I called the cops on a couple a few houses down threatening to assault and kill each other...

[Gravitycollapse]

I've heard them fighting before but never like this. They have little kids too which really pisses me off.

I think one of them saw me on the street corner waiting for the police to arrive and closed all of the windows and doors and then took several minutes to answer when the officers came knocking.

The cops were wailing on the screen door with their batons and the woman finally cracked it open to tell the officers that they were fighting but didn't need the help of the police. I then heard the man tell the woman to close the door and she shut it in the officer's face. The officer responded by yelling through the door that if they had to come out again tonight they'd both be arrested for disturbing the peace.

I talked to the officers but they said they couldn't do anything since they didn't witness it.

This kind of shit happens way too often in way too many households and it fucking sucks. If the police do nothing, we run the risk of having someone hurt or killed. If the police do something that's just a couple more people thrown into our "justice" system.

[Niceguy1]

1. if they aren't hitting each other

and just yelling it's not really any of our business.......

[Gravitycollapse]

2. Bull-fucking-shit. I grew up in a household where the violence was words and it fucked me up.

[Niceguy1]

4. I agree it sucks but yelling isnt illegal

"Dudex What are you in for? Well I rob the bank and you? I just caught yelling at my wife"

[Gravitycollapse]

5. Threatening to kill your partner is illegal, in case you didn't realize that.

Also, threatening to knock her "the fuck out" is also illegal.

[Orrex]

83. Did the cops hear him make those threats?

If so, then I agree that it's weird that they didn't do anything about it.

[BainsBane]

12. Ignore him. You did the right thing

Besides, you can't see in the house. People always call based on what they hear.

[Gravitycollapse]

20. I was very nervous when they stopped yelling. If they're yelling, I know they aren't dead.

I've experienced all of this from the inside of the house too. It's almost like I have PTSD when I hear couples fighting like my parents used to fight. It's fucking terrible.

I can't even fathom what these people must be thinking when they are so vicious towards each other. Are they just bad people? Stupid? I can't wrap my mind around it.

[BainsBane]

21. It's what they know

People don't think, okay I'm going to be an asshole to my spouse. They don't know how to relate in healthy ways. It's probably how they grew up and just never figured out how to be different.

[Gravitycollapse]

25. I suppose it's a "world view" to think so little of someone else that you act like that.

[elehhhhna]

26. it IS ptsd, lovey

surely

[pipi_k]

35. You know...

I was about 14 when my parents separated and divorced. I'm 61 now.

All these years later I still want to run and hide when I hear people yelling at each other.

We kids also had to deal with seeing the physical side of it. Plates smashed...a hot pan of tomato soup hurled across the kitchen...my mom with a broken jaw...purple finger marks on her neck...the Christmas tree ripped down and lying on the floor, our mom trying to leave the house with us girls and a drunken dad threatening to knock through the wall the first one who moved a muscle, etc.

It's not like we lived in a soundproof house or anything...there were neighbors. But back in the 60s, I guess people just figured, "It's none of our business". I wish someone had made it their business...

On behalf of people everywhere who ever had to live in violence like that, thank you for caring about those people...or the kids, at least...

[Jenoch]

54. I only remember one huge fight my parents had.

There was no physical confrontation, but there was a lot of shouting. It was summertime and eventually my mother got my dad to go outside and then she locked him out. My dad went into the garage, got a broom, and broke out the window in the back door, reached in and opened the door. I don't think either of my brothers were home. I was about 8 years old.

I remember my mother reassuring me that everything would be ok.

My mother died six years ago Wednesday, three weeks and three days shy of my parents' 50th anniversary.

[pipi_k]

87. Must have been

scary for you nonetheless...

I'm sorry for the loss of your mom...

[FrodosPet]

43. Sometimes it is easier to recover from physical injuries than emotional ones

This whole freakin' planet needs to get over all this anger shit double farking pronto.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

9. If I can hear it from my house, they are disturbing the peace

Some of us actually work for a living, don't live life for constant drama.

[treestar]

96. If it's loud enough for neighbors to hear, it could be

disturbing the peace.

[Jenoch]

6. Cops hate, hate, hate these calls.

[Gravitycollapse]

7. They hate the fact that I called or the actual domestic violence?

[Jenoch]

17. No, they wqnt you to call.

they do not like responding to these domestic calls because they are the most dangerous type of call. Emotions are high and they don't know what the mental state of those who are fighting. The threat of arrest was made because the cop does not wish to have to go back to that house.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

18. Nothing will bring two people who love/hate each other together faster....

....than teaming up to tell off some cops.

[niyad]

45. so very glad you called, gravity. no telling what might have happened had you not. sometimes,

just knowing that someone else heard, and called, can bring the situation down. sometimes it escalates. but I would rather call than not.

[JJChambers]

11. Yes they do

There is nothing more frustrating than trying to help someone who is in danger and who refuses your help. I feel for the officers who diligently respond to these calls, knowing exactly what is happening and knowing that legally they can't do anything, but still trying. Based on my work with domestic violence victims, just having an officer show up at the door and tell a victim that there are resources available whenever she (or he) is ready to access them makes a big impact and makes it easier for a victim to eventually leave her abuser.

Hats off officers. You do make a difference every day in so many lives.

[FrodosPet]

47. Sorry, but DU don't play that

According to some, 99.9%+ of all cops are evil, or they enable the evil, and should never ever be called under any circumstances.

Personally, I tend to think the truly effed up ones are relatively few, with the remainder wanting to do a good job and serving the public, but being frustrated humans trapped in a system out of their control, going where they shouldn't at times.

I wish we didn't need them at all, but situations like this is why we do. Somebody has to deal with the saddest and most destructive parts of human existence.

[FrodosPet]

80. I guess I phrased my post wrong

I was trying to make a point that SOME (not a majority, but some quite prolific posters) have made repeated suggestions to never call the police, and that they are stacking up innocent bodies like cordwood.

They never come out with a superior suggestion, just one that will cause even more suffering.

[FrodosPet]

82. Just re-read my earlier post

"According to some, 99.9%+ of all cops are evil, or they enable the evil, and should never ever be called under any circumstances."

Yep, I did say according to -SOME-, not according to 99.9%

[Le Taz Hot]

84. Then I'll delete my post.

It's EARLY here on the Left Coast and I'm still waiting for the coffee to brew so yes, I read it wrong. My bad.

[whopis01]

85. Of course you also said "DU don't play that"

Which would seem to imply that a majority of DU feels that way.

[FrodosPet]

86. Guilty :-(

I was pointing at the tiny minority of dystopians and trolls telling people to never call the police no way no how someone will be shot if you do.

One of the hazards of being an incurable smart-ass. My apologies to the offended.

[whopis01]

106. I wasn't offended

I understand the dangers of being a smart-ass. I have some first hand experience with that too.

[laundry_queen]

60. A close family member

of mine is a cop who works mostly DV...she's gone from responding to calls as a 'cop' to the 'follow up' unit. She said that previously, responding to calls can be very exhausting because no one wants to talk (to the cops anyway) and you feel like you aren't helping anyone. In her new position, she gets to talk to the women on the phone during the week following the initial call and give her resources so she can make an informed decision after the fact when she's not coerced by her partner. They get a better response when they do follow up calls than when they give the information during the 'incident'. She says it makes her feel like she makes more of a difference. I think it's a pretty good system, because for every woman they can get help, it is that many calls less they have to respond to later on.

[JJChambers]

91. She sounds wonderful

I think cops like her are the vast majority; I know many officers and luckily, my area has incredibly professional law enforcement. The officers I know exhibit as much disdain for police misconduct as we do.

[spin]

14. For good reason. Stepping into the middle of a domestic dispute is tricky and can be...

dangerous to all involved.

Still sometimes someone has to do it.

[pipi_k]

39. Yep...

Two years ago a local cop was shot and killed in a domestic violence case.

He saved the wife from a hostage-type situation...the husband shot through the door, killing the cop, who was close to retirement.

He was one of the good guys, and the entire neighborhood...and his department...had nothing but good things to say about him.

[amandabeech]

40. In my Mom's area, they always, always, always

send two patrol cars.

Sometimes there are jurisdictional disputes between the county sheriff deputies and the state troopers, but not when it comes to domestic violence calls. They are there to help each other.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

8. It's called "circling the wagons"

One summer night, I listened to my neighbor scream "GET OUT!!!" at her estranged boyfriend/husband for an hour. No hitting, no throwing things....just the constant yelling of her over and over and over. Finally called the cops, who had to sneak down the street sans their vehicles because they knew what would happen...."No problem officer, please leave us alone".

Thankfully they moved soon after. Sadly, they had kids, who had to witness these two idiots more than once act like total fools. She took a golf club to his head once on the front lawn.

[MADem]

103. Boyfriend, not spouse....

She took a golf club to his head once on the front lawn.

At first I was thinking you lived next to Tiger Woods.....!!


Gotta feels sorry for kids who have to witness domestic violence of any sort.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

108. One morning I awoke to the heavy rumble of police and rescue engines outside

It was probably the morning she hit him with the golf club. I could see the little boy (probably 8-10, his sister was a few years younger) in his pajamas being put into the police car. Heartbreaking.

[MADem]

110. That is a crying shame. I hope there were decent relatives who could take the little farts.

I know people joke about how people oughta have a license to be allowed to have kids, but when you see that sort of crappy parenting that messes up a kid, you can kind of take the point.

[Politicalboi]

10. In today's world, they stand a better chance of

Getting killed by the police.

[elehhhhna]

31. not true. not for women. women get killed pretty regularly.

[Gravitycollapse]

41. Very true. Women are actually more likely to be killed in their own home by someone they know.

Than by someone on the street.

The "stranger danger" fear is a misconception. The real threat is the violent assholes women live with.

[FrodosPet]

48. So what is the alternative to the police?

I've seen a lot of criticism of the police here, but not a lot of discussion about alternatives.

How should domestic violence cases be dealt with? Who should we have investigating murders, theft, and other REAL attacks by people and companies against other people and companies?

In the police free utopia you seem to advocate, will a magic spell descend across the planet, with every soul singing in unison "We shall now and forever do the right thing by our fellow humans and creatures"? If not, then what do we do about the bad people?

[JoeyT]

72. Civilian review boards without any connection to the police department.

Who are also liable if they keep letting bad cops go back on the job after repeated offenses. Allowing cops to be sued personally when they break certain laws in the course of their duty. Cameras on both the cars and the cops that can't be turned off that the police don't have access to other than requesting copies that's only deleted every three months and is available to citizens on request. e.g. Requesting 5PM-8PM for badge #3282 and the cops have to come up with a compelling argument for why it shouldn't be handed over.

You remove the system that allows bad cops to flourish. You make them accountable, and don't take anyone's word for anything. That's how you fix it.

[FrodosPet]

78. Excellent suggestions!

The police need to be accountable, not non-existent.

In any case, somebody's gotta do it. Do we want the people to be under the color of law and control of civilian authorities, or do we want unaccountable vigilantism?

I don't think the hard core "fuck tha police" crowd wants that either, but perhaps I am wrong (it happens!). But they seem to have the naive idea that everyone will just start smoking weed and mellow out if there are no police around.

[proudretiredvet]

13. I support what you did.

It sucks but these people still have rights. I hope the cops showing up makes them change some things.

[ismnotwasm]

15. I'd call the cops

They want to fight they can sound like it's not leading to murder or something. Seriously In my state, though, if there is violence and dual accusations, both partners get charged.

[Gravitycollapse]

16. Based on what I see and hear on a weekly basis, they both seem like real pieces of work.

I've heard them screaming at their kids too. Nothing technically illegal but certainly wrong, regardless.

It just really makes me angry to witness such things happen when I know odds are pretty low anything will ever work out. Especially because their kids are going to grow up thinking such verbal and physical violence is okay.

These kind of people are raising another generation of spousal abusers.

[niyad]

50. since there are children involved, can you call cps?

[Gravitycollapse]

52. Possibly. But our CPS has gained national attention for being useless.

I'll have to look into it.

[niyad]

57. I am so sorry to hear that. I know that in a lot of cases, including any number that I have

witnessed personally, cps has been a total mess. but sometimes they are good, and useful. I hope this will be one of those times. we all know what it must be like for those children, hearing the yelling and screaming, regardless of their ages.

[ismnotwasm]

62. Thank you for caring

[Raine1967]

19. If it helps,

Once a long time ago, in upstate NY, a rural area, someone called the police after a teenager answered the phone. The caller heard yelling, screaming and threatening stuff in the background. The Teen was told to hang up the phone by one of her parents. She did.

The call that person made to the police (after hanging up with the teen) saved my parents lives, as well as mine. The police showed up. Eventually they took both parents away (both parents got charged, dueling accusations) I went to a friends home that night. No one died that night.

You did the right thing, as frustrating as it seems.

Don't give up.

[Gravitycollapse]

23. This kind of response is a perfect example of why domestic violence continues.

Because those who aren't involved choose to do nothing. Everyone on our street hears the abuse and no one does anything about it. And the violence is allowed to continue. And then what when someone is eventually beaten or killed?

What exactly is going to happen then?

[HappyMe]

29. If my husband and I are hollering our faces off

at one another, it is none of your damn business.

[Gravitycollapse]

34. If you or your husband are threatening to assault and/or kill each other, it's my business.

That jumps over the boundary of privacy and into the realm of everyone's business. Because it is ultimately the business of everyone to prevent domestic violence. Even if you are incapable of understanding that.

I'm glad your post was hidden despite not being the one to alert. It's a disgusting thing to argue for under such circumstances.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

51. Unanimous Jury Decision. and No, I was not the Alerter, either. Pretty rare to see those results.

[Skittles]

37. I'm a night worker and I have been awakened by people like you and your husband

Last edited Sat Mar 8, 2014, 07:09 AM - Edit history (1)

F*** THAT

[niyad]

49. BS-- If ****I**** can hear you, and you are not in my house, than it most certainly has become

my business, because, at that point, YOU are invading MY privacy. if you have such screaming matches, and you do not want the neighbors calling the police, and you claim nothing other than yelling and screaming is going on, SOUNDPROOF YOUR HOUSE. oh, and by the way, if there are children in your house listening to this screaming and yelling, I can guarantee you that it is affecting them adversely.

[JJChambers]

93. I hope you get some perspective

Domestic violence is real. Your advocacy for people to mind their own business is going to cost women their lives.

[treestar]

98. If your neighbors can hear you

their peace is disturbed and they have a right to call the cops to make you shut up and quit bothering them.

[A-Schwarzenegger]

111. Flagged for Review.

Shocked I tell you.

[Skittles]

24. WTF is wrong with you?

[HappyMe]

27. WTF is wrong with you?

My husband and I have had some bad ass screaming and hollering fights. Nothing physical was ever involved. Seriously, poke your nose out.

[Skittles]

32. f*** that

if there's concern for children in the house, CALL

[liberalmuse]

38. Most of us aren't violent and don't feel the need to stage dramas for our neighbors.

For those who do, there is no way of knowing whether or not a person is being harmed in this sort of situation. The OP absolutely did the right thing!

[RC]

89. Bad ass screaming and hollering fights are not normal.

It means something is wrong in the relationship. If children are present, hearing their parents fight like that, that is the definition of a dysfunctional family. Too much verbal fighting, even if nothing physical is going on still causes stress, in both of the people doing the fighting and of the kids present.
Stress that can be hard to deal with alone. Especially if you are the kid being stressed. This stress can result varying levels of the exact same PTSD soldiers experience from the stress of surviving in a war zone.
Kids from dysfunctional homes, grow up to establish dysfunctional families of their own. Many of them think that is normal, because that is all they know. Because that is what their parents taught them.

[liberalmuse]

28. Apathy.

This is why children die of abuse and in the worst case scenario, the Holocaust happened. Apathy. Or people "Minding their own business" while chimneys from the death camps pumped out smoke from human bones in the distance.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

56. Honestly, If something happens within my Hearing Range it is My decision to get involved or not.

I get to choose how to act BECAUSE -I- heard it. It then becomes -my- choice what to do with the information.

and like Gravity Collapse did. I too, would have called the cops.

I really don't understand what is so hard to grasp about this concept.


Apathy.

yes.

Thanks.

[GP6971]

30. My 2nd cousins

both younger and police officers in the same town, told me the number one reason for domestic altercations concerned controlling the TV remote control. I was like, "are you kidding me"? They both stuck by their opinions. I don't doubt it.......just seems pretty petty.

[elehhhhna]

33. not petty when he watches "how it's made" over and over and over

and over

[Gravitycollapse]

36. How It's Made is an excellent show.

And yes I could watch it for hours at a time.

[Codeine]

55. There's really no other way to watch it, I find.

It alwys comes on in blocks, and once you've watched one, you're committed. "So that's how they make turkish taffy. . ."

[Gravitycollapse]

58. I've never watched an episode and thought "I didn't want to know how that was made."

Even the most mundane objects have intriguing manufacturing processes. It's really an amazing show.

[Sissyk]

44. Lol!

My husband watches that over and over and over.

That's why I have another tv for times like that.

[pipi_k]

88. It seems petty

on the surface, but there's an underlying issue being acted out there.

The larger issue is probably who has more control in the relationship itself.

Actually, most petty fights are nearly always about something deeper.


Regarding the remote control, though...we don't fight over that at my house. I just DVR whatever programs I want to see and then watch them after Mr Pipi goes to bed.

Of course, it helps to have a DVR in the first place...

If I don't want to see a particular program, I plug into my iPad and play games or listen to music.

[FarCenter]

92. If people start watching individually on iPads and such, will domestic violence go down?

[Warpy]

104. What they're fighting about isn't really what they're fighting about

but fighting about the real stuff will tear them apart and maybe get one of them killed.

No little kid should have to listen to parents who threaten each other during fights.

[bpositive]

42. Good call

Sometimes you have to go with your gut feeling.

[bluestate10]

46. The cops were right, it sucks for everyone including cops, but they had nothing

to retain the couple on since the fighting had stopped. The unfortunate thing is the fighting can restart and one hurt or kill the other, but while tragic, no law could have prevented such an end.

[Violet_Crumble]

53. It was a good idea to call the cops, but I have a question...

You said: 'The cops were wailing on the screen door with their batons and the woman finally cracked it open to tell the officers that they were fighting but didn't need the help of the police.'

This is a house a few houses up the street from you, right? You could hear what she said to the cops and see how she opened the door from yr house? Or were you standing out front of their place?

Anyway, as a kid I lived with parents who regularly yelled at each other. They never threatened to hurt or kill each other, but would yell at the top of their lungs at each other about how stupid and selfish the other was, how the other had to get out and never see us kids again, blah blah blah. It used to freak us kids out, but thankfully my parents left that stage behind by the time I was a teenager, though I kinda wish a neighbour had called the cops on them back then, coz I think one visit from the cops would have been all that was needed to stop them doing that

[Gravitycollapse]

64. I was walking home after getting some food so I was actually in front of their house.

Which is why I heard what they were saying so distinctly. Although, I can occasionally can hear their arguments from my own house. Especially when they're in the garage.

[Violet_Crumble]

67. You did the right thing calling the cops...

When I lived at my old place I used to every now and again hear people nearby having those sorts of really disturbing 'arguments'. It was always night, though, and coz of the way sound carries, I could never work out where it was coming from, so I figured one of their more immediate neighbours would call the cops

[Hoyt]

59. Glad you called police. Sounds like they handled it well.

I would not be surprised that one or more folks in the house were glad police showed up.

[nikto]

61. So sorry you have to live near Conservatives

[Tuesday Afternoon]

68. haha. Thread Win.

[nikto]

107. The "assault" part is what happens...

When the tea (and meth) runs out.

[Bonobo]

63. Better to have called too early than to have called too late.

You may have stopped something terrible from happening, you will never know.

But we DO need more people caring for each other in the community than less.

Well done, I say.

[nomorenomore08]

109. +1

[davidn3600]

65. What did you want them to do? Bust down the door without cause?

Im not saying you did the wrong thing calling the police...but unless someone witnessed them hitting one another, or there is some evidence of such, they cant go breaking down doors.

It's not illegal to yell and scream at each other.

What if they were arguing bad, didnt touch each other, and then both calmed down? That wouldnt violate any law...except maybe "disturbing the peace" like the cop said.

On the plus side...perhaps realizing the cops are coming, it ended the fight early before it got out of hand.

[AtheistCrusader]

66. You did the right thing. The cops did not.

They should have interviewed both of them, outside, separately.

I don't understand why they didn't. I am not happy with what you described as their response. But you did the right thing, and all you could.

[bluestate10]

70. If the couple had refused to be "interviewed" nothing could have been done. The

cops had nothing on them except a 911 call that they had been yelling at each other, which the cops didn't witness. The cops did all they could do, warn the couple about noise.

[villager]

69. Boy, this post unexpectedly brings up a lot. Had a couple living next door to me in previous house..

...whose verbal fights got worse and worse. Was on the cusp of calling the cops one time, then they suddenly stopped -- though I probably should've called anyway. But it was chilling to be ear witness to.

I used to feed their dogs through the fence, since they always came up, and seemed kind of neglected. Turns out they were raising dogs for dog fighting, and when another neighbor figured it out and called the city animal folks, they up and disappeared -- taking the dogs with them -- the night before the "inspection."

The house -- they rented -- sat empty for about a year after that.

In the house I was renting, I'd sublet one of the rooms to make ends meet, while trying to keep a house where I could have both my sons on weekends, in those single dad years. I had a couple rent the room for awhile -- bad idea as it turns out. One night I came in, and they'd been fighting (they were overfond of drink), and a neighbor did call the cops on them. Police showed up shortly after I did, and I turned to them and said "it's for you."

As one of the posts on this thread noted, that shook them out of rage mode into "unite against the cops mode."

And finally, when I was living with the now-ex, before we were married, or before we had kids, saddest of all, someone called the cops on us.

We were in an apartment then. My wife had been the victim of some sexual predation as a girl/young woman, and sat on tons of rage, as a result. She was explosive. And was exploding at me at the time. When the cops came, I was the one locked in the bathroom.

Cops were freaked out because they assumed the worst -- i.e., that I had a weapon. I eventually managed to assure them that I did not. That I was just trying to wait out the rage-storm. They eventually left.

Amazing, actually, that the Ex and I lasted nearly a decade after that. But I can't stand that kind of yelling / emotional violence either. My parents yelled too much, and so did my Ex. I may have my own version of PTSD around it, I dunno.

But maybe it explains why I haven't been in a serious relationship since.

Sheesh.

Wasn't expecting to write any of this tonight!

The power of the unexpected post...

[Tuesday Afternoon]

77. ^

[villager]

100. Thanks, Tuesday. Two of those incidents were a long time ago...

I guess posting about them -- about stuff I maybe wouldn't have posted before -- is just another way of releasing them, letting that water flow under the bridge...

[In_The_Wind]

71. You should have called the child protective services hot line.

I've done that in the past.

[JoeyT]

73. You did the right thing.

Yelling death threats at one another may be the way both learned to cope with frustration, but it's decidedly harmful to the kids, and no one outside the marriage has the ability to know if they mean it or not.

[pipi_k]

90. What you said

about death threats and the harm to the kids...

Having witnessed many fights between my parents when I was a kid, in which there was physical violence and lots of yelling and screaming, there were never any actual death threats, but...

That didn't stop me from living in fear every. single. day. until my father moved out.

I would go to school fearing that when I got home one, or both, would be dead.


So for kids to hear death threats, I can imagine the horror those poor kids live with from one day to the next.

In some ways, it's like living in a war zone, never knowing who will get the next bomb or bullet...

[Tsiyu]

74. I lost it one day because of my neighbors' constant fighting and it worked

I grew up in a chaotic, angry home, and I am another person who hates fighting - though I can yell myself when pushed; in the moment you think your own rage is justified. But it's rare.

Still, I hated that EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. over the last few years that I would go outside, husband and wife across the street would be screaming at each other. Out-fucking side where I couldn't help but hear their bullshit. He has been hauled off a few years back for abuse, so it's frightening worrying about their kids when they go at each other.

I moved to the woods for peace and quiet, and before they moved in, this street was heaven. They aren't bad people - just frikkin' clueless. So one summer day last year I poke my head out the window. Don't hear a peep from over there. Good. I'm gonna go work in the garden nice and peaceful.

I step outside and start working. AND Here it comes. Blah blah BLAH BLAH BLAH!!!! Back and forth like psychopaths.

I just had had enough of it. I stood up and threw my shovel and just screamed "AAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!" really long and loud like someone was stabbing me. They got reaaaaaalllly quiet.

Then I went on my own rant.

"For God's SAKE people, what in the FUCK makes you think I want to hear all your GOTT-damned business spewed all over the fucking neighborhood? HUH? For fuck's sake can you two not argue for ONE GOTT-damned day so I can spend ONE GOTT_damned day enjoying life in the country instead of listening to you two morons go off like this is the frickin HOOD? You wanna live in the city and be noisy and carry on like that shit 24/7? Get in my GOTT_damned car and I will DRIVE you to the hood MYSELF just so I don't have to LISTEN to your fucking mouths ONE. MORE. DAY."

I prolly went off like that for fifteen minutes. Mind you, we can't see each other through the trees but I know their arguing asses heard me.

They've been much easier to live with since.

Sometimes people need to learn how much they are impacting others with their "personal arguments."

Now, had there been violence or threats you betcha I would call the police...

Gravity Collapse: You did the right thing. This starts a paper trail on them, so if there is abuse found later, they can point to specific incidents where police were called to the home for their behavior

[mfcorey1]

75. If the cops cannot do anything, call the media next time. Guaranteed

they will show up with cameras and let everyone know what is happening.

[JJChambers]

94. No they won't

I have never ever seen a news clip about "couple argues" -- ridiculous.

[mfcorey1]

99. I have. Not ridiculous.

[Shrike47]

76. You did the right thing. Oral violence is terribly hard on kids; it might have got their attention.

Apparently people don't always realize that others can see and hear what they are doing. A police visit might make them pause and think.

[NutmegYankee]

81. I had a domestic dispute come right to my own home many years ago.

My neighbors were moving and they got into an argument, the topic I which I have forgotten. I know they were stressed by the move. During the course if the argument, a glass table was broken and the husband cut his hand up. He was screaming at everybody.

The wife and children came running over and banging on the door for shelter, so I let them in. Shortly after, as the wife sobbed in my living room, the father started banging on the door and yelling. He was angry they had fled. He stopped after a minute or two and the police arrived. I answered the door for the cop and he was extremely concerned about the woman and kids and talked to them. He then went next door to talk with the husband. It wasn't till he left that I realized why he was so shaken - there was blood all over my front door from my neighbor's hand banging on the door. The cop must have thought he was answering a violent dispute.

The night resolved itself with an arrest, but it was the wife who was cuffed. She went out and started mouthing off at her husband, who had calmed down and was talking with the officer. The police asked her to stop, but she kept it up and got arrested.

Wild night.

[Eleanors38]

95. You did good. Puts the police in a different light...

If I may suggest, don't hang outside where the offending parties can see; they may turn on you.

[Gravitycollapse]

101. Yeah staying under the street light was potentially dangerous but I wanted the police to see me.

Rather than jumping out of the shadows when they arrived. This isn't my first time I've been in such situations. I've called the cops on two DUIs in progress and was also worried the drivers would see me and take revenge. But, you know, it's worth the risk.

[sufrommich]

97. My heart goes out to the kids living in that house.

And yeah,you absolutely did the right thing.

[MADem]

102. I sympathize. I used to live across the street from the "Friday Night Fights."

This asshole would get drunk and start waling on his wife. She'd be howling, he'd be screeching, swearing and hitting. It was all in Korean so I hadn't a clue what they were saying but it got really annoying.

I'd call the cops and hold up the phone so they could hear the commotion--and it was a commotion; the dispatcher would ask if the fight was happening in my home. I'd say "No, these jerks are all the way across the doggone street!" The neighbor to my left and across the road would call as well. The popo car would come, but you could see 'em coming from a ways off, and the perpetrator would duck into the woods and hide; the wife would play the "No speak English" game.

This would happen over and over again. Lather, rinse, repeat. After the first few times they'd bring along the Korean language speaker so the "No Understand" bullshit didn't fly. Eventually it abated--not sure if he just kept the doors closed while he was doing his beating, or what. It could be they told the wife they'd come and arrest him anyway, even if she didn't press charges.

Worst neighbor I have EVER had--I wasn't sorry to move out of that place; that guy just made the neighborhood suck.

[etherealtruth]

105. Good for you!

Maybe the police showing up did prevent a tragedy