> We called the police, who took the camera as evidence and encouraged us to leave the property immediately. We also contacted Airbnb and were put in touch with Liviana, a member of the company’s safety team...
Filing a police report might be helpful, but I agree this is likely to be frustrating in many places.
A friend once called the cops because a neighbor was having a psychotic break and trying to break into her apartment. This went on for hours - luckily the door was sturdy.
The cops never showed up. The next morning they called her to ask if she was still OK.
Speaking about Germany here, I have a friend who had a neighbour in a similar situation and two cops showed up and convinced her to come with them into a psychiatric hospital. My friend was very happy with the results.
In america i'd tell the cops i have a gun loaded and am ready and willing to fire if the neighbour breaks through the wall. Cops tend to show up then
> It's not the 70s, the cops can't keep up with robberies and theft, turn a blind eye to drugs and illegal immigrants, and don't even bother with murders and rapes in some places.
Actually, no, literally all of that (except the "It's not the 70s" part, obviously) more of a problem at any point during in the late 20th Century (1960s-1990s. peaking in the 1980s) crime wave than it has been any time since.
The cop will kick it down the line into whatever process gets him out of there and back onto the beat. Said process will then do its best to drop the issue because there's no easy money in it.
I'm very much a millennial and there's nothing wrong with trying that. Most cops will at least be able to open a case and make sure you get a case number to reference as well as take the camera into evidence. I'm sure there are several laws forbidding hidden cameras like these, some of them even federal. And calling AirBnB afterwards telling them that you just had the cops collect the camera into evidence and you now need them to figure out the situation is putting a LOT more legal pressure onto them.
> [...] the cops can't keep up with robberies and theft, turn a blind eye to drugs and illegal immigrants, and don't even bother with murders and rapes in some places.
Not a boomer, so I don't have first hand experience, but I think you aptly described large US cities in the 70s. Ever watch Taxi Driver? The boomers are the ones who saw places go from 50s/60s petticoats to exactly what you described.
