Wow... No probable cause? Is won't last..
"Warrant? I don't have to show you any steenkin warrant!"
Yeah, but the fact is, they've already done it! If you don't have the resources to fight them you loose. These cops are criminals and I don't care what specious arguements they use. The old "I'm just doing my job" excuse won't do. Of course, if someone had resisted this un-lawful search they would be lucky to escape with their lives. Thugs.
NO warrant? Simply close the door and tell them to come back with one.
Here's the link to the entire Oshkosh Northwestern story:
Search for shooting perpetrator
Search for shooting perpetrator becomes frustrating for Oshkosh neighborhood
By Jim Collar and Jeff Bollier of The Northwestern
Local police still have no culprit in custody following a Saturday night shooting that left an officer wounded in a south-side Oshkosh neighborhood.
Oshkosh police officials on Monday remained quiet on the progress of their investigation into the unprovoked shooting of Officer Nate Gallagher, who stood outside his squad car at 17th Avenue and Minnesota Street when the round was fired. Investigators Monday combed through a yard in the 1700 block of Minnesota Street and maintained a presence in the neighborhood throughout day.
Gallagher was released from the hospital Sunday after sustaining a gunshot wound to the right arm during response to a nearby underage drinking complaint at 10:10 p.m. the previous evening. Police Sgt. Kelly Kent said Gallagher is doing well.
Kent, however, wouldn’t discuss details of the investigation or any suspects. He said detectives have made progress and continue to actively follow leads.
The ongoing search for a perpetrator continues to prove frustrating for residents of the otherwise quiet neighborhood near Smith Elementary School. Residents of the 1700 block of Minnesota Street had mixed things to say about the methods police used in searching homes Sunday morning in the aftermath of the shooting.
Terry Wesner said “a couple of shotguns and a rifle” were removed from his home by SWAT Team members after he consented to a search, though officers did not tell him they removed the firearms after they completed their search.
“That’s what makes me so mad,” Wesner said. “They had no reason (to remove the firearms) without a warrant. … I didn’t know they removed anything until my buddy, who’s staying with me, noticed they were missing. I thought you had to have a warrant to take someone’s guns.”
Oshkosh Police Capt. Jay Puestohl said officers “don’t go into houses without consent or a warrant.” He acknowledged consent to search does “not necessarily” mean officers have consent to remove property.
Puestohl also said nothing illegal was done by removing the firearms and that investigators needed to examine them. He declined to say on what grounds officers had the right to remove the firearms, though.
“We’re getting into a lot of legal details if there’s evidence that can be seized. They (the firearms) could be,” Puestohl said. “As far as I know there was nothing inappropriate or illegal done.”
Martin Gruberg, president of the local chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, said some of the stories he’s heard from the neighborhood at least raise questions of whether rights were violated by investigating police.
“Search warrants are specific, and include information on why police are there and what they’re looking for,” Gruberg said. “If you give police consent to search, does that give them the right to come in, rummage around and take things? I’m not sure.”
Gruberg said neighbors might have felt compelled to offer consent whether or not they were comfortable with a search because they didn’t want to give the appearance that they had something to hide.
Ron Kendall, a resident of the 1700 block of Minnesota Street, said residents of the house that has become the focus of the police investigation refused to consent to a search without a warrant.
He suspects it’s a reason why police are giving the home so much attention.
Detectives, who went to the home with a search warrant Sunday morning, were seen using a metal detector, sweeping through grass and cutting down shrubs and branches in the front yard Monday evening. Puestohl declined to say whether officers pursued the warrant because the residents refused a consent search.
Details of the search, probable cause for the search or any items taken from the home weren’t available on Monday. Court records show that one occupant of the home has no criminal record, while the other occupant’s record is limited to non-violent misdemeanor convictions.
Kendall said officers have shown neighbors disrespect during their investigation.
“I can understand: It’s one of their own, but they’ve been downright rude to us,” Kendall said. “You don’t treat so-called civilians this way.”
Doris Eichel was another 1700 block resident whose house was searched, but she said officers were very polite.
It doesn't matter; the issue is the mindset that allows usurpations such as this to occur.