Update to the Cops Being Called!

I would find out at what point can it be considered filing a false report and harassment. I haven't experienced anything like that going that far, but I know other people have and sometimes if it backfires on the false filer, they shut up.

It does sound like your neighbor has some issues. I agree you should document everything, but also go out of your way to be civil to this woman whenever you see her. Even if it just about kills you. The police will see the situation for what it is, most likely already do, but if you and this other couple try to gang up on her or retaliate in some way, it will only complicate the issue and won't get anybody anywhere. I read your post yesterday, but didn't comment. I know you mentioned something about having tattoos and "circus or carnival type memorabilia (something like that I think) in your house and that she must have made some preconceived notions about you not being a good person. While it is sad that people can judge others for such shallow reasons, don't use it as an excuse. Show her that you can rock a good tattoo and be a collector of unique objects, but still be a pleasant, perfectly competent member of society! :-)
I haven't had anything this crazy happen to me, but when I was a teacher I did come across some parents that would cause a conflict for the most inane things. Sometimes I can still get myself riled up thinking about it, but at the time I just put on my big girl pants and played nice anyway because if for nothing else, somebody had to be the professional, mature person! In the end, crazy people can't keep their act up forever. Their true colors will show sooner or later. The trick is to keep yourself out of it and don't be a crazy person yourself! Hope this helps!
A.

OOOOHHHHH MY!!!!!

Find out who her family is and ask them to put her in an assisted living home!!!

What will end up happening is she will end up calling for this and that and then the police will end up ignoring her calls and the one time it IS serious - they will just give her a nod and say "Yes, Mrs. Smith - thank you so much for this information" and someone will be hurt....

You know how bold I am - I would go knock on her door and tell her that if in the future she has a problem with the way I'm raising my kids or concerns over their safety - to please come TALK WITH ME about it before she calls the police again...it would save the police a lot of hassle and be able to help someone who really needs it!!!

However, like Theresa said yesterday - we can come down and TP her house for you!!

EDIT: Lee - I'm sorry!!! Smith - Jones (yikes that's you now R.!!) okay - so how 'bout this - Mrs. Doe...Jane Doe... :)

Hi R.-

When we lived in No Va...had a crazy neighbor named 'Mr Barry'...He called the police for EVERYTHING on EVERYBODY!

I do think he was a danger though...he was a retired security officer...and I KNOW he had guns...he was also quite a drinker...a dangerous combo IMO...Needless to say he and my ex had become 'beer buddies'...and I was especially nervous while the divorce was in progress...and shortly after til we moved.

Anyway, one neighbor across the street from 'Mr Barry' trimmed his tree leaving one branch pointed up in the air toward barry's yard...lol...he called it his 'F' barry tree...

Ultimately I moved...but prior to that he called the police constantly...they often arrived at my home (or a neighbors) around dinner...so the running joke was to set an extra place or two at the table for the officers. I thought about a filing for harassment...but was busy with a bad divorce and the kids.

From what I heard from old neighbors, he is building a house in georgia (beware any georgians on here) and still makes a career of calling the police on folks...WHY the police haven't brought charges against him is beyond me!

One of his favorite things to call about was the 'elusive' barking dog...LOTS of dogs in the neighborhood...sometimes barking...often just the initial 'I am in my backyard' announcement bark ...nothing long or sustained...never 'founded' by the police for any neighbor. I did 'toy' with the idea of getting a tape of 'farm and zoo animal sounds' and blast that out the window at night...but managed to get a good laugh out of just imagining THAT call to police in the middle of the night in his drunken haze...'Ociffer...I hear loud minkies and rhinocer cer issesss' LOL

Never had the nerve...and was glad to leave. Folks who bought the house...and old neighbors still set a place at the table!

Best Luck!
Michele/at

we used to have a neighbor who would call us with dumb stuff, like our laundry was out on the clothesline too long. Our across the street neighbors painted their garage florescent green just to piss them off. Once we had the cops called because our car was parked too close to their yard. (we were like, an inch away from their property line, even though it was a free street to park on) the cops were basically like, sorry we got called, we know you can park your car wherever you want, but would you mind parking a little further away from her so she leaves us alone? hee.

Oh, boy... at least the police know how nutty she is!

Good idea, keeping information on any contact you have with her. Check with other neighbors and see if they have been "reported", also.

She may be having problems with some type of dementia... an older neighbor across the street with Alzheimer's started reporting to the sheriff that one neighbor after another (and working her way up the block) was in her bedroom at night! We all tried to help her with different things around the house, and my hubby was frequently over there working on things for her. After she started "reporting" on other neighbors, he was real hesitant to help her anymore.

As others (and the officer) said, they HAVE to check it all out, but they quickly realize how batty she really is.

i wonder if she's as freaked out as I am about all the matricide that seems to be going on lately, and just sees the boogieman everywhere she turns?

or maybe shes estranged from her family and missing her own grandkids, great grandkids, and just projecting onto the young mothers in the neighborhood?

or maybe I should stop playing arm-chair psychologist and actually get some work done today!

I'd say it's a neighborhood phase. People come and go in neighborhoods. This will just be one of the stories you tell to someone else down the road. I remember one year a family moved into our "close" neighborhood. They were ok people but not as friendly as the rest of us. One day their pitbull got out of the yard and killed another neighbors little chihuahua. Needless to say those people ended up selling and moving out of our neighborhood within a year.
That lady may have some mental issues for sure, like maybe she lost a baby or something or cant have children of her own... and she's just nutty. You never know what makes people do the things they do sometimes.
Nice that you met a new friend tho :) The whole incident might have taken place just so you would meet those new neighbors. Everything happens for a reason.

Crazy.... I believe you should document everything just in case you have an issue pop up later. Then you have back up showing previous crazy behavior from her and borderline harrassment.

I am a believer in lots of documentation!! CYA file

Oh my. Yeah, she's a nut.
Your original post made me think of something yesterday as I was sitting at the light to leave my neighborhood.
My neighbor was walking across the street from me and pressed the crosswalk button. Then proceeded to jaywalk before the light changed.

She used to call the cops on me back when DD was a infant, because she didn't like that my car was parked in front of my house. And because it was parked there for more than 3 days in a row, the cops had a right to come out.

Your story made me want to shout out of my van: "Hey Cop Caller, you're not following the rules!"

But of course, I didn't. Heehee.

Hopefully your neighbor will get bored. ;)

If she continues, you might want to call Adult Protective Services on her!
Seriously, she may be a danger to herself more than anyone else.

There must be 1 of these in every neighborhood! We definitely have one! We have actually had people move out of the neighborhood b/c she won't chill out and her drunken, idiot husband tried to pick a fist fight w/our other neighbor. Hate that the neighbors I like moved and not her crazy self! Anyhow, she has called animal control on us b/c our 13 year old dog with hip displaysia and arthritis got out of our fence (i.e. was let out - we suspect HER children let him out as we have since caught them trying to come through our yard!). Evidently he was "TERRORIZING her children and the WHOLE neighborhood" and she had no idea where we were or even if we were on vacation and wouldn't be back for days! Uh, we went to Lowes for 45 minutes and he was sitting in our yard wagging his tail when we got home. And do we have to report to you our whereabouts? REALLY?!?! Our dog is missing a hip and can't run - you could literally 1. outrun him or 2. kick him and he would fall over but he was "terrorizing" the entire neighborhood??? We have since padlocked our front and back gates. Unfortunately, she is a SAHM and prowls the neighborhood spreading rumors and bad talking people so we are now on the outs w/most of our neighbors b/c they just don't feel like crossing her so it's easier to ignore us. In fact, she convinced our next door neighbors to not invite our son to their son's birthday party. So my 2.5 yo had to watch them set up a bounce house and all of the other neighborhood kids got to get in and have fun. I know it's petty but there was a Groupon w/a good deal for a bounce house so come September my son and his friends will be enjoying their own bounce house! Sorry, you can F w/me but NOT my kids!

I've had issues with neighbors like this before.

Maybe you should recommend a good book. She obviously doesn't have enough to do.

My sister is a police dispatcher for the rural town we live in. All summer long people call and report school age children riding bikes or running on the sidwalks and cul-de-sacs in their own neighborhoods. She has no choice but to send an officer. It makes her so mad to know that those without children think that children should not be gathering in groups and playing outside during daylight hours. That is EXACTLY what they should be doing and our officers should not be wasting their time and our tax dollars investigating 8 yr olds riding their bikes or 10 yr olds having a lemonade stand or 12 yr olds on their skateboards. One of the dispatchers she works with has 3 boys, lives on a cul-de-sac in a nice neighborhood with all kinds of families, childless and childfull. Last summer she took a call from a woman reporting boys riding bikes "in the street". Turns out it was HER street and HER 10 & 12 yr old the woman was reporting. She had to send on officer to her own home to talk to her own husband who knew full well and good that their boys were riding bikes. He was in the house while the 3 yr old was napping. So, you are not alone in your experience.
There's a particular lady in a neighborhood that called so many times last summer that the Police Department finally had to tell her that if she called again about the neighborhood children there would be charges filed against her. She didn't like the fact that the pre-teen and early teens were using sidewalk chalk to decorate the sidewalks. She even took pictures to prove they were writing on the sidewalk. RIDICULOUS!!!!!!!!!
Do document just to protect yourself and so glad you made some new friends!