A.M., not a good thing. 

[kroe1]

His shift is a certain time frame. He has to do his chores within that time frame. He cannot wait and do 10 hours worth of work between 5 am and 6 am when he gets off. But, normally the clerk at the impound station makes those calls during 8 to 5p. I am surprised your town gave up an officer to make secretarial house calls.

[Tap]

So, our son's motorcycle was stolen a year ago, and—hooray!—the police found it! We learned the good news at 4 a.m. this morning when an officer rang our doorbell to tell us. The adrenaline pump (from the doorbell and seeing an officer at our door—not the happy news) kept us up for hours. Does that sound like normal procedure?

 

(I'm not angry; actually, my husband and I are laughing about it.)

 

UPDATE: To respond, yes, our first instinct was fear and thinking of family members' safety.

 

But—I am really not making this up—my husband just got off the phone with the station. They did not find the motorcycle. They found the license plate! :001_huh:

Ok seriously...that is making it sound more like a bored cop on a power trip.  Trying to stir up crap at 430AM over a licence plate!  Ridiculous. 

[luuknam]

His shift is a certain time frame. He has to do his chores within that time frame. He cannot wait and do 10 hours worth of work between 5 am and 6 am when he gets off. But, normally the clerk at the impound station makes those calls during 8 to 5p. I am surprised your town gave up an officer to make secretarial house calls.

 

 

Yeah... I don't think 5:45am would really be an improvement over 4am, tbh. 

 

I just asked DW, and she said she'd probably call the police if someone knocked on the door at 4am claiming to be the police (unless there were flashing lights outside).

[Barb_]

About 10 years ago, the police stopped by our house and rang the bell at 3am to tell us our van door was left open.  I think they get used to be up and about that time of the morning and can forget the rest of the world are fairly unnerved by law enforcement visits in the wee hours.

 

I slept though the commotion but my 13yo daughter woke up, stumbled downstairs without her contacts (she's -6.5 and functionally blind), heard the knocking and saw flashlights.  Thinking it was her 17yo sister's friends messing around she flung the door open shouting, "What the hell, guys?? The whole house is sleeping! If you wake my brother my mom is going to be pissed"  The lead officer caught off guard by the tiny, ticked off, squinty, blinking girl began to stammer"...uh, uh, sorry I'm officer x and this is officer Y and we were just worried someone broke into your van and thought we'd make sure everyone on the house was ok."  She realized she just cussed at cops and fell all over herself trying to apologize and explain, almost in tears thinking she was going to be arrested. They were very nice about it, lol

[regentrude]

The officer at the station (someone different) apologized and said the officer who came to us was very confused.

 

LOL. It sure sounds like it.

[MEmama]

About 10 years ago, the police stopped by our house and rang the bell at 3am to tell us our van door was left open. I think they get used to be up and about that time of the morning and can forget the rest of the world are fairly unnerved by law enforcement visits in the wee hours.

 

l

That was very kind of them. I'd have been so grateful they were being vigilant.

 

Also, your daughter's reaction must have been hilarious! :)

[DawnM]

So, our son's motorcycle was stolen a year ago, and—hooray!—the police found it! We learned the good news at 4 a.m. this morning when an officer rang our doorbell to tell us. The adrenaline pump (from the doorbell and seeing an officer at our door—not the happy news) kept us up for hours. Does that sound like normal procedure?

 

(I'm not angry; actually, my husband and I are laughing about it.)

 

UPDATE: To respond, yes, our first instinct was fear and thinking of family members' safety.

 

But—I am really not making this up—my husband just got off the phone with the station. They did not find the motorcycle. They found the license plate! :001_huh:

 

 

:glare:  :glare:  :glare:

 

I would put in a call to his supervisor and suggest they NOT wake people up for that information and wait until at least 8am.  

 

Sheesh!

[Farrar]

We had an officer knock on the door at 3 am once - but it was only because there had been some activity and he could see that dh was up in the living room at the computer (dh works overnights from home, so this was normal). He thought maybe dh had been the one to call in the tip or that he might have seen something. I can't even imagine just knocking at that time of day. There's got to be more to this on his end. Something weird happened or something.

[catz]

Like I could almost see it if they found an intact motorcycle and traced it to you without knowing the back story.  But a found LICENSE PLATE!?  LOL - that is nuts.  Maybe that officer needs to incorporate some more coffee into his red eye shift.  :lol:

[Barb_]

That was very kind of them. I'd have been so grateful they were being vigilant.

 

Also, your daughter's reaction must have been hilarious! :)

 

She was mortified :lol: It's one of our favorite family stories to retell when we're all together.

[Happy]

I got a fun 3am knock on the door several years ago. Of course it was a night DH was not home--not even sure if the boys were home. Loud pounding knocks with BRIGHT lights pouring through the sidelights. Talk about heart pounding!

 

Turns out a couple of teenage girls were caught stealing garden art from neighborhood lawns. The sheriff was trying to return everyone's property. 

 

I think they woke up nearly everyone on the street that night. I just helped a family sell their house down the street and we laughed at remembering the night the girls stole the yard art.

 

It does seem in the OP's case that the knock could have waited until dawn, at the very least.  

[EmilyGF]

This happened to our neighbors. They were told, "Your car is found and you need to pick it up tonight. Here is its address."

[Ausmumof3]

I wonder if the plate had been attached to another bike and they thought they found yours then realised the description didn't match.

[kroe1]

And those of us who work nights get shaken up when someone knocks on the door at 2 in the afternoon. There is a whole world of us who work overnight. Please give the guy a break. Police do not need anymore complaints.

[regentrude]

And those of us who work nights get shaken up when someone knocks on the door at 2 in the afternoon. There is a whole world of us who work overnight. Please give the guy a break. Police do not need anymore complaints.

 

I do not think it is just about being woken from sleep. It is about the societal convention that a knock on the door in the middle of the night is normally reserved for emergencies when time is of the essence. You don't just wake up; you think a loved one had a (near) fatal accident. A 2pm knock does not have quite the same connotation; there can be plenty of innocent explanations for it.

Edited September 4, 2017 by regentrude

[Beebug123]

Many years ago we had a 2am phone call because the car we had sold to someone had been used in a high speed police chase. When they ran the plates it came back as still registered to us so they wanted to know if it had been stolen or we had any info about the driver.

[JFSinIL]

About 10 years ago, the police stopped by our house and rang the bell at 3am to tell us our van door was left open.  I think they get used to be up and about that time of the morning and can forget the rest of the world are fairly unnerved by law enforcement visits in the wee hours.

 

I slept though the commotion but my 13yo daughter woke up, stumbled downstairs without her contacts (she's -6.5 and functionally blind), heard the knocking and saw flashlights.  Thinking it was her 17yo sister's friends messing around she flung the door open shouting, "What the hell, guys?? The whole house is sleeping! If you wake my brother my mom is going to be pissed"  The lead officer caught off guard by the tiny, ticked off, squinty, blinking girl began to stammer"...uh, uh, sorry I'm officer x and this is officer Y and we were just worried someone broke into your van and thought we'd make sure everyone on the house was ok."  She realized she just cussed at cops and fell all over herself trying to apologize and explain, almost in tears thinking she was going to be arrested. They were very nice about it, lol

 

I woke to an officer pounding on our front door for an open van (which leaves the interior lights on) too - he had me come check if anything was stolen. Nope - just the kid exiting the van on that side did not close the door all the way.  It was middle of the night and no one else woke up but me.  The young bored officer was a little disappointing he had no crime to report.

[SKL]

Not only was it odd timing, but why couldn't they just call you?

 

I wonder if there was anything about the situation that made the cop want to see your reaction ... but that could be me watching too many crime videos ....

[shawthorne44]

Many years ago we had a 2am phone call because the car we had sold to someone had been used in a high speed police chase. When they ran the plates it came back as still registered to us so they wanted to know if it had been stolen or we had any info about the driver.

 

I don't know if all states have this, but at least in Texas, the seller can go online and register the sale and say who it was sold to.   The info is in the small print on the title.   I doubt it changes the actual title, but at least this way the seller has some protection.   

These are the things you learn about when waiting in a long line and nothing to read except a car title.  

[sassenach]

I would probably make a (small) fuss about it because, if nothing else, it shows a remarkable lack of judgement on that officer's part. 

[PeachyDoodle]

I've only had one knock on my door at that time of morning, and it was two close friends of my father's come to tell me my sister was dead. So yeah, no. I'd have a hard time finding the humor in this.

 

If the phone or doorbell rings in the middle of the night, I literally become sick. It was probably an honest mistake, but I'd be hard pressed to be nice about it.

[Barb_]

I've only had one knock on my door at that time of morning, and it was two close friends of my father's come to tell me my sister was dead. So yeah, no. I'd have a hard time finding the humor in this.

 

If the phone or doorbell rings in the middle of the night, I literally become sick. It was probably an honest mistake, but I'd be hard pressed to be nice about it.

:grouphug: I'm so sorry.

[Scarlett]

About 10 years ago, the police stopped by our house and rang the bell at 3am to tell us our van door was left open.  I think they get used to be up and about that time of the morning and can forget the rest of the world are fairly unnerved by law enforcement visits in the wee hours.

 

I slept though the commotion but my 13yo daughter woke up, stumbled downstairs without her contacts (she's -6.5 and functionally blind), heard the knocking and saw flashlights.  Thinking it was her 17yo sister's friends messing around she flung the door open shouting, "What the hell, guys?? The whole house is sleeping! If you wake my brother my mom is going to be pissed"  The lead officer caught off guard by the tiny, ticked off, squinty, blinking girl began to stammer"...uh, uh, sorry I'm officer x and this is officer Y and we were just worried someone broke into your van and thought we'd make sure everyone on the house was ok."  She realized she just cussed at cops and fell all over herself trying to apologize and explain, almost in tears thinking she was going to be arrested. They were very nice about it, lol

 

 

Funny story....LOL.  thank you for that.  I needed to laugh.

[G5052]

They may have been about to go back to the station at the end of their shift. I've heard of officers doing that kind of thing so they could close it out.

 

Not the greatest choice, but then they could finish the paperwork and be done. Perhaps they were going to be away from work for awhile too.

[Bootsie]

Several years ago DH got a call on his cell phone about 3:00am from the local police department (don't know why the cell phone or how they got that number rather than the home phone).  They said that they were out in front of our house and for DH to go out and talk to them.  The story was that they had received a call from someone in the neighborhood about a dog barking.  They didn't know what dog was barking--but somewhere in the vicinity.  So, they were going around climbing up on fences looking in back yards and when they did that, our dog barked at them.  So, we needed to bring our dog inside.  They said they had tried this several times; the dog would be quiet and then when they looked over the fence at it it would start barking.  (At the time the neighbor on one side was deaf and the neighbor on the other side had 4 Jack Russell terriers that yelped all the time.)

 

[Journey]

I was like, oh my gosh, what kind of police department would do that, then I looked at your avtar and noticed you are in the Rochester area and then it all made sense! 

[Melissa in Australia]

I had the police come by in the early evening once, I saw their car coming slowly up our long driveway. I had 3 of my family members driving in different directions that evening. My heart fell and I was positive that they were coming to tell me that there was an accident. By the time the car pulled up I was outside by the shed. I was pretty distressed. The officer appologised to me for starling me and told me he was lost and hoping I could give him directions

[Mabelen]

Yeah. That would definitely freak me out. I would fear something dreadful had happened to o one of my dear ones. My husband is away on business trips often and I have a kid away at college, so my thoughts would go straight to them.

 

The only time I have memory of something like that happening was to notify my neighbors of their young adult son's death to suicide.

[IsabelC]

Woah, definitely weird.  4am is for somebody has died, or a missing child has been found.