When police come to your home...

[David2012]

If I have my pants on at home... then I have a gun on too.. even if it is only a LCP or .45 long Colt / .410 derringer loaded w/ 1 Winchester PDX1 round and 1 4-pellet 000 buckshot round. And since we don't have kids in the house and rarely have any kids visit, I am usually within approx. 20 ft or less from some sort of larger caliber weapon.

As far as the police coming into my home... if I call them and they make entry to my house, I will tell them I'm armed out of courtesy. If they show up uninvited and entered the house, I would not inform them I was carrying. I wouldn't disarm inside my own home unless I was told I'm under arrest or about to be searched.

Now if I step outside on the porch.. I would notify them I have a weapon on me [making darn sure I had my CC license on me] or else leave my weapon inside. If I didn't call the police, and they asked me to step outside to talk...I think I would do my talking through the closed & locked storm / screen door... and not step out... unless directly ordered to do so.

I would never give permission to search my home! If the police had probable cause, they wouldn't be asking.. they'd just search the place.

I never understood these idiots who are transporting drugs or something illegal in their vehicles... when the police ask if they can search the vehicle... the bad guy almost always gives their permission. It is OK for anyone to say "NO!". If you get caught with drugs or anything illegal... the penalty for getting caught will be the same whether or not you gave permission for the search.

If the police had PC [probable cause] they wouldn't be asking for your permission to search. Make them get hold of a judge and explain their need for a warrant. And if they do search without the vehicle owner's permission and find something illegal... there is a chance that a good defense attorney could get the search thrown out of court on a technicality. Same way for your home.. don't give permission for a search... if the police want to search, make them get a warrant.

And if they are in your home... don't let one distract you with questions while another goes to use the restroom or steps into another room to make a phone call in private... that is generally a ploy to search the place without a warrant while you are being distracted by the partner. If they want to Pee or wash their hands or take a phone call out of your line of sight... then send them down the road to a 7-Eleven or McDonald's.

What many of you may not know is if a police officer was to step into your restroom to take a leak or wash their hands and looked in your medicine cabinet or on the counter and spotted just 1 prescription bottle that is out of date and still has meds in it.. they then have probable cause to search the rest of the home because you have prescription meds without a valid Doctor's prescription. Same goes for your vehicle if they spot a out-of-date prescription bottle in the glove box or center console while your digging for insurance papers. Any thing in their line of sight, they can inspect without a warrant..

 

[Glocktogo]

I would never give permission to search my home! If the police had probable cause, they wouldn't be asking.. they'd just search the place.

Not necessarily. LEO's will at times ask for permission even when they know they have PC to search. If consent is given, it solidifies the admissibility of recovered evidence. The LEO can also observe speech and body language of the subject to gather additional information. Sometimes a subject will even give away where the illegal item is without saying a word.

I never understood these idiots who are transporting drugs or something illegal in their vehicles... when the police ask if they can search the vehicle... the bad guy almost always gives their permission. It is OK for anyone to say "NO!". If you get caught with drugs or anything illegal... the penalty for getting caught will be the same whether or not you gave permission for the search.

Which is exactly why LEO's ask. They're using social conditioning against the subject. It's psych 101 that people who are hiding something want to convince the person confronting them that they have nothing to hide. The "tells" on these people are incredibly easy to spot. Perhaps they think that if they give permission, the LEO will assume they have nothing to hide and not perform the search? It doesn't work very well.

If the police had PC [probable cause] they wouldn't be asking for your permission to search. Make them get hold of a judge and explain their need for a warrant. And if they do search without the vehicle owner's permission and find something illegal... there is a chance that a good defense attorney could get the search thrown out of court on a technicality. Same way for your home.. don't give permission for a search... if the police want to search, make them get a warrant.

Exactly. Why solidify their case for them? Make them work for it. Remember, the police cannot help you in an investigation. What they do or do not find may cause them to exclude you as a suspect, but it will not find you innocent. It's always possible that what they find may cause them to believe you guilty, when in fact you're not.

And if they are in your home... don't let one distract you with questions while another goes to use the restroom or steps into another room to make a phone call in private... that is generally a ploy to search the place without a warrant while you are being distracted by the partner. If they want to Pee or wash their hands or take a phone call out of your line of sight... then send them down the road to a 7-Eleven or McDonald's.

Easy fix. Don't allow them in.

What many of you may not know is if a police officer was to step into your restroom to take a leak or wash their hands and looked in your medicine cabinet or on the counter and spotted just 1 prescription bottle that is out of date and still has meds in it.. they then have probable cause to search the rest of the home because you have prescription meds without a valid Doctor's prescription. Same goes for your vehicle if they spot a out-of-date prescription bottle in the glove box or center console while your digging for insurance papers. Any thing in their line of sight, they can inspect without a warrant..

It depends on the Schedule classification of the drug. Many Rx meds aren't even on the drug schedule. A bottle of Biaxin antibiotic isn't on the schedule at all. A bottle of OxyContin on the other hand is a Schedule II drug with a high potential for abuse. The former will not get a second look. The latter will.

 

[ArGyLe64]

Always double check the address on the warrant. The officers could be at the wrong house. This has, can, and will happen.

 

[NikatKimber]

Just make sure that the warrant has valid information, is actually signed, and read it and hold them to the limits defined by the warrant.

That's a given, considering I read all legal contracts and documentation pertaining to me. You wouldn't believe how many people are shocked that I do. Even read the whole cell phone contract. That girl was almost offended I did. She was telling me "it just says you'll pay your bill and there's a $200 early termination fee, why you reading the whole thing?!?" My response: "Oh yeah? Then why on earth is it 2 1/2 pages of fine print?" Same thing with our house contract. Realtor was the same way... "It just says such and such... blah blah blah" Uh, excuse me, no it doesn't. Otherwise it wouldn't be 14+ pages long. Sheesh...

Huh, what's this soap box doing under my feet?

Absent probable cause, no, they can't. The key to all of these questions is to not open the door. If they don't have a warrant, they cannot compel you to open the door or come out. If they have a warrant, they must announce so, unless they have a rare no-knock warrant. If that's the case, you'll be notified by the sound of a Halligan tool forcibly opening your door. If they can't talk to you through a closed door, there's no need for them to talk to you.

Once you step foot out your door, they have a LOT more leverage on you. Whether you're on your own front porch or not, you're in public view and it's much easier for them to detain you. If they have probable cause to get a warrant, let them come back with it. If they had probable cause to make you wait outside, they'd have probable cause to enter without a warrant.

Interesting!

What brought on this line of questioning? Seems like raving paranoia has gripped the forum and everyone expects LEOs to be kicking down the doors. What's up?

No telling.

 

[Michael Brown]

Absent probable cause, no, they can't.

This is not accurate.

Probable cause is NOT the standard by which the police may search a home. The standard is MUCH higher. When it comes to HOME searches, probable cause is the standard to apply for a warrant. EXIGENCY is the only standard for warrantless home searches.

There are a group of exigencies that offer LEO exceptions to the warrant requirement but everyone who is answering this series of questions with yes/no answers is doing themselves and anyone else who wants good information a disservice.

The only short answer to any of the original questions, other than number one which is "no" and has been decided definitively in court, is "it depends". None of these questions provide enough information to give such an unqualified answer.

All of them rely not just on what you know, but what the police have reason to believe and you cannot possibly know the answer to that in every circumstance.

Do as you wish as you are all adults, but know in advance that yes/no answers to these types of questions require a LOT more information.

Michael Brown

 

[Glocktogo]

This is not accurate.

Probable cause is NOT the standard by which the police may search a home. The standard is MUCH higher. When it comes to HOME searches, probable cause is the standard to apply for a warrant. EXIGENCY is the only standard for warrantless home searches.

There are a group of exigencies that offer LEO exceptions to the warrant requirement but everyone who is answering this series of questions with yes/no answers is doing themselves and anyone else who wants good information a disservice.

The only short answer to any of the original questions, other than number one which is "no" and has been decided definitively in court, is "it depends". None of these questions provide enough information to give such an unqualified answer.

All of them rely not just on what you know, but what the police have reason to believe and you cannot possibly know the answer to that in every circumstance.
Do as you wish as you are all adults, but know in advance that yes/no answers to these types of questions require a LOT more information.

Michael Brown

I stand corrected. What I was particularly trying to point out is the bolded part of your statement.

 

[bulbboy]

I invite them in for coffee

 

[264killer]

And donuts

 

[Mr10mm]

OK after reading all this I should not answer door and tell them I have a gun?

 

[Super Dave]

The only time they come to my house is when I have called them to report ANOTHER crime in my neighborhood. I always invite them in. I have welcomed them to hide in my driveway and catch speeders or stop sign runners (there is a stop sign in my yard), but they have declined. When Howard Armor ran the OCPD Will Rogers division, he would put a car there sometimes. He's retired now. He was one of my customers.

If they ever came and I hadn't called them, well, I'd just be freaked out. People that come by without calling first are just rude.