Like a large portion of the Eastern part of the US, we had a nice day today. Nearly 70 here in DC! So I went out in the yard with my dog (ONLY my dog) for a while. A neighbor came by with his dogs (2), and I invited him into the yard to let our dogs play and have a beer (him, not the dogs, of course!), and then another dog owner in my building came out with her dog, so we had 4 dogs in the yard for a short time. Of course, during the 30 minutes we were chatting and letting our dogs play (with 3 owners supervising 4 dogs), neighborhood busybody came limping by and AGAIN called the police, again claiming that "aggressive dogs were threatening her." You might think she watches and waits for an opportunity to complain...
BUT, this one backfired on her. After confirming that the dogs were contained and supervised, the police told her they had previous complaints about her harassing dog owners at our address, and she either needed to move on or be arrested for making false complaints. She started to throw a fit, but once one of the officers got his cuffs out, she scoffed something about "these newcomers having no respect" and moved on. I think I might have actually won the war. I mean, the police and AC never had any problem with me, but, damn, they threatened to arrest her! Once she ambled away, the police told me that they were just generally sick of her. She has, apparently, complained about anyone who moved into the neighborhood with a dog/got a new dog during the whole *2* years she has lived here (such a "longtime resident"...while I have only lived in my *current* home for a couple of months, I've lived in the neighborhood at large for over 3x longer than she has), but I've been the only one to follow through with a complaint against *her.*
So, I guess, don't back down, if you're doing nothing wrong. Your complaints mean just as much, to a reasonable police force.
BUT, this one backfired on her. After confirming that the dogs were contained and supervised, the police told her they had previous complaints about her harassing dog owners at our address, and she either needed to move on or be arrested for making false complaints. She started to throw a fit, but once one of the officers got his cuffs out, she scoffed something about "these newcomers having no respect" and moved on. I think I might have actually won the war. I mean, the police and AC never had any problem with me, but, damn, they threatened to arrest her! Once she ambled away, the police told me that they were just generally sick of her. She has, apparently, complained about anyone who moved into the neighborhood with a dog/got a new dog during the whole *2* years she has lived here (such a "longtime resident"...while I have only lived in my *current* home for a couple of months, I've lived in the neighborhood at large for over 3x longer than she has), but I've been the only one to follow through with a complaint against *her.*
So, I guess, don't back down, if you're doing nothing wrong. Your complaints mean just as much, to a reasonable police force.