I have lived in my residence for almost five years and I have this neighbor that always causes problems. My kids can’t play in my backyard because she always tells them stuff. We tried talking to her and her husband, but she starts to use profanity in front of my kids. The cops have been over but she doesn’t care. Once they leave, she starts up. She cleans the sidewalks and leaves a mess piled up on my side of the driveway. I can’t go outside and sit down, because she plays music loud. When we go back inside, she lowers it. I don’t know what to do. It’s an everyday thing with this neighbor. It’s gotten to a point that she throws stuff in my backyard and I have dogs. Help! — Fed Up, Westmorland
If this is all true, it sounds like the letter writer has a real jerk for a neighbor. Believe us, most of us have probably been there a time or two in our lives.
Sometimes the best a person can do is leave, and that is merely running away from the problem. Too bad this Probe question wouldn’t shame the neighbor into behaving, but we doubt it. Most inconsiderate people are constitutionally inconsiderate, meaning they are jerks to their core.
Still, we took this complaint to Westmorland Police Chief Fred Beltran Sr., who said this is the first time he’s heard of this complaint.
He told us some things the letter writer could do, but they don’t sound like options that will bring about a resolution with a personality like this.
That said, Beltran suggested the writer start by contacting the officer on duty and filing a formal complaint to document the pattern of problems.
Also, he said the writer would have to go through the process of signing off on a citizen’s complaint or a citizen’s arrest when something specific happens.
He stressed the part about making sure this is reported to police each and every time there is a problem. “Continue calling; that is how we establish the credibility of the complaint,” he said.
We often get the noisy or inconsiderate neighbor Probe questions, and from time to time we address them. But they come way too often to get to every one of them. In fact, this week we received two such letters, both about loud music.
In general, neighbors who won’t turn down their music usually don’t get the message until a person puts their name to a citizen’s arrest or complaint. Loud music, from what we’ve been told numerous times by different law enforcement agencies, is something that has to be offensive to the officer called in to deal with it. That said, officers have told us they are trained not to let the music bother them, so that is where the citizen portion comes in.
To comment on this story click here to be directed to Facebook.
If this is all true, it sounds like the letter writer has a real jerk for a neighbor. Believe us, most of us have probably been there a time or two in our lives.
Still, we took this complaint to Westmorland Police Chief Fred Beltran Sr., who said this is the first time he’s heard of this complaint.
He told us some things the letter writer could do, but they don’t sound like options that will bring about a resolution with a personality like this.
That said, Beltran suggested the writer start by contacting the officer on duty and filing a formal complaint to document the pattern of problems.
Also, he said the writer would have to go through the process of signing off on a citizen’s complaint or a citizen’s arrest when something specific happens.
He stressed the part about making sure this is reported to police each and every time there is a problem. “Continue calling; that is how we establish the credibility of the complaint,” he said.
We often get the noisy or inconsiderate neighbor Probe questions, and from time to time we address them. But they come way too often to get to every one of them. In fact, this week we received two such letters, both about loud music.
In general, neighbors who won’t turn down their music usually don’t get the message until a person puts their name to a citizen’s arrest or complaint. Loud music, from what we’ve been told numerous times by different law enforcement agencies, is something that has to be offensive to the officer called in to deal with it. That said, officers have told us they are trained not to let the music bother them, so that is where the citizen portion comes in.
To comment on this story click here to be directed to Facebook.
