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I found out a few weeks ago there is definitely no harm in calling the police. I was returning from the grocery store in the evening when i noticed there was a man walking in front of my house wearing all black constantly looking over his shoulder. to be honest he looked very lost and very out of place. i pulled into my driveway, gave him a look and took my groceries inside. i looked out the window and he bypassed my house (probably because of the look i gave him i don't know) and was conversing with my neighbor from the street while my neighbor was in his garage. something just was not adding up in my mind. so he left and i walked across the street to talk with my neighbor who was incredibly suspicious of the guy. The man refused to say who he was selling for, refused to give his name and that of his supervisor. he also had no ID. so we retrieved the non emergency number to our sheriffs department but could not get through. at this point the man was knocking on another door and when that neighbor did not answer he started to peer through the window. that was it for me. i just dialed 911 and called the sheriff out that way.we are very on edge as there was a murder in our area right before Christmas so we do not mess around with anyone suspicious.
Well long story short the deputy arrives and was very helpful. turns out the guy must have been soliciting one of those stupid magazine subscriptions or something and did have a permit. he accused us of being racist but the deputy smacked down that argument quickly and told him he would have reacted the same way especially since it was night, he was in all black, and he didn't have an ID. The deputy told us that they had received over 40 calls on that organization selling that night alone and that he had 3 other units in an neighborhood a few miles away running them out. He also said its a 50/50 if they are legit or if they are casing. He also suggested a NO Soliciting sign which would make it trespassing automatically if someone came on your property for those purposes which i was unaware of. Might be a good idea to look into. we have one now. The parting advised the very helpful deputy gave us was that if we see anyone going door to door and they don't look right we should not hesitate to call. they will be more than happy to come out. this made me feel very comfortable with calling if it ever happens again. That is the point of my rant i guess. If the situation comes up again where someones at your door and it doesn't feel right, don't hesitate to get L.E. involved. At least in my area they are very helpful.