Neighbors told police a woman’s camera was pointed at their bedroom, but she says the officer’s one question ended the complaint

A woman who posts on TikTok as Justinna Patience (@justinnapatience) said her neighbors called the police after taking a photo into her home of a camera she keeps on a tripod. In a video that she said had drawn about 115,600 views, she described the complaint as the “stupidest thing” they could have done. On-screen text in the video reads, “Neighbors called the cops and it backfired.”

Patience said the neighbors claimed they were “worried I’m going to use my camera to take photos into their house.” She stated that “from our windows we cannot see each other,” so the neighbors went “down to the driveway to take a photo into my private home of something I have inside of it.” She said the photo showed a camera on a tripod inside her house.

She said an officer who responded questioned the neighbors about that claim. Patience recounted that the officer asked, “if they think my camera is taking photos into their bedroom, why did they not take a photo of my camera from their bedroom to show that that’s where it’s pointed?” She said the camera was not pointed at their bedroom.

Officer said the neighbors’ own photo undercut their complaint

Patience said the neighbors answered that “it was just a bad angle and they couldn’t see it from their bedroom.” She said the officer then replied, “exactly. So if you cannot see her camera from your bedroom, it is not taking photos of your bedroom.”

In the video, Patience appears speaking to the camera in what looks like a home setting. She has long reddish-brown hair and is wearing a grey tank top. She said the neighbors had photographed something inside her private home from the driveway rather than from a window that faced her camera.

Patience added in the caption that the officer also addressed the neighbors about opening their garage and playing funky podcasts. She wrote, “The bright side is that the officer came down on them about opening their garage and playing funky podcasts, and it’s been quiet ever since.”

Viewers focused on the photo the neighbors had taken. Some said the complaint described the same kind of photographing that the neighbors accused Patience of doing. Others asked whether any charge followed and suggested window film.

One commenter said the neighbors had reported possible photographing while providing a picture of themselves doing that. They wrote, “so they called the police to report you of possibly doing something and provided a picture of them doing just that.” 

Another commenter said the neighbors appeared to be looking into her window. They wrote, “they’re absolutely looking in your window.” Such neighborly conflicts can escalate, as when a woman trespassed onto her neighbor’s property over a noise complaint, grabbed one, and then told police it was because they were provoking her. 

A third commenter asked whether the neighbors faced charges. They wrote, “Were they charged with trespassing/invasive of privacy and/or voyeurism???” Another commenter suggested covering the windows. They wrote, “put some privacy film on your windows!”