Did anyone else have a night's sleep ruined? A very loud intruder alarm (I assume) was set off at about 11.00 and didn't stop till after 1.00. It seemed to be somewhere at the Sydenham end of Dartmouth Road - possibly Sydenham Girls' School. I rang the police at about 12.45, who referred me to the noise abatement people at the council. The council switchboard told me that the noise abatement people (person?) had gone home at 12.00, because they (s/he?) had to appear in court this morning! I have sent Lewisham an email, suggesting they try to make their staff rota system a bit more flexible.
Unless anyone on this forum has any better information about this, I will contact the school and ask them if it was them and, if so, what they are going to do about it. It's not the first time this has happened.
Noisy and persistent alarm last night (Wednesday)
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Robin Orton
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- Location: London SE26
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Robin Orton
- Posts: 3380
- Joined: 9 Sep 2008 07:30
- Location: London SE26
Do you need really need to know that, Bensonby? Actually, it was because it was only when I went to bed, at about midnight, that I realised quite how obtrusive the noise was and that I wasn't going to be able to get to sleep through it. And then, in my naive confidence in the essential benevolence of the universe, I assumed it would stop soon anyway. (Aren't intruder alarms - if that's what it was - meant to cut off automatically after a certain time?)
well, the principle being that if it was a police matter - i.e. that there were intruders on the premises - then a prompt a response as possible is needed and they need to be called ASAP: being called 1 hour and 45 mins after the event is rather pointless.
If you are only ringing because there is a noise keeping you awake then it's nothing to do with the police to be honest....
If you are only ringing because there is a noise keeping you awake then it's nothing to do with the police to be honest....
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Robin Orton
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- Joined: 9 Sep 2008 07:30
- Location: London SE26
I'm not criticizing the police for referring me to the council environmental health people. I automatically assumed, as I'm afraid I always do except in the case of immediate neighbours, that the alarm was a false one. Isn't that almost always the case? Or is Bensonby suggesting that we should ring the police immediately every time we hear an alarm go off?
Not necessarily. It just seems like a bizarre course of action to call the police about an alarm that you don't believe to be a genuine one. The police are there to prevent, disrupt and detect crime - ringing them after an alarm has been going on for a very long time just seems odd. If you wanted them to investigate the alarm then fair enough - but surely one would ring soon after the alarm had started? What would you want them to do an hour and a half in?Robin Orton wrote:I'm not criticizing the police for referring me to the council environmental health people. I automatically assumed, as I'm afraid I always do except in the case of immediate neighbours, that the alarm was a false one. Isn't that almost always the case? Or is Bensonby suggesting that we should ring the police immediately every time we hear an alarm go off?
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Robin Orton
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- Joined: 9 Sep 2008 07:30
- Location: London SE26
I can understand Robin Orton's actions and empathise. There's a real 'boy who cried wolf' scenario with alarms (both car and intruder) nowadays.
IF I hear one from a car I fully expect it go off once the owner has realised that the infernal racket is theirs. Ditto an intruder alarm, I just think that it's a faulty one and the firm will be out to fix it.
No longer is my first thought 'that car is being stolen' or 'someone's robbing the place'. Sadly, my reaction is 'why don't they get that blasted thing fixed'.
['blasted' and 'infernal racket'. I've finally morphed into my GrandFather!]
IF I hear one from a car I fully expect it go off once the owner has realised that the infernal racket is theirs. Ditto an intruder alarm, I just think that it's a faulty one and the firm will be out to fix it.
No longer is my first thought 'that car is being stolen' or 'someone's robbing the place'. Sadly, my reaction is 'why don't they get that blasted thing fixed'.
['blasted' and 'infernal racket'. I've finally morphed into my GrandFather!]
I've explained why I think it's strange....if you want the police to attend/investigate then surely the most effective way to enable them to do that is to ring soon after the alarm starts. Not an hour and 45 minutes later - when any potential suspects have long gone.davegr wrote:It doesn't seem strange to me. What I find strange is why bensonby considers it so strange.
If you just want the alarm turned off as it's disturbing you (and you believe it to be a false alarm) then what has that got to do with the police?!
I would just like to add, when my neighbours alarm went off recently I called the police to inform them and the operator told me the police don't come out to house alarms?-
Yellow Peril
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- Joined: 9 Dec 2007 00:34
- Location: The 'Nam.
