Because I live alone, and because I wasn't home because I was working,

[no_hypocrisy]

the local police, during an investigation, broke the door to my apartment (street door) and the two locks. I mean axes and broken wood.

My neighbors told them I wasn't home. They told the police where I worked. The police literally broke the door and the frame to make sure I wasn't lying dead upstairs.

BTW, the original call to them reported a male voice yelling "Help me, help me, help me! Call the police!" on the other side of the building, nowhere near my unit.

I called the town councilman to complain bitterly when I came home last night at 10:15 to an unsecured apartment.

Until my landlord replaces the door and locks (uncertain how soon that's going to be), I can't walk into my apartment without wondering if there has been theft or if my safety is in jeopardy.

[hlthe2b]

1. Does your local news channel(s) have an investigative reporter or consumer affairs reporter?

Get in contact with them. They may be able to advocate on your behalf, possibly do a story, but most importantly direct you to possible resources to help.

This is happening more and more and for police to be absolutely unconcerned about the aftermath--especially to a single woman living alone is unconscionable. Good luck.

[True Blue American]

2. Great adivice!

Complain, follow through, go up the ladder. Make waves!

[cab67]

6. I agree with True Blue American

Public agencies (including the police) really don't like bad press.

[Rorey]

3. As a landlord myself, I know your landlord better be acting fast

This isn't something that can be delayed. Hopefully it'll be taken care of today.

Is there a victim's advocacy organization where you live? Maybe they can help, because you're surely a victim.

I had a situation a few months ago where it was discovered that one of my tenants had passed away. It was in a house, not an apartment. I think she must not have locked the door, because it wasn't broken, so I'm guessing the authorities just walked right in. She was discovered on August 1st and nobody called me. I found out on August 3rd from my ex-husband who has a tenant who knew her, and she had seen it on Facebook. I rushed over to the house in disbelief that this could have happened. I found all of the doors and windows wide open. This was in the evening on a Saturday night, so really all I could do at that point was pull shut the front door and pull down the window on the front of the house.

When I went back the next morning, the front door was again open, and the window was again open. Someone had pushed up the window because I couldn't lock it, and they went in and then obviously just left through the front door.

I'm still just furious that nobody called me when the situation was discovered. Not the police, and not the coroner. Because of the length of time that my tenant had been deceased in the house, it wasn't safe to enter, and I feel that they really dropped the ball by not notifying me so I could have something done immediately to secure the premises. Had I been notified on the Thursday evening that she was discovered, I could have had the biohazard company in there by Friday morning. As it was, the house sat unsecured for four nights.

Stay safe, and please update on this situation.

Edited to add: NOW, after the fact, I know what to do in a situation like this. I think that either the police or the coroner's office could have advised me that there are companies that one can call who will be there within hours. As it was, I had to do my own research, and it wasted some valuable time.

I hate to paint entire groups with a broad brush, but I really think that both the police and the coroner dropped the ball.

[Grins]

8. "...nobody called me..."

Did they have a phone number?
Know you were the actual owner?
Know the occupant was elderly/infirmed/mental problems...a gun owner...?

Guessing no, but that calls for a local POC registry in every town.

[Rorey]

11. Actually, yes to the first two.

I'm listed on the assessor's site, and so is my phone number and my own residence address, and yes, I'm the actual owner.

She wasn't elderly and didn't have mental problems. She was 42. She just got very sick, and mentioned to friends that she was thinking about going to the ER. She just didn't make it. I find it odd that her friends didn't check up on her during the 10 days that nobody heard from her. She had one living relative, a nephew, who apparently has a lot of issues and lives about 40 miles away.

Since this event, I've called police dispatch to inquire about why I wasn't called. It seems to be a case of passing the buck. (The coroner and the police department both said they assumed the other would have called me.) I was told by dispatch that I could register my properties with them so they'd have my phone number in case there was an incident, so of course I did that. Hopefully I'll never need to be called, but i really don't have a whole lot of confidence that it'll happen anyway.

In past years, when I was still married, my husband occasionally got calls in the middle of the night about incidents that happened at our properties, so I know the police used to make the calls.

This was my favorite tenant, and we'd often have great conversations whenever I'd go by to do some maintenance. We'd had a text conversation just a couple of days before the day I think she died. I told my then-husband when I first met her a few years ago that my first impression of her was that she was the kind of person that I'd love to have as a friend, but I thought it was best to keep it on a professional level.

I feel that the police and/or the coroner really should have called me, but I think I'm most disappointed in the mail lady. When mail is overflowing, along with other issues, she really should have reported it, IMO.

[safeinOhio]

4. Time to get a lawyer.

Get the best as it will cost you nothing if you don't win.

[WanderingLiberal]

5. And still..

A few yrs back a neighbor had a restraining order against soon to be ex. Middle of the night alarm goes off. Local police investigate - no one answers door, they peer around in bushes and leave. In the house, husband shoots soon to be ex and self with 2 children sleeping upstairs after police leave. Police response - oh well, sh*t happens. But they were real good at stopping lots of the brown people who drove thru the hood on their way to clean houses & do yards.

[Grins]

9. So they....

Should have broken the door in and entered?
You know how many false alarms they get every day?

Not an easy answer.

[Aristus]

7. Cops watch too much cop TV.

They all want to bust doors down and go in with guns blazing...

[yellowdogintexas]

10. three words: Fort Worth Texas

Police called due to open door and concern by neighbors for the well being of the familyl.
Instead of going to the open door and announcing their presence, putting on the flashing lights or using a megaphone, one of the officers did a sneak move around the side of the house, was seen by the occupant who picked up her own gun out of fear. The policeman immediately fired his weapon and she is now dead.

In Dallas, an officer mistakenly entered the apartment below her own, saw a man eating ice cream and watching TV on the sofa, and fired on him - he is not dead. She has the upper hand, and the weapon. Why did she not yell "Police, Freeze" first?

These are the types of events which led Colin Kaepernick to take a knee. Not disrespect for the flag.

[Hoyt]

12. I get it. But, apparently there was a distress call. I you had been dying in pain . . . . . . .

Hope it gets fixed quickly and you get back to normal.