Last night (Friday),I had a bit of a spat with my neighbour.My son(11)was playing football on our lawn with 2 mates.The ball went over the fence,and the boys went round to get it.When they went round,the idiot next door told them to **** off,as they weren't getting it back.

When my son grabbed his ball back,the arsehole tried to grab it back.My son being a bit nimble on his pins,threw the ball over the fence and made a break for it.When he ran off,the w@anker pulled his hair!!

When he come in to tell me what he had done,I was straight round.I confronted him about picking on kids,(he has slapped a 14 year old before),he was trying to be Mr nice guy.I was just about to give him a clip when the Mrs came round and pulled me away.She told me she had phoned the law,and hitting him would make things worse.

After calming down a bit,I saw her point,so we waited.3 hours later,still no coppers,so she gave them another ring.The person on the phone said that there was no police availible,and as my son wasn't serously injured,it was not an emergency.But if I had beaten him into a pool of claret,as was coming if she hadnt stopped me,no doubt a copper would have been there ASAP.

It is now 18 hours since the event,and the plod still haven't turned up.Now I shall bide my time,and sort this ****e out my own way.

Very bad on the police but I had a similar experience. Had tracked down the youths who nicked my daughter's bike but no answer from 999. By the time a dog handler from Woodseats (the nearest available unit) had got to us (Handsworth) they had gone.

Might I suggest Mediation Sheffield as a way forward with your neighbour rather than doing your own thing and making the situation potentially much worse.

Originally posted by Bloomdido
Very bad on the police

Yup a dispute about hair pulling - big emergency. Can't imagine what stuff the police deal with to make them not react to that immediately.

Good idea about the mediation. Stray footballs aren't worth hair pulling let alone leaving someone in a pool of blood.

Personally, whilst I don't have a problem with my neighbours' kids' balls coming over my fence (I'm lucky that they don't damage the plants - I think my reaction would be different then) I return them in my own good time not on demand.

when the kids are playing fotty behind our garden the damn thing comes over 6 or 7 times every time :(

theyd be bald if i pulled some hair :P
or if i kept the balls id have hundreds by now..........theres no ball games signs on this road too, does it stop them, does it hell :P

What you all fail to see is that the action of pulling his hair is classed as common assault.In the eyes of the law,even I am not allowed to punish my son by laying hands on him.

If I was to walk down the street and pull someones hair,I am liable to prosecution.

As for the mediation,I am moving in a couple of weeks,so balls to that.

Originally posted by uncleheed
What you all fail to see is that the action of pulling his hair is classed as common assault.In the eyes of the law,even I am not allowed to punish my son by laying hands on him.


If the police refused to act on it (having established what happened - obviously they'll need to talk to your neighbour first as well as your son) then I'd be worrying. No one's said that it won't get dealt with - just that it's not an emergency.

The strange thing is that if you mention , "terrorists " or , "guns " , the police are there , within minutes ---------helicopters . SWAT teams . armed response groups , no expense spared !
However , anything concerning knives , domestic disputes [which often lead to much worse ] and the police seem to amble along when they can.
To most victims of crime , I bet it's not much different to be gunned down by a terrorist or blown up by one , accidently , and getting stsabbed to death by a potty neighbour.
Yet ., there seems to be a world of difference in how the police re-act. Could this have something to do with Central guidelines , where the police react according to a formula and contrary to what their local intelligence tells them ?

How did this go from hair pulling & common assault to armed criminals & terrorism :shocked:

Originally posted by Siân
How did this go from hair pulling & common assault to armed criminals & terrorism :shocked:

Dont really know,but it wasn't my fault.

Sian ,

Well , it went , "that way " for a very simple reason.
Everyone with any experience of life knows how a simple , "domestic " incident can lead to woundings , manslaughter or murder , very quickly.
Conversley , very few , "terrorist " reports have lead to deaths--------in fact , as the events in London and elsewhere have shown , we only become aware of terrorist attacks AFTER they happen.
It therefore seems strange to a lot of us that the police [ going by what S.F. posters say ] , seem to virtually ignore , "domestic " incidents but go , "ott " on , "terrorist " incidents when local , domestic crime causes far more deaths and injuries than terrorism has ever caused.

Phone em back explaining that you they don't need to come round now as you've caved your neighbours head in with a spade.
Advise they might want to send an ambulance though.

See how fast they get to your house!

Originally posted by DaBouncer
Phone em back explaining that you they don't need to come round now as you've caved your neighbours head in with a spade.
Advise they might want to send an ambulance though.

See how fast they get to your house!

And explain it to the people who really need an urgent police presence who then suffer because you couldn't wait a while for your neighbour to be dealt with.

It's scary that you think the inability to control your own temper would somehow be the fault of the police.

Latest devolpment.

Idiot neighbour has just thrown stone at wifes face,and recieved a fat eye for his troubles.Police now on way.

Sian,

You seem to imply that the police have always got something more important to do than respond to , "domestic" situations.
As I said before most maimings and violence and killings take place in the house and therefore the most mundane incident can quickly lead to horrendous results.
Even by the governments own figures , far too many police are tied up doing paperwork or collecting [semi-useless] information on computers.
I know that it's not really safe for young lads to go speeding about in stolen cars. However , time and time again [ again this has been partially admitted by the police themselves ] the police have made matters worse by , "surrounding" the stolen car and causing the driver to panic. No shortage of response time there !
It seems to many people that the , "bread and butter " , "messy " crimes are virtually ignored for hours on end , whilst the crimes involving a bit of drama and a chase are pursued immediately-------to everyone's detriment !

Police have been and assessed the situation,and taken neighbour away.
We are pressing charges on him assaulting my son,and assulting my wife,as he hit her in the face when he threw the stone at her.

The police have more important things to do like hanging around outside the train station.

I drove past there earlier and there was at least 3 officers standing around having a nice chin-wag, along with a meat wagon!

I have every sympathy with you , Uncleheed.
Imagine what it could have lead to ?
How many people on S.F. alone , have posted similar stories ?
Obviously anything that happens in the house or garden is very low down on the S.Y.P.priority list , yet we all know what can happen to , "festering wounds".

We move in three weeks,(which cant come quick enough).But what is more worrying now is,his partner is on the phone trying to get all the divvys on the estate down to "sort me out ".

Exactly what I said about , "domestics " escalating. If they'd arrived earlier they might have nipped things in the bud.
Probably they were under orders to sit in the office working on statistics on the ethnic make-up on people they'd dealt with in the previous 24 hours.

Originally posted by Fareast
Sian,

You seem to imply that the police have always got something more important to do than respond to , "domestic" situations.

Not at all. Just that all reported crimes are assessed for urgency & what else is also being dealt with at the time. "Domestic" covers a multitude of possibilites it's the actual immediate danger that varies. Obviously the urgency has been reassessed since uncleheed's wife was assaulted.

I hope it all resolves quickly for you uncleheed - Sounds like if anything else does happen then you'll now get a quick response from the police. Aggressive neighbours really are a nightmare, what a horrid weekend for you :(

Originally posted by Siân
And explain it to the people who really need an urgent police presence who then suffer because you couldn't wait a while for your neighbour to be dealt with.

It's scary that you think the inability to control your own temper would somehow be the fault of the police.
I don't... you obviously took my comments the wrong way :loopy:

I think the structure of the law needs a serious re-address, they will soon have vigilanteism on their hands if something doesn't get done.

I can see where Sian is coming from.
A report of a common assault that has happened and is over doesn't require an immediate response, given limited numbers incidents do need to be prioritised, although I'll agree that there is probably too much red tape that officers have to fill in.

It's easy with hindsight to say that the escalation could have been avoided if they'd turned up quicker, but 90% of such incidents probably don't result in any escalation.

I think the neighbour overeacted but there's two sides to every story and having been on the receiving end of damage and pure noise nuisance (I work nights so try and sleep days) due to footballs, there's been a few times where I've been at the end of my tether myself.
What I have done is 'retained' footballs, saying I will pass them on to the estate wardens, where they can be reclaimed by the owners. The estate wardens report that nobody has ever tried to claim a football, however the minute somebody does I am going to bill them for £400 (or a portion of) damage to garden ornaments and plants and a compensation claim for £18,000 based on me losing one job through lack of sleep in the daytime.
Seems to me that if your neighbour has a good case for grievance then he should take a similair line to me.
As for the Police response times. I was burgled and when I reported it I was told 'not to touch anything'.
22 days later the Police called round. Of course by then I'd had the door replaced, cleaned up broken glass and touched just about everything in the house.
The Police's excuse for taking so long? That the control room had only just passed it on to them.
Here's me thinking that computerisation speeded things up.
Hope you sort out the dispute with your neighbour amicably?
Incidentally, have you considered that if he's an older man then he will have grown up in an age where if kids or youths were acting up then they'd get a clip round the ear from just about anyone, and if they went home whingeing to their parents they'd get a thrashing off their dad too?
R

I have a joke about Police response times to lighten everybodies mood.

A guy woke in the middle of the night to hear intruders in his living room. Quietly, he called the Police who said that they had no units available at the moment but would get round to it eventually.

5 minutes later the intruders were still in his house, so he phoned the Police again and said 'forget the squad car, send an ambulance, I've shot them'.

Withing minutes the street was crawling with armed police with a helicopter buzzing around overhead.

The burglars were caught red handed and the Police Chief said to the guy that had called them 'I thought you said you'd shot them' to which the man replied 'I thought you said there was no Police available'.

Don't know wether it is a joke or based on a real incident, but next time I have some c**t smackhead breaking into my house I might try it.

Still, whats the point. The Police arrest him, bail him, he commits another 30 offences while on bail and finally in court the magistrates take pity on him for being a junkie and give him a discharge.

I think the magistrates are the biggest problem.

He is 38 years old,(2 years older than me),and completely unreasonable.
His answer to everything is to sort it with his fists.We did used to get on quite well,then one day,I asked him if he had a problem with a wasps nest,and he flew off the handle.Since then,we have never spoken.Then,all of a sudden this weekend,he has gone off on one.
My first reaction was to go and thump him,but that is what he wants.When he threw the syone at my wife on Saturday,I did go round to hit him,but she followed me round and dragged me back.
The police eventually came and arrested him yesterday.He is now on police bail,with conditions of not interfereing with my family in any way.
Roll on the end of July,when we move 14 miles away from him.


(then I will get mine)!!

I can see why in the heat of the moment yo umight have seen reed and wanted to punch your neighbours lights out but that would have made you as bad as him..

As far the Police response time, its always a possibility that at the time you call, the small number of Police on patrol at any given time may have already been tied up with half a dozen other domestic incidents that could have been easily avoided.

People suggesting that 999 should be called are missing a few grey cells. Do we not know what 999 is really used for??? I've heard of people calling 3 nines to report buses being late etc.

The best thing to do if you have a problem neighbour is to log the incidents in a diary and then when you have plenty of eveidence, get a solicitor and get an order against him.

One last word about retaliation though..... If you do "clip" him, you can rest assured they Police will be there double quick.. Don't risk the chance of being nicked over some prat that can only pick on kids!!!!

His answer to everything is to sort it with his fists.

My first reaction was to go and thump him,but that is what he wants.

Does anyone else see the irony here?

The police are busy, very busy (no, not with speed cameras), and to be honest do a fairly good job of managing the serious incidents they handle daily - unfortunately, this means they don't always have the time to attend every single crime report they receive.

I'm not a fed, but I've had an insight into their work and the sorts of jobs they spend a lot of time sorting out.

I was in Doncaster the other day and it took me nearly 10mins to get through to someone only to be passed onto someone else!!

You cant put all the blame on the police, it all comes down to money and the goverment, i can understand your point wanting to smack him, (ive 4 kids), but that only makes you a bigger fool than him, the only time i would ever hit anyone is if they gonna hit me first, that way...i know i have a right.... ive had probs with neighbours b4 and i dont lower myself to there level, im better than that..... let them make the fool and get the law on your side:thumbsup:
that is when they turn up.... just keep on at them to send someone... goodluck!:thumbsup:

Oh come on! You were going to hit him?! That makes you no better than him. Naturally if he threw a stone that hit my partner I would feel the same initially, but he's the one who is in the wrong, and he will pay the price. If you lash out in anger then you will be no better than him, and I bet you are, aren't you?

It seems, from what information you have supplied, that there may be some sort of history here, but that is no reason for him to do what he did. The police turned up eventually - It's a shame they didn't turn up sooner, but maybe the initial report was not considered serious enough for them to divert the limited resources your way.

I have to say I had cause to call the police recently and they arrived extremely quickly - but too late to do anything. They have to make judgements on what is and is not priority, given the limited resources available.

You obviously handled the situation to the best of your abilities and I hope this person gets everything they deserve, good on you for keeping your cool :thumbsup:

NEXT TIME YOU PHONE THEM TEL THEM,UR OFF OUT IN YA CAR WITH DEFECTIVE LIGHTS,THERE WILL BE WITH YOU LIKE A PLAGUE OF FLYING ANTS

After reading all of these replies, i amazed!!
Mainly that so many of you got to speak to someone from the police. The recent SY Police 'paper/magazine' that came through my door informed me that 90% (i'm guessing, i dont have to hand) of calls are answered within 10 seconds (again a guess, but near enough).
Yet, the last 3 occasions i have phoned them, it answered straight away, but then you get put through, and wait... and wait....and wait. The last time (which was non-urgent) but nevertheless important, my phoned battery died after 10 minutes holding, and i was billed for the whole wait.