Would You Feel Bad If Someone Was Arrested Because You Called the Cops?

They were arrested because they were doing something illegal, why would you feel bad? Better they experience consequences young than continuing to think they can get away with stuff like that for years to come. I would have done the same thing.

They wouldn't have been arrested UNLESS they were up to no good, so NO, I wouldn't feel bad. Hope they learned a lesson.

No, You did exactly the right thing.

They would not have been arrested, if they were just hanging around back there, They were arrested for a real reason.

You are an awesome neighbor..

Why do you feel bad? Do you feel responsible for getting them in trouble? Is it OK to do something illegal as long as you don't get caught; therefore it's your fault they got caught?

I had to chuckle when I read your title. I was the cops for many years and have called in as a citizen. Police rely on citizens to call them so that they could protect people and property. Police cannot see everything, be everywhere, know everything.

Police only arrest when someone is or has broken the law. You are not responsible for what the at the very least trespassers did or for getting them into trouble. They did it to themselves. You are a good citizen that looks out for her neighbors. Wouldn't you like for them to do the same for you?

Well, if they were up to something that was obviously illegal and warranted being arrested (or the cops had already been looking for them for some other reason), why in the heck would you feel bad about it? They got what was coming to them! We need more neighbors like you!

I'd feel worse if your neighbors came home to a robbed/vandalized home, and you could have stopped it but didn't.

THEY were doing wrong, and they got punished. Maybe next time, they will find a better place to loiter... Someplace where they have the permission of the owner.

I definitely say you did the right thing. :)

Nope :).

Houses are still being built in our development and one is on the road on the way out. I drove by the other day and saw some teens standing on the second floor. When we were building our house 4 years ago, teens were taking copper wiring out of the house, stealing other things, and even super glued an entire room!! I know the builders pretty well and have no problem calling the cops on the people I see who I know should NOT be around the houses.

Just saw your SWH - you definitely did the right thing!

You did the right thing. What if they have been breaking in and trashing the place? What if it was your house, wouldn't you want someone to do the same thing? Heck, I call the cops in our neighborhood if a car is parked in the street too long. Lol! And no, I would not feel bad. I wouldn't even feel bad if the cops found out they weren't up to anything bad and I called for nothing. Like the saying goes, "better safe than sorry". Good luck!

Nope, if they weren't doing anything illegal the wouldn't have been arrested. Plain and simple. We have problems with this around here. Lots of houses are vacant, so drug dealers will sometimes use them as drop offs. Fantastic. However, we have run off the majority of them once we caught on to what was happening. Or I should say our neighbors did, they apparently are much more observant than we are. :)

No... I would not feel bad at, all.
And yes, we look out for our neighbors too... especially if they are on a vacation and not home.

When I was in High School... there were some kids, that would break into empty homes in a subdivision. Apparently there were no house alarms. No one lived in the homes at the time. They would remove the jalousie windows, go in, and party/drink/smoke.
Everyone knew about it.
It was wrong of course.
I don't know if anyone called the Cops on them.

Trespassing itself isn't legal, so they were in the wrong from the start. Young adults should know better. I wouldn't feel bad. You were looking out for your neighbors. I would hope my neighbors would do the same for me.

Nope, don't feel bad. They were obviously doing something illegal. That is on THEM, not on you. Don't want to get arrested, don't do bad stuff. Simple as that. If it was as 'harmless' as trespassing, then I'm sure they got off easy. Good for you for looking out for your neighbor.

No, I wouldn't. If they weren't breaking the law, they wouldn't have been arrested. It's not your fault they were up to no good.

Cops aren't going to arrest people for nothing (as you found out) and if the people have nothing to hide, then it's the law enforcement's JOB to check it out anyway--
I wouldn't feel bad.
It was suspicious, you called the cops, they checked, illegal activity...end of story.
You're not George Zimmerman!

As you said they were only arrested because they were doing something illegal. I would feel no guilt at all. What if you went on vacation and they did whatever in your yard?

I am not one to just fly off and call the cops but if I suspected my neighbors house was being vandalized or perhaps broken into I would be calling.

If I had to venture a guess they are breaking into the house and hanging out. We have a home that we are too lazy to sell but haven't been there in over a year. This is one of our fears. I keep saying if someone is going to break in for god's sake burn it down!! Ain't going to happen. :p

I wouldn't feel bad at all. They were obviously doing something bad enough or they wouldn't have been arrested.

Who knows what they might have been doing. For all you know, they might have been going INSIDE the house and doing who-knows-what!!

I'd be curious as heck to find out what was going on. And it will be interesting to know how these neighbors react when/if they find out what was going on.

Just be prepared if it's something really serious, you might be called as a witness. I hope you'll follow thru - we need more concerned citizens like you!!!

Holy Mackerel... you totally did the RIGHT thing!
I'm appalled at how many of us are afraid to do the right thing when it's warranted.
I give you a thumbs up. Hopeful that at least one of those young people that got arrested has had a life change.

No, if they were arrested it was for a reason.

No! Your neighbors will be thankful for you looking out. Someone may have even gotten injured if the police didn't come. Where the heck are the parents? An I the only one who still acts too overprotective with their teenagers? I need to know where, with who, and how long......then they will still get a surprise visit and checked on. Teens and kids get into trouble, and there's always trouble (wierdo's) lurking..love my kids too much to let them roam the neighborhood freely!

It depends what they were doing (which you probably don't know). Either they were doing something illegal or maybe they didn't cooperate with the police. Since it was happening frequently I understand why you called. Unless you had the contact info for the neighbor that was probably the best call.

If they were doing something illegal, they SHOULD have been arrested, and no, I wouldn't feel bad about it.

No, because if they were doing something that wasn't illegal, they would have gotten run off, or maybe taken into the station but let go. Apparently, they were doing wrong, so why feel bad if you did the right thing? They got THEMSELVES in trouble.

If they were sitting in the backyard playing cards, the police would have probably told them to go home.

Chances are they did something illegal and if you have the homeowners phone number, you may want to contact them and let them know. They may have broken in.

Nope. I wouldn't feel bad at all.

No, I'd feel bad if I didn't look out for my neighbor.

Don't feel bad. You did the right thing.

DO NOT FEEL BAD ABOUT THIS!!! They were trespassing. That is against the law.

Yes. I would have called the police.
No. I would NOT feel bad if all were arrested.

The ONLY reason I would NOT feel bad? Is if they had permission from my neighbor and I didn't know about it.

I WOULD contact my neighbor and let them know what's going on. Maybe they can have someone come over to the home to make it look lived in or something like that?

Hopefully, it won't happen again!!!

I would feel bad if they were arrested but hadn't done anything wrong. If they were doing something illegal, don't feel bad.

No, I wouldn't feel bad. You observed a pattern of traffic that was not normal for the home as the owners were not there. You called it in and they were arrested. They were not related to the homeowners so no big deal even if they were they were in the wrong.

Better them be arrested than your house be broken into and robbed.

Good call on your part.

The other S.

Not in the case. Don't mess with me or my neighbors. This one time a car had been seen for about week parkingin front my house, then my neighbors. We would sit for abotu thrity minutes then leave. Was very strange, thought we might be getting staked by some perps. both my neighbor and I called it in. As it turns out they were a couple of young smokers eating lunch. The employer had recently kicked all smokers off their property so they grab a bite, stop on our street, smoke than leave. No harm no foul.

But, yeah they could have been up to know good, it was making us nervous.

Have you considered getting your neighbor's number? i let my neighbors know that i will be out of town and so-and-so with X-car will be helping with mail/garbage cans.

You can also let them know you were concerned and contacted the police. Hopefully they will thank you for helping in keeping their home safe.

Absolutely not! They don't belong there and from the sounds of it were up to no good. Good for you for calling the police! I would have done it sooner. In fact I am the one in the neighborhood that calls in suspisious kids all the time. I'm home all day with the kids. Where we live there have been a rash of teens claiming to be selling things door to door and are only looking for homes where there is no one home during the day to break into them. I don't take chances anymore with that going on! I don't need my neighbors getting burglarized and I don't need that safety issue near my kids. Good for you! They got what was coming to them. Don't feel bad, feel proud!

I might feel bad for them (depending on the scope of their illegal activity), but I would NOT feel responsible or guilty. IF they had been on the up & up, there wouldn't have been any arrests. Their own actions led to their arrests, and you are not responsible for their situation. If something happened to your neighbors or someone in the neighborhood as victims of whatever these people were doing and you had not called the police, you probably would've felt much worse.

If they were not approved by the homeowners to be in their house, you did your neighbors who own the property a big favor. If these people are doing something illegal while they are in the house, you are doing your whole neighborhood a favor. I don't know why you would feel bad or worry that you weren't doing the right thing. If they were supposed to be there, they wouldn't have been arrested. The police would have called the homeowners and verified their story.

The people you should feel bad about are the neighbors who own the house!!!!

Dawn

Well I'm not a fan of the police state that has evolved in this country over the last decade but in your situation I think you did the right thing.

Nope! As you learned, there was a reason for it!

don't feel bad about it. yes, i would, but don't lol.

you did the right thing. no question.

I would not feel bad, but around here it takes the cops 2 weeks to respond to a call.

Absolutely it was the right thing to do.