background: staying in a roadside motel in the US. Man and Woman in the next room are screaming at each other. 1:30 in the morning. Not my problem.
But I did get voyeuristic and plant my ear on the wall. Most I could comprehend was “your daughter, but what about MY daughter?” from the woman. That’s what I thought I heard.
I was like, if I am certain I can tell that someone is beating on someone, and trying to kill them, or you know just violence is happening, then I’ll call 911. but I was far from certain. all i could discern was crying and screaming.
Hour later, someone is pounding on my door. is it someone in distress? I am in the least accessible and least desirable room in the place. It’s probably one of those two neighbors, but which one?
Anyways, I’m in the US, so I have one or more guns, but I don’t keep them loaded or accessible. by the time I had something ready, I think the neighbors were about to pass out. they currently are quiet after hours of screaming.
So I’m not a fan of cops, but not entirely against them. Situations in which I did call the cops:
-Neighbors were screaming at each other, 3 a.m.; their 6-year-old girl was out in the street crying.
-I heard broken glass and looked out the window, and saw a pair of big man’s boots going into what I thought was a single woman’s apartment.
Eh, depends on where I am. At a hotel, probably not until things seemed to be moving into threats. In your situation, I would have called the desk first after a few minutes of sustained noise, and only gone for cops if that failed.
At home, I know most of the neighbors well enough to be able to tell > what’s going on and why, so I’m slower to call when I’m sure nothing is going to happen. If it’s someone not from the neighborhood, or is unfamiliar, I’ll call when things get loud enough to hear it over fans and such. Then again, I know the local cops too, so I’m confident in their unwillingness to jump to violence themselves. Smallish town, smallish department, and the people in charge aren’t batshit about the whole “warrior” bullshit.
When I’m pet sitting for a friend over in the city, idgaf, I’ll call as soon as it gets loud enough to notice, and doesn’t stop in a minute or so. Don’t know the people, don’t know the cops, but I’ve got an obligation to my friends to keep things as safe as possible.
But yeah, if there’s a kid involved, you call sooner rather than later, same once things start getting broken.