The Perfect Neighbor

This is a tragedy that could have been avoided. The police had two years of first hand experience to clearly determine a pattern of mental distress and paranoia with this woman. She repeatedly displayed that she admittedly contradicted herself and said I may have done that but I don't recall. She amplified and exaggerated the situation with local kids. She was sick.

Then they hear that she may have a hun? RED FLAG, RED FLAG! Immediately they should have investigated, do you own a gun, do you have a license, is the gun registered. No, they just blew it off as run of the mill, almost humorous routine domestic calls.

Then after the fact, the detectives seem to get serious, but too late. A mental health crisis that was sadly ignored!

I would never want to take away from the frustration the family or anyone involved with the family would have over a delay in the justice needed to prosecute Susan.

But I would like to comment on the level of compassion and community policing that was evident in the early part of the film. Particularly on the night of the incident.. I saw a comfort concern, compassion, and empathy.

In a time when we are not seeing law-enforcement behave in many circumstances very professionally, there were a number of moments in this film where they did. This occurred back in 2022 to 2023, since then we've seen a distinct change in behavior in some law-enforcement and law-enforcement agents, largely federalized.

I still believe community policing is a valuable and important initiative, I think there were good examples of that here.

Less than 10 minutes in, bodycam footage shows AJ being informed by the police "Keep away from over there. This is your home, that is hers." Owners, renters, all the same, Period.

Unfortunately AJ just kinda laughed it off while leaning on the back of her car, like whatever....

That was the moment. She was informed. That notice and those definitions weren't taken seriously or respected. Then it only escalated from there. She thought it was funny. Which led to her kids thinking the same. It wasnt. That notice should have been 1st warning.

Next callout should have been 2nd warning. Keep yourself and your kids away from her home. 3rd callout should have been strike three, police are pressing charges.

Why this was blown off by the officers called out after the 1st time, I will NEVER understand. They failed her. They failed Susan AND AJ. AND AJs kids.

As a mom, my kids are encouraged to play safely and joyfully, on their own property, at parks, at school, during appropriate hours, within noise levels, set by local laws. They know whats theirs and what isnt. They're taught how to be respectful of other people's boundaries and property. They're also taught how to think for themselves and how to take responsibility. Simply - Actions have Consequences.

Those kids were disrespectful in every scene of the documentary up until the end, where they were sadly in tears over the loss of their mom and friend, and at no point did they take any responsibility for their actions that led up to that moment.

Susan reached out to law enforcement repeatedly for assistance regarding her invasion of peace, the littering, loitering, noise, trespassing, destruction of Property, harrassment, etc. She had signs posted that were ignored and destroyed. There were noise complaints, after hours, and more. The part with the kid messing around in the bed of her truck, trying to put the dog in it, her getting a photo - that's Unauthorized entry and physical contact of her property. She reported them trying to break in/steal it once. Just continued insulting and provoking behavior towards her. There are local laws for every one of these infractions her neighbors committed that continued to stack up. I kept counting misdemeanor after misdemeanor committed by the neighbors the cops kept ignoring.

Thru the movie, people kept telling her to just move. This timeline began in early 2021. This story begins in the 1st 12 months of Covid times. Like most, she was struggling financially, trying to stabilize, working from home, and not ABLE to move. I found it interesting that major piece of the puzzle was verbally left out and many haven't commented about the quarantine mental health perils in reviews. Imagine shifting to a work from home environment with no other option and your livelihood slipping away due to screaming kids outside your window, can't sleep at night due to noise, and your one asset being vandalized while you watched, with nowhere to go, depleting funds, and the cops do nothing.

Police did nothing to uphold the laws. Thats their job.

• One called Susan psycho.

• One fistbumped the kid that called her names, encouraging disrespect.

• Several other officers encouraged the ongoing behavior & 2 covered their bodycams, clearly showing they knew they were saying & doing something wrong by their professional standards.

Over a year of continued harassment and ongoing issues and criminal mischief in this neighborhood passed,... she went down to the police station to try to get some sort of resolution, take further action thru the correct legal ways. She was the only one taking steps. They told her they needed video proof, so she gathered that, as shown in the documentary. Still nothing was done.

Then finally, trespassing one final time, late at night, banging on her door, on her porch, after dark, with a sign posted and ignored, tells me more about AJ than Susan. I don't care if someone says words to my kids from inside their property. If my kids were doing something they werent supposed to be doing, yah, they would be in trouble with that person. And I certainly wouldn't be aggressive and put myself in harms way to go bang on a door at night to yell at them for it. If anything I'd be going over the next day holding my kid by the ear for them to apologize to the lady, sheesh.

The police told Susan to stay inside and just keep to herself, and that was literally what she'd done for years. Shockingly they didn't tell the neighbors to do the same, and they were able to run all over her.

She had been imprisoned in her own home for a long time at this point. At her wits end. Asking for help over and over. Who knows where she was financially at this point. Not good I'm guessing. Stressed beyond measure and not working well in that environment, ...and everyone is shocked that this ended with a gunshot?

I'm not. I'm only shocked it wasn't suicide. If it was, it sadly wouldnt have been a popular documentary like this, the public would have twisted it into a dark comedy. I'm shocked she's the only one serving time. At this point she needs mental health resources, not jail. And the police department needs some serious internal reviewing.

Over and over again all this documentary shows was how many laws her neighbors repeatedly broke and how many times law enforcement failed to do their jobs. People focus on the violent end, when they should be focused on the awful nightmare of repeated actions by so many she endured that led up to her final action.

It's sad these kids don't have a mom now. Tragic that over and over it could have been avoided if basic civil and property laws had been followed and upheld.

I'm also sad at how many view Susan as the monster, the kids as angels and the neighborhood as the victims. Mob mentality lacks critical thinking and common sense.

My stomach dropped. It was raw and gripping. This film was a well-constructed way of bringing this hard subject matter to light. The body-cam footage really helped show the timeline of the events and the responses as they happened. But it was the reactions of the immediate aftermath that hurt my heart. Truly wishing love and healing for the family.

Many of us encourage children to play outdoors, their laughter brings life and warmth to a neighbourhood. But sometimes, that innocent joy becomes unbearable for others. For some, every sound of happiness deepens their loneliness and fuels their anger. They feel trapped in their own world of bitterness, where every moment of others' joy feels like torture.

Still, no matter how much frustration builds up, taking someone's life over such trivial annoyances can never be justified.

In my neighbourhood, kids run freely on the streets, their energy filling the suburb with life. Most of us appreciate this, it reminds us that our community is alive and connected.

Maybe the woman in The Perfect Neighbours simply lived in the wrong place. If you despise the sounds of family life and children playing, perhaps a quiet, adult-only area would be better. Otherwise, she'll never find peace, and neither will those around her.