Replies

I had a signed search warrant with my name on it, but with my previous address, a home in the same county that I had sold 18 mos before. They got this warrant on the word of bail enforcement agents from another state (other side of the country), who said they had information that a wanted fugitive (armed robbery, not even murder or rape) had made a phone call from my house. Of course, that never happened, but it didn't matter as they searched the address on the search warrant, failed to find their man, and then came to knock on my door at 2:00 am that night.

I did not let them in. But they came back the next morning with 6 cruisers and about a dozen cops who surrounded my house and stayed there for about half the day. The police couldn't tell me what phone number this alleged phone call was made from, nor would the bail agents discuss it with me.

I doubt most jurisdictions really make it difficult on cops to get search warrants, no matter how bogus their info is.

This is my understanding of police officers:

i) They are generally very nice people who ensure that some modicum of law exists in society, and many a time they are heroes in every sense of the word.

ii) However, at the same time I am cognizant of the fact that they are human, and that just because someone wears a blue-suit, carries a badge, and open-carries a fire-arm, does not mean that they are as white as hysop. A cop can be just as dirty as any perp on the street, with the only difference being that the perp on the street has to watch out when they break into your house. A cop can simply go in through the front door, while the perp would probably try and jig a window in the back.

Thus, most cops are good people. However, there is nothing intrinsically present in a cop's badge that makes the holder of one immaculate. No oath can do that. In my profession (fund management) one of the highest milestones is the CFA designation, and one of the key cornerstones of it is ethics (one can get kicked out for the smallest infringement). However, that doesn't mean that there are people who are not ethical. Sadly, there will always be humans who do bad things.

And until the day that people who become policeofficers come fluttering down from heaven on angels' wings, there will always be some cops who will be worse than perps.

Any given case has to be evaluated on its merits of course. One thing that is always necessary is due diligence. But it would take an attorney to give a good opinion on the strength or weakness of filing a lawsuit.

It takes a case like the one in the article to ferret out sloppy or unethical activity by some officers. And believe it or not, judges do not like to have their signatures on falsified warrants. The next time an officer from the agency requests one the judge will be a lot more attentive.