I HAVE to live in the most bat$#!t neighborhood on Next Door. Enjoy this debate. I apologize for the length, but it was just too wonderfully ridiculous to waste.

SUSPICIOUS VEHICLE  2d ago

Kimberly
Hey neighbors there is a gray 2008?? Ford Mustang on our street with a middle aged Hispanic man sitting in it, he has been just sitting in his car for about 45 minutes. Anyone know anything should I be suspicious I need to leave my house just worried because he is right in front of my house and has been sitting there in his car for quite awhile

Marsha
call 911 don’t mess with it

Marsha
Police will be there in a minute

(Wow. That was fast. Marsha does not waste time.)

Karry
That might be the water meter guy, I think he drives something like that. I’ve watched him before.

Donna
how about go and ask him if he needs help.

Marsha
no way would I go and ask

Sharon
I would call police NOW.

Lisa
My husband works from home and is checking now. We are on your street.

Joe
Any doubts, call 911!

Greg
The car in question is an ’01 Mustang and it is empty now. Apparently the Hispanic man is hired help and was waiting for Bob across the street to come home. P.S. The car has a for sale sign in the back window if anyone is interested.

(At this point, you’d think we could put a bow on this. Nope.)

Lisa
Caleb said that the mustang that is across the street and down a few houses has been there off and on for weeks and has a for sale sign on it. He did not see anyone sitting in the car, but was going to call 9-1-1 just to have them check it out.

Crystal
why are you calling 911?

Marsha
that’s what you do when someone is sitting in front of your house for an hour

Crystal
Why wouldn’t you just ask him why he was sitting in front of your house for an hour?

Marsha
because I am not crazy and live in Dallas with the highest crime rate in the nation

are you that naive

Crystal
Our police force is so sparse as it is… calling the emergency line for a non-emergency… seems kind of extreme when you or your neighbor could just walk out there and say… “Do you need …   something?” There is probably a reasonable excuse for that person to be there at 10 am on a Friday…

im just curious why this is suspicious…. he’s sitting there.. in plain view… inside a vehicle… during the day. I mean… if he were sitting in your backyard, wearing a ski mask carrying a machete…i would be suspicious… but its a guy in a car.

Crystal
Dallas doesn’t have the highest crime rate in the nation. we don’t even rank in the top ten…

http://lawstreetmedia.com/crime-america-…

http://www.neighborhoodscout.com/neighbo…

Crystal
and as far as my naivety goes… Its called being rational.

Everyone should have a healthy fear of suspicious activity… but not everything is suspicious. I’d be more afraid of having a neighbor call the cops every time i decided to sit in my car and read a book while waiting on someone…. than actually having a person sitting in their car in front of my house.

Melissa
I would go out and ask him a simple question or two.

Marsha
well I read in my house.

Crystal
I just can’t with this….good luck

(Think she’s turning off the computer now? Think again.)

Peggy
We do not rank that high in the nation, but we have had recent crime in the neighborhood. I am a peace officer and Marsha is correct. You always call the pd or if you have a neighborhood peace officer that patrols, you can call first. Since they are not always on duty call 911. That is what we do and you should never approach a suspicious vehicle by yourself. If the vehicle is there for a reason, then we can quickly find that out and everyone is good. The vehicle or person may just be the one we are looking for concerning a home invasion, vehicle damage etc.

It helps to know your neighbors and have their contact info so you can call and check with them if you have a question. You should also pay attention to what is going on around you and that will help to know where a vehicle is questionable or not.

Crystal, If you are sitting in front of someones house for an extended period of time you can expect that pd may come by to see who you are and why you are there. Just remember that everyone’s healthy fear is different and what you fear is obviously totally different than Marsha’s and we need to respect that.

Marsha
I park my vehicle in said garage and it is too dark to read in there

Michelle
Marsha, you could get a flashlight:)

Marsha
Maybe I am weird I just do not believe in being in harms way and yes I pack one

Michelle
a flashlight?

Marsha
.38

Crystal
And there’s the gun…Marsha, I’m kinda glad you are too afraid to read outside your home.

Marsha
I read on my front porch alot. I am not afraid I just do not seek trouble with strangers. Even walking my dogs I am very cautious of undersireables

M J
Marsha: LOL it’s too dark to read in my garage too!

M J
As far as concern, the first thing that came into my mind was Hispanic male in a small gray car…..and the two incidences on Bon Aire where the people gave that exact description.

Crystal
calling the police and reporting a suspicious activity is different than calling 911. We should not abuse the emergency line for non-emergent situations… By taking an operators time up on the phone, we are taking the way a person that could be available for a true life threatening emergency.

Northeast Operations Division 214-670-4415

Crystal
Peggy, thanks for your response. I do respect the fact that everyone has a different and valid opinion about what is suspicious or not… I’m personally just not understanding why this is suspicious, … or an reason for a 911 call…but that’s just me.

Most people would probably assume that lengthy visits in front of a home that is not yours would make you look suspicious, unless you were supposed to be there for one reason or another. And I also think that most people would expect that a police officer would be called at some point if they were there for too long… a criminal probably wouldn’t want that kind of attention… especially during the daytime. I generally assume that a person sitting in a vehicle during the middle of the work week during daylight hours probably has a reason to be there. But again.. thats just me.

And if a cop asked me what I was doing reading in my car… Not a problem… Because I’m not doing anything illegal… But now this officer has wasted his time investigating a person sitting in her car in the middle of the day instead of being available to help during a real situation that may be taking place…

And then we ask…where were the police? It took them too long to get there.

Mark
I would encourage researching the VIP (Volunteers in Patrol) neighborhood crime program. Eastwood’s is very robust and effective. These types of situations and others are covered by the police during the training.

Peggy
Crystal, a car with someone sitting in it for an extended period of time could also be someone watching the area, seeing who is coming and going and when. Criminals can be really dumb. They figure if … they are not doing anything but sitting in a car, then the police can’t do anything to them. They do not know what we may be recording, names, lic numbers, makes and models.

I know who should be in front of my house and I know what is going on with my neighbors. This way if someone is in front of my house, I know if they should or should not be there. I am not with Dallas PD, but last time I checked their non emergency number rings to 911 and when I asked, they said they do not have a real non emergency number. But that was years ago and it could have changed. You have the same number I have for non emergency.

We still prefer that you not approach a vehicle by yourself and call us. Especially when it was stated above that the same description was given regarding two incidents recently. Short story…this happened to my husband 2 weekends ago. He parked his truck on the street (side of our house on a corner lot). He decided to work on his truck and pulled it into the driveway. While working on it a small car with a guy in it pulled up and parked just up from where he parked, partially in his spot. This was a Saturday afternoon and when he pulled up and sat in his car, my husband walked over and asked if he could help him. The guy said he was there to advertisements on the doors and he got out and went about his business. When my husband was done, he pulled his truck out and put it back where he usually parks, but was pretty close to this guys car. When the guy got back to his car, he decided to stick a knife in his tire. (this has been confirmed) Moral of the story…when you walk out and question someone, you have told them “I live here” and you do not know if they will take offense to what you have asked or said. Something to think about.

Spencer
Crystal, you and I usually see eye to eye on matters like this, but I’ve personally witnessed people casing homes by merely sitting in their car, during the day. One of the guys that I called … attention to on this board was arrested the next day in our neighborhood. He was doing loops in our neighborhood, mid-block U-Turns, pausing to scope things out, staring me down, etc. for a solid 30 minutes. He came back the next day to burglarize some folks and was arrested.

And “There’s the gun” is hilarious. The gun finds its way into every thread. With the new open carry laws for CHL holders, I might have to greet a few suspicious individuals with a suspender-style double holster.

Crystal
I think everyone may have missed my point.

Let me clarify… Yes, it does seem like a suspicious activity to most people..

But suspicious does not always mean emergency. My concern is the abuse of the 911 for non emergency calls.

Reports should most definitely be made… But not by flooding the line of a very precious resource that some one may actually need.

If what Peggy says is true and that number goes to 911… Have at it! Dial away! I hope your fingers don’t get cramped up. That’s on the dpd to delegate. But the non emergency line is an option.

As for me I hope you all come out to the Hindu temple on Sunday and meet all of your neighbors…. I don’t want anyone to call the cops on me if I’m reading In my car next week!

Kimberly
Wow! This has turned into a what/who’s right or wrong. I was merely asking if anyone knew any info only because he had been sitting there for awhile and I was concerned. I thought that’s what this .. site was for neighbors helping neighbors, but I am clearly seeing that it is a battle site that I do not want any part of. I am personally sorry for starting such a heated debate. I hope everyone has a wonderful rest of their day.

(That’ll teach you. Reach out for help and you get a bag of crazy. But hold on – we’re about to find out why Crystal has issues with this… )

Crystal
In 2010 my father was in an explosion that covered him in high octane gasoline and flames. This was in a smaller Louisiana town and pretty far from a hospital.

My brother called 911 to get an ambulance at the same time a call about a possible poacher hunting before deer season opened. The ambulance never showed, so they put my fathers badly burned body into a car and sped down the highway towards the hospital. At one point a police car pulled out behind them and had lights flashing….they assumed that they were assisting them on the way to the emergency room.

Upon pulling in to the hospital they pulled out the female driver out of the car and threw her to the ground with a gun in in her face.. They thought she had been poaching and was evading arrest.

After everything finally was figured out we learned that the non emergency call of a possible poacher was called in after a person heard a loud explosion….that explosion was my father and that call cost him a lot of time that should have been used trying to get him help. He ultimately spent about 2 months in the burn unit at LSU and had to go through multiple skin grafts. It was an emergency.

I know we are in Dallas, and not the backwoods of Louisiana but to me only emergencies should be called into 911. If you have time to discuss it in social media… You have time to look up the non emergency line.

Dallas has many more operators than my dads parish did… And I would expect they are staffed properly to handle our crime population…. But please consider this before calling.

Mike
DPD says ALWAYS call 911 to report concerns- suspicious persons, etc. They say better to call than not.

Crystal and Peggy, in response you your reply about how you may be gathering make/model/plates on suspicious vehicles… That’s exactly what should happen… But no one needs to call 911 for that to happen. Concerned citizens can get that on their own. Just write it down and report it promptly.

Aaron
I think even in our small Dallas neighborhood people react differently to situations. If I saw someone parked out front I wouldn’t necessarily call the police. I’ve had landscapers here, a notary, all kinds of people for estimates.

A lot of people come early but they won’t come to the door until the appointment time. So they catch up on paperwork, etc parked outside. If I saw this and wasn’t suspecting someone I think I’d get the vehicle info then ask before labeling them ‘undesirable’ or ‘suspicious.’ Just me.

Marsha
and i would like to know the one who that flagged my post. for real?

Crystal
Which post…(it wasn’t me)…I kinda like scandalous posts to simmer without removal… Now I want to know which one was offensive!

Marsha
I said undersireable because a person tried to approach me and my dogs and my dogs said no. I always trust my instinct and I am out of this discussion now

Crystal
Oh I guess I missed that all together.

Marsha
well I am gonna take the Tacoma to the front of the house and read a bit and just check it out

(Best. Discussion. Ever. Are they friends now? Not friends now? Stay tuned.)