Calling the police on your neighbours should not be a difficult decision

Last night was interesting. My girlfriend, sitting outside, heard raised voices from the neighbours. We’ve heard them argue before, so she didn’t think anything of it. Then came what sounded like things getting broken, and a scream. That was a little more unusual, and so she called the cops.

Shortly thereafter, we saw a police officer in there through the window, who left a few minutes later, apparently satisfied. We didn’t hear anything else from the neighbours for the rest of the night.

My girlfriend unequivocally did the right thing. It’s so obvious now that she did. The strange part was that she wasn’t sure that she did. She asked me what I thought before she called, she pre-emptively apologised to the police line operator (who assured her that she did the right thing) and even afterwards had doubts that needed to be quelled before she could go to sleep. After all, what if it was nothing?
...

That voice, the one that left my girlfriend wondering if she did the right thing, is only worrying about consequences in the one direction. What if she was wrong and that family goes to court over nothing? It's a fair question, but what of the other one? What if she was right? What if it was a violent incident, and we ignored it? The consequences of one outcome far outweighs the other.
I'm very glad we called. I'm proud of my girlfriend for making the right call. I just wish it hadn't seemed like such a hard decision for both of us.


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