I Don't Know How to Deal With This Shit

[DragonSinger]

Content warning for violent neighbor with a kid:

 

So the house I and multiple folks had to call the cops on because it sounded like someone was being thrown through a wall, is possibly still fucked even after the boyfriend moved out. When I was taking my dog out this afternoon, the daughter got off the bus and was greeted by her dog loose in the yard. She was so happy and because I hadn't heard shrieking and banging since the mother's boyfriend left, I turned my back to them. I know the mother was waiting at the front door because it was open, but when I heard the kid reach the door, I could hear her mother talk in a weird tone and then what sounded like the daughter being snatched inside followed by the kid's voice in distress and a loud yelp of pain that I'm 70% sure was the dog. There was silence after that. I barely doubt what I heard because years of playing music trained my ears to quickly identify sounds.

I'm going to keep an eye out and not turn my back on them again, but the mother is weird to me. She and the boyfriend actually had a system set up that if they became self-aware of how loud and violent they were, they would suddenly stop going at each other, and then turn off all the house lights in preparation of someone calling the cops. It took me watching 3 cop visits to figure that shit out. The first clue was how the cops were parking when they came. Every single time except for that house, the cops come and park on the driveway of the house they were sent to. At this house though, they park almost a block away and walk to the door. I've never seen them do that, and it was multiple times. Then the night of the shrieking and crashing sounds, the house went from lit up inside and outside to dark and quiet as a mouse in a matter of seconds just as we had gotten hold of a dispatcher. The quickness they had done it in creeped me the fuck out. They straight up had a routine that the cops have probably taken note of somewhere.

Even if I misheard or there was an innocent reason for what I heard today, there was some good luck with a truck of dudes pulling up to the neighbor's like 3 minutes later. I don't know if the mother thought they were cops(they looked like workers sent there for something to do with the property(it's rented out by an investment firm), but she stayed quiet for a good 45 minutes while those dudes waited outside and kept trying the doorbell. During that time and afterwards, I knew I probably wouldn't hear yelps of pain from the kid or dog.

This is rural Georgia, so I've dealt with abusive neighbor shit before. Just not someone who has a 'dodge the cops routine' and a mental off/on button for violence on the drop of a dime(possibly). Before today, I'd only seen the mother and her boyfriend going at it. I did know the kid was going through it because I woke up at 3 a.m. one night to see cops doing a search for the kid in the neighborhood because she ran away. I thought since I hadn't seen anything for a while after the boyfriend left that things were better over there, but I guess not.

[PhilosipherStoned]

So what would you report to police on seeing that though? "I think my neighbor is beating their dog and kid? Or I think my neighbors are in a phsically abusive relationship, and the kid and dog might be in trouble?"

I've seen plenty of domestic disturbance issues, but legally there really isn't a lot to go on from all of those paragraphs...I'm not trying to say that it's an issue that doesn't need to be investigated especially with alleged domestic abuse regularly occuring. It's just from all that you posted I'm still not sure there's anything police could do anway. 

Edited November 1, 2023 by PhilosipherStoned

[Mix]

Just don't get shot.

I am serious. This isn't a joke.

Rural South plus crazy neighbours seems like a getting shot combo. 

 

[scoobdog]

You know it’s abuse when you can tell the abuser is aware you’re watching and still does just enough to let know they control the situation.

[DragonSinger]

2 hours ago, PhilosipherStoned said:

So what would you report to police on seeing that though? "I think my neighbor is beating their dog and kid? Or I think my neighbors are in a phsically abusive relationship, and the kid and dog might be in trouble?"

I've seen plenty of domestic disturbance issues, but legally there really isn't a lot to go on from all of those paragraphs...I'm not trying to say that it's an issue that doesn't need to be investigated especially with alleged domestic abuse regularly occuring. It's just from all that you posted I'm still not sure there's anything police could do anway. 

I didn't call the police today. I'm fully aware that unless you laid eyes on it, can hear it clearly, etc. that's the only time you can do something. When we did call the police, you could hear how bad things were from maybe 2 streets back. And like I said, sometimes the cops were already called before we could even make a decision, and cops had seen enough in time that they ended up babysitting the house twice to make sure the boyfriend moved out(no idea how that works or what exactly qualifies for that action).

[DragonSinger]

1 hour ago, Mix said:

Just don't get shot.

I am serious. This isn't a joke.

Rural South plus crazy neighbours seems like a getting shot combo. 

 

We don't hang out in the yard rubbernecking, so the neighbor can't really pin the cop calls on us. We've also arrived home multiple times to see the cops at their place, so even if the neighbor suspects, she knows it's not just us. 

[PhilosipherStoned]

37 minutes ago, DragonSinger said:

I didn't call the police today. I'm fully aware that unless you laid eyes on it, can hear it clearly, etc. that's the only time you can do something. When we did call the police, you could hear how bad things were from maybe 2 streets back. And like I said, sometimes the cops were already called before we could even make a decision, and cops had seen enough in time that they ended up babysitting the house twice to make sure the boyfriend moved out(no idea how that works or what exactly qualifies for that action).

hmmm that does sound like some bad shit then.  Abusive relationships are often just as tricky for those within the relationship as they are for those looking from the outside in... There's a plethora of normal human psychological factors, and responses involved especially with the more tricky cases that make me want to say it's hard to blame police for parking down the block and casing the situation a bit wide..

In a nutshell that's why I've never felt I could be a field cop to begin with. Too familiar with broken homes idk. 

 

Edited November 1, 2023 by PhilosipherStoned