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Comment on Can deliberate noise harassment still be a crime if it's done every day from 7:30 AM till 10:30-11:30 PM?

I don’t know the laws or systems in place in the UK for this, but I work in 911 dispatch in the US, and I can’t imagine that something like this is too radically different across the pond

As long as the cops in your area are fairly responsive (I know a couple departments in my county will take their sweet-ass time responding to a noise complaints) call every time he does something.

Yes, you’re going to get sick of it, but more importantly the cops are going to get sick of it too. They really don’t want to be out at your neighbors house over this every day/week/month/8moths, or however often he does it. Before too long he’s going to get hit with fines and other consequences. Once or twice they might issue a warning

Speak to the officers every time. Make sure they’re seeing and hearing what you’re seeing and hearing, get it on video if you have to, don’t give them an opportunity to write it off because they drove by the house and “didn’t hear anything.”

Tell them he’s schizophrenic, refusing to take his meds, tell them he’s harassing you, that last part is important, tell them you want to file a report for harassment, discuss what your options are- pressing changes, restraining orders, whatever they may be, and pursue them. You’ll probably have paperwork and court dates and such, it sucks, but that’s how the process works.

Be prepared for retaliation from him in some form. Get security cameras, try to avoid any contact with him if you can avoid it. He already has delusions that you’re conspiring against him, and having the cops show up at his door repeatedly are going to feed right into that, it’s not out of the question that he might get violent, or start vandalizing your property.

Continue to report anything he says and does to you, no matter how small, each incident you document builds a stronger case for more consequences. Every time he accuses your brother of making wolf noises, or hacking his phone, any weird interaction at all, make sure you’re documenting it with the police.

Try to catch his niece when she’s over, explain the situation, explain that you’re going to have to take legal action if it doesn’t stop, see if she can possibly talk sense into him, or possibly if she or other family might be able to pursue some sort of involuntary commitment for him (read up on your local laws about that, I have no idea what they’re like in the UK except that I think it’s called “sectioning” over there, I suspect that you wouldn’t be able to start that process, it would probably need to be done by a relative, the police, or a medical/mental health professional)

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Luouth@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
Totally agree on the harassment angle. That’s where you’ll get the police to listen. Had to take a similar approach with a paranoid schizophrenic neighbour who equally did not take his meds. The harassment angle allowed them to involve other agencies such as mental health and care workers to improve his situation, and in turn, ours.

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Tiffany1994@lemmy.cafe ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
Thanks for the detailed advice! I appreciate it a ton. I’ve got the radio/TV blasting and the siren/screaming recorded. He is a frail old man, he’s almost in an L shape. He did once go out into his garden shouting for my brother (my mum heard it and said it was mostly incomprehensible) with a frying pan in his hand. That was over a year ago. When he yells and screams after playing the siren we can’t make out what he’s saying. We already have a doorbell camera so if he comes to the door we’ll receive a notification about it and it’ll be recorded.

My mum has all his texts he sent her accusing my brother saved. These texts go years back so it’s all documented. When his niece comes over again we’ll see if we can talk to her. She did hide his siren before but she says he’ll probably end up ordering a new one from Amazon which is what seems to have happened here.

In the UK it is called sectioning. I’m not sure what the specific criteria are besides causing harm to others or ones self, I’ll have to research it more in the meantime. Once again I really appreciate the advice, we’ve all been so stressed out lately and something has to be done because we’re not putting up with this every day for months or even years

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- Fondots@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  And I do want to just reiterate that the harassment angle is really what you want to play up with the police.
  
  I don’t know the specifics of how policing and such works in your area, but there’s a pretty big difference between “my neighborhood is an inconsiderate jerk who plays his music too loud” and “my neighbor is intentionally targeting me with loud music and sirens to disturb our sleep”
  
  The first one is a noise complaint, that’s low priority for the police and depending on where you are maybe not even a police issue but something like code enforcement.
  
  The second one is a police issue, it’s harassment. This will vary from one jurisdiction to another, but where I work depending on some of the details I might enter that as “suspicious activity” or even a “disturbance” (basically a fight) which should get police there with some urgency.
  
  And some of the other things you’ve said, like him walking around outside with a frying pan, I could definitely make an argument for putting in those calls as a “wellbeing check” or “suspicious person,” and if he’s acting particularly threatening maybe even “armed subject,” or possibly as a psych emergency to also send EMS to hopefully get him taken to a hospital for a psych eval.
  
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