I'm terrified!

[MaumeeMom]

OP, high security locks and alarms are good, but one of the best things that you can do is to get to know your neighbors. My neighbors call me and I call them if there is anything odd or suspicious going on. Alarms can't make judgment calls. Good neighbors do.

This is exactly what I was going to suggest. I would think nothing of calling the person across the street and asking if they see someone on my porch or if they would come help me look around the perimeter of the house.

While I also agree that maybe the OP over did it by calling 911, it is done so not much can change that. I would suggest that you memorize the non-emergency phone number and use that if you feel scared tonight or in the future.

I hope that you can sleep tonight and that you can get used to all the little noises that you will find your house makes. It took me a while to get comfortable in our last home but that is because the neighbors told me ghost stories about a woman who died in the house but that's another thread.

Congrats on becoming a home owner - enjoy!

 

[BeachGirlFLA]

. It took me a while to get comfortable in our last home but that is because the neighbors told me ghost stories about a woman who died in the house but that's another thread.

Maumeemom, that would freak me out. I love reading about hauntings but after dark, I won't go to the bulletin boards that feature them. When my soda can started spinning in one direction and then the other yesterday at lunch time, I had to remind myself there is an actual scientific reason that it does that.

 

[KAMKIM]

I'm sorry you were terrified, but I'm really mystified why those two things scared you and caused you to call 911?

People call and hang up on machines all the time. People knock at doors, even at 9:00 at night. It wasn't like someone was trying to intrude.

Honestly, I think you HUGELY overreacted, especially by calling 911...that is for emergencies, and this isn't one.

This is not meant in attacking way at all, I know that to you it seems terrifying. But these things happen all the time to other people, and it would never make me even consider calling 911. Or even being scared in the least.

I'm glad you are getting extra security devices and improvements to help you feel safer. I hope that after those are installed you will feel more comfortable should some slightly out of the ordinary things happen to you in the future.

I agree, you can never be too safe and the extra measures are probably going help her feel safer...but the 911 call got me too.

 

[justhat]

I didn't read every page of the thread, but I just want to comment on why someone might ring your bell at a late hour. Other than the UPS guy, no one ever rings out bell unexpectedly. However, one night (when I was home with my kids, my husband was working overnight, which happens several times a month) someone rang my bell around 10pm. I didn't answer it as I was not expecting anyone and we could not see the front door from anywhere in our house at the time due to construction. Well it rang about 5 times, but I still wouldn't get it.

About 10 minutes later I was checking my email (after sending one to my husband about the doorbell ringing) and there was one from my neighbor, saying she rang the bell a few times to tell me the back glass window/door thing on my car was ajar but no one answered the door. We've got an Explorer and earlier that day I had unloaded groceries from the back of the truck and apparently didn't close the liftgate glass all the way.

My neighbor didn't have our landline phone number and my cell was off (which I didn't realize) so she rang the bell. And I was quite thankful after the fact as she prevented my car from possibly being robbed or vandalized. And we live right inside DC, in an area where crime certainly is not invisible, so it likely would have gotten damaged had she not notified me.

So my point is you just never know, even though I had no reason to think anyone would ever knock on my door so late at night, apparently there was a just cause. And that could be the case anywhere, at any time. You could forget to shut the car door, or leave the garage door open, or any number of things a neighbor notices on their way home that you totally forgot about/didn't know you did.

Of course I'm not saying it would never be a criminal, cause clearly that could be the case as well. But if you do find yourself in that situation again, rather than be terrified, maybe think it could be a legitimate knock. Not saying to answer the door or anything, but at least it might help calm your fears.

 

[dizneydiva2005]

You called 911 because you thought you heard a knock at your door?

and there's nothing wrong with that with the situation she talked about. That is the police officers job. (I know, my father, brothers, nephew, cousin and uncle are all cops) If there was someone hanging around, watching, at least they would have saw the police there - maybe making them move on.
I mean if it was the middle of the day and no 'weird phone call' I'm sure she wouldn't have grabbed for the phone to dial 911.

BETTER safe then dead.

 

[PatsMom]

OP, I lived alone for a number of years, in both rural and large city settings. And in a high crime area in southern California at one time. And in a not very nice neighborhood in Omaha (although you don't really connect a mid-west state like Nebraska with crime, trust me it exists). I cannot imagine calling 911 for a hang up and a (maybe) knock on the door. But some things that have helped me over the years include a good self defense course (not a six week mini-course but more extensive martial arts training). And a good handgun. And regular practice on the range.

Training and a weapon might make you less twitchy.

 

[Va-bear]

....I had to remind myself there is an actual scientific reason that it does that.

I have to ask, bacause I really dont know - what is the reason?

 

[Va-bear]

She freaked out and called 911. It's done already. Too many women do not call when they are scared and end up in very bad situations............
..........You do whatever you need to do to feel safe and as you get used to it, it won't seem so scary.

I couldn't disagree more. The women that REALLY need police help may be in bad shape if those police officers are off helping people that are scared. I get scared frequently but would never call EMERGENCY services and neither would many others. We arent playing "Tuesday morning quarterbacks" we are expressing dismay over the use of emergency services that could cause the police to be late (or TOO late) to an actual emergency.

And, I think almost all would agree that you call the police when there are more threats....threatening words, repeated door bell ringing then no one being there, windows being jostled, etc...and yes, better safe than sorry, but not for what she described. And we all have a right to care, it might be our loved one whose call is missed if the police are responding to a scared person elsewhere.

 

[edandcolleen1995]

i couldn't disagree more. The women that really need police help may be in bad shape if those police officers are off helping people that are scared. I get scared frequently but would never call emergency services and neither would many others. We arent playing "tuesday morning quarterbacks" we are expressing dismay over the use of emergency services that could cause the police to be late (or too late) to an actual emergency.

And, i think almost all would agree that you call the police when there are more threats....threatening words, repeated door bell ringing then no one being there, windows being jostled, etc...and yes, better safe than sorry, but not for what she described. And we all have a right to care, it might be our loved one whose call is missed if the police are responding to a scared person elsewhere.

amen!

 

[pixiewings71]

Thats not quite accurate. 911 is there for someone who is being threatened, not someone who just feels scared. I'm not going to give the OP heat about it but calling 911 because you get scared when you get a hang up on your answering machine and you thought somebody knocks on your door is an over-reaction.

Hardly.. After 22 years of EMS, 911 it is not there for a knock on the door like the OP admits she might not even have had..

While those cops are coming to handle that, they are not there for real emergencies...

Almost as bad as pulling a fire alarm and no fire..

Actually I had an incident a few weeks ago with a neighbor, he backed out of his driveway as I was driving towards mine, I had to slam on my brakes (going about 20 mph, our street has a lot of issues so I don't go much over that) to avoid ramming into him, he got out of his car and started screaming and yelling at me, telling me I was in the wrong, calling me all kind of names, not a pleasant person. I called the police, not 911 but the police (the number is in my cell due to issues with another neighbor's dog who likes to chase me) and the dispatcher stayed on the line with me until he was gone and I was home. I told her he was my neighbor and lived on the other side of the street 3 houses down, she asked if we'd had any problems before and I said no, that I barely knew the guy, as he passed my house he made a comment to make sure I knew he knew who I was and where I lived, I passed that on to the dispatcher and mentioned DBF works late so most nights the girls and I are home alone until after dark, she told me that if ANYthing happened to make me feel scared or threatened to call 911 from my landline. I asked if I should just call the dispatch line I used to get her and she said no, that 911 responses are faster and even if it's not a problem with the neighbor if I or my kids ever feel "scared or threatened" to call 911. So that's what I'm basing my information on.

Maumeemom, that would freak me out. I love reading about hauntings but after dark, I won't go to the bulletin boards that feature them. When my soda can started spinning in one direction and then the other yesterday at lunch time, I had to remind myself there is an actual scientific reason that it does that.

I have to ask, bacause I really dont know - what is the reason?

yes, please pass this on, I'd love to freak my kids out with this one! LOL

and there's nothing wrong with that with the situation she talked about. That is the police officers job. (I know, my father, brothers, nephew, cousin and uncle are all cops) If there was someone hanging around, watching, at least they would have saw the police there - maybe making them move on.
I mean if it was the middle of the day and no 'weird phone call' I'm sure she wouldn't have grabbed for the phone to dial 911.

BETTER safe then dead.

 

[DisneyMom81]

I have to ask, bacause I really dont know - what is the reason?

Yeah really - I need to know the answer to that question too!!! I have a 20oz bottle of Pepsi next to be right now... is it gona do anything I should know about?????

 

[wvjules]

I'm guessing the soda does that because the condensation gets under the can/bottle causing it to move around.

 

[lillygator]

I couldn't disagree more. The women that REALLY need police help may be in bad shape if those police officers are off helping people that are scared. I get scared frequently but would never call EMERGENCY services and neither would many others. We arent playing "Tuesday morning quarterbacks" we are expressing dismay over the use of emergency services that could cause the police to be late (or TOO late) to an actual emergency.

And, I think almost all would agree that you call the police when there are more threats....threatening words, repeated door bell ringing then no one being there, windows being jostled, etc...and yes, better safe than sorry, but not for what she described. And we all have a right to care, it might be our loved one whose call is missed if the police are responding to a scared person elsewhere.

I agree....

has op checked in as to what ever the noise/issue was and I missed it?

 

[BeachGirlFLA]

I'm guessing the soda does that because the condensation gets under the can/bottle causing it to move around.

You got it right

 

[m&m's mom]

Several years ago I was home alone w/ DD who was a baby.
About 1 am someone started banging on my front door. I was instantly terrriifed! We lived in a nice neighborhood and not exactly crime ridden.
I got up and and looked through the peep hole and saw 3 men banging on my door, turning the door handle trying to get in. I was just petrified but I knew DD was in her crib in another room. I ran to her room to check on her and she was sleeping through everything. I look out her window and there were another 2 men in the flower bed in front of her window TRYING TO OPEN HER WINDOW!!
I was torn between grabbing the gun or the cordless phone. I wisely chose the cordless phone and dialed 911.
Even though time seems to go slow, there were 4 police cars in front of my house immediately. I mean guns drawn etc.
I saw them talking to the men and one of the officers looked really mad and was angrily poking one of the guys chest yelling at him. I knew from that action that is could not have been that bad.
Next a female officer walked up to my house. I opened the door and she said the guys were looking for someone else's house and could not figure out why they were not answering the door. That's what they were banging so hard and trying to open the window.
One of the male officers marched the guys up to my house and made them apologize for scaring me.
In that case it was merited to call 911.
OP- Hope everything is OK now.

 

[Disney1fan2002]

There is no reason for a stranger to be knocking on my door this late at night. None.

I can give you one, because I have done it on more than a few occasions. I deliver pizza. Up until midnight. I have knocked at people's door at 10-11PM, and realized too late, that I had the wrong house. Sometimes people come to the door and I apologize for bothering them, but most times, they don't answer right away, I scoot along.

As for the answering machine, you say not a lot of people have your number and those that do know that you like for them to speak to the answering machine. That's all well and good. But how about the person who mis-dialed? She thinks she's calling her Aunt Jenny, but your machine picks up. She realizes it is a wrong number. Of course she is not going to talk to you machine. She is going to hang up.

This reminds me of this story.:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=733666

 

[Disney1fan2002]

I.

My neighbor didn't have our landline phone number and my cell was off (which I didn't realize) so she rang the bell. And I was quite thankful after the fact as she prevented my car from possibly being robbed or vandalized. And we live right inside DC, in an area where crime certainly is not invisible, so it likely would have gotten damaged had she not notified me.

So my point is you just never know, even though I had no reason to think anyone would ever knock on my door so late at night, apparently there was a just cause.

Yes, this reminds me of the time I had a knock at my door at 10:30pm. My Dh works nights, so I am home alone Mon-Fri nights. I am watching TV and I hear a knock at my door. WTH? WHO would be knocking this late. I see it is my neighbor. He was returning home, and he noticed the dome light in my van was on. He decided to walk over and turn if off for me. He wasn't planning on bothering me just wanted to save my battery. As he approached the van, he saw the slider was left open. He went to close it, and saw a nice big racoon had made itself comfortable in the van. It was feasting on the spilled fries.

So my neighbor just wanted to let me know I had a racoon in my van. The two of us worked together and got it out.

 

[luvmy3]

and there's nothing wrong with that with the situation she talked about. That is the police officers job. (I know, my father, brothers, nephew, cousin and uncle are all cops) If there was someone hanging around, watching, at least they would have saw the police there - maybe making them move on.
I mean if it was the middle of the day and no 'weird phone call' I'm sure she wouldn't have grabbed for the phone to dial 911.

BETTER safe then dead.

Someone didn't bother to leave a message on the OP's answering machine and then she thought she heard a knock at the door and freaked out and called 911. Thats hardly a situation. A situation would have been if she got a threatening message on her machine that said I'm coming to your house to get you, and then she heard a knock on her door, or someone was trying to break it down. Its not the police offcer's job to go running to someone's house because they are freaked about nothing. Could you imagine what would happen if everyone called 911 was because they were spooked about having someone call and not leaving you a message or everytime someone thought they heard a knock on their door after 5PM.

Actually I had an incident a few weeks ago with a neighbor, he backed out of his driveway as I was driving towards mine, I had to slam on my brakes (going about 20 mph, our street has a lot of issues so I don't go much over that) to avoid ramming into him, he got out of his car and started screaming and yelling at me, telling me I was in the wrong, calling me all kind of names, not a pleasant person. I called the police, not 911 but the police (the number is in my cell due to issues with another neighbor's dog who likes to chase me) and the dispatcher stayed on the line with me until he was gone and I was home. I told her he was my neighbor and lived on the other side of the street 3 houses down, she asked if we'd had any problems before and I said no, that I barely knew the guy, as he passed my house he made a comment to make sure I knew he knew who I was and where I lived, I passed that on to the dispatcher and mentioned DBF works late so most nights the girls and I are home alone until after dark, she told me that if ANYthing happened to make me feel scared or threatened to call 911 from my landline. I asked if I should just call the dispatch line I used to get her and she said no, that 911 responses are faster and even if it's not a problem with the neighbor if I or my kids ever feel "scared or threatened" to call 911. So that's what I'm basing my information on.




yes, please pass this on, I'd love to freak my kids out with this one! LOL

Your situation is way different from the OP's, you were confronted with a threatening situation. Someone calling and hanging up on you answering machine is not the same, and someone knocking on your door is not the same, even if those things happen a half hour apart.

 

[pixiewings71]

Someone didn't bother to leave a message on the OP's answering machine and then she thought she heard a knock at the door and freaked out and called 911. Thats hardly a situation. A situation would have been if she got a threatening message on her machine that said I'm coming to your house to get you, and then she heard a knock on her door, or someone was trying to break it down. Its not the police offcer's job to go running to someone's house because they are freaked about nothing. Could you imagine what would happen if everyone called 911 was because they were spooked about having someone call and not leaving you a message or everytime someone thought they heard a knock on their door after 5PM.



Your situation is way different from the OP's, you were confronted with a threatening situation. Someone calling and hanging up on you answering machine is not the same, and someone knocking on your door is not the same, even if those things happen a half hour apart.

My point was simply to state that the dispatcher officer told me to call 911 if I felt scared or threatened, which is how the OP felt.

Yes, my whole situation was different, I was verbally threatened and verbally assaulted and had the neighbor not left when he realized who I was on the phone with I would have filed a report/pressed charges. I also made sure she recorded the call so if I did need to call back they would have a note as to why and know what had happened previously. But, the guy who did that to me won't even make eye contact with me now, nor will he speak with DBF who really wanted him to try....LOL

Has anyone heard from OP?

 

[DSNYGRL_JKS2006]

I just found this thread and read up the first 1-2 pages and skipped to here.. the last page..

With the original poster.. I TOTALLY agree with her.. after giving the facts she is a single woman who lives ALONE.. I TOTALLY understand her!!!

ALSO coming from someone who was a 911 dispatcher for about 1 month(job was to stressful and not for me) and also a girlfriend of a 911 dispatcher & firefighter.. my boyfriend gets STUPIDER calls then that.. and *THAT* was far from stupid. People call 911 to know what time the 4th of July fireworks are or heres one I got when I worked when the Presidential Election was going on people would call 911 to say people put signs in their yard or dropped off a flyer ..

Again she did the RIGHT THING! those COPS were right in telling her she did too!!

You never know these days.. and like I said my BF being a 911 dispatcher for 3 years now.. I heard everything and anything from silly to downright SCARY! Its funny.. usually after something silly like that starts out with the phone call and then knock at the door.. and you see it in the news the next day as something serious.. im sure you all that are putting her down wouldn't feel the same way about your comments..