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CAN POLICE USE PHONY 911 CALL AS BASIS TO ENTER YOUR HOUSE?
vanity | 8/19/12 | jobim (vanity)

Posted on 08/19/2012 2:19:55 PM PDT by jobim

Here are the facts regarding friends (we'll call them the Parkers) of mine: Police came to the house at 3am, saying that someone reported they had heard a scream coming from their house. Police left upon being told that the Parkers had no knowledge of this.

Then sometime not long later, the police came to the Parker home again, saying that a 911 call had been made from the Parker house, with the voice of a woman yelling, and the phone was hung up. The parents were not at home, just the teenage boy and the 20-something girl. They showed no identification, although they wore the uniforms of the local police. The boy wished to accompany them as they searched the house, but they told him to stay where he was. One of the officers went down the hall to a bedroom where the husband's gun collection was, and lingered there long enough so that the other officer called out: "Are you all right?" The guns are all properly registered. The officers then left.

My questions: Is an incorrectly-attributed 911 call a frequent occurence? Could such be used to gain access to anyone's house? Is a warrant required?



TOPICS: Your Opinion/Questions
KEYWORDS: emergency911; leo; police; search; vanity; warrantless
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Does anyone have any experience with a similar situation?
1 posted on 08/19/2012 2:20:06 PM PDT by jobim
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To: jobim

They have to check the situation out. How many times have 911 operators and police dismissed a call and come to find out some psycho has had people tied up or chopped up in his garage?


2 posted on 08/19/2012 2:23:44 PM PDT by Dallas59 (President Robert Gibbs 2009-2011)
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To: jobim

It’s called SWATing.


3 posted on 08/19/2012 2:24:51 PM PDT by null and void (Day 1308 of our ObamaVacation from reality - Obama, a queer and present danger)
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To: jobim
"Got a warrant?"
4 posted on 08/19/2012 2:27:04 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum (Government is the religion of the sociopath.)
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To: jobim

I am going to play police advocate here. How do they know it is a false call until they investigate?

I would guess a vast majority of 911 calls aren’t false.

If someone calls 911 hearing a scream from the neighbors house, it could be a false call to harass a neighbor, but, it could be that a neighbor fell, there was a home invasion or something else.

It seems as someone in a public safety position, the first and fast priority would be to check on where the report came from, not do who knows how many hours of investigation required to try to determine if it is a fake call.


5 posted on 08/19/2012 2:27:56 PM PDT by mnehring
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To: jobim

Holy heck, where do these Parker’s live that they have to register their firearms? Basically, the cops can do whatever they want, and recourse comes after the fact. Unless, possibly, you know your rights, have a camera and a witness, and you don’t open the door. They would have to have probable cause that a felony has been committed. Others more knowledgeable than i , and that’s a lot, will feel free to correct me.


6 posted on 08/19/2012 2:29:49 PM PDT by andyk (Go Juan Pablo!)
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To: Dallas59

Seems to me that one of Dahmer’s victims was taken back to Dahmer’s apartment by police who determined that it was just a lover’s quarrel.


7 posted on 08/19/2012 2:29:56 PM PDT by cripplecreek (What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his soul?)
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To: jobim

We’ve had three experiences with the police coming for 911 calls made in error - a cordless phone transmitting 411 wrong, a child who learned about 911 in preschool, trying to dial a 921 number and getting it wrong. Nobody yelling in the background, though.

The police never asked to come in, just talk to us at the door, particularly me, the woman of the house.


8 posted on 08/19/2012 2:31:28 PM PDT by heartwood
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To: cripplecreek

If they come in with guns blaring and shooting dogs...it’s wrong. Searching a house that has had two 911 hangups is ok.


9 posted on 08/19/2012 2:32:38 PM PDT by Dallas59 (President Robert Gibbs 2009-2011)
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To: heartwood

We had a case like that. My wife was with several friends in our house rehearsing for an Opera they were about to be in. Apparently, someone walking by heard what they thought were screams (it was screams but part of the script) and called 911. They came by, checked everything out, talked to everyone in the house and left. They were very nice about it and nothing came from it. I appreciate that they did that. What if it were a home invasion situation instead and the scream was my wife being attacked? (in reality, knowing my wife, the perp would be the one screaming in pain but that is another story.)


10 posted on 08/19/2012 2:36:02 PM PDT by mnehring
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To: Dallas59
Searching a house that has had two 911 hangups is ok.

I disagree, because it is obvious that the 911 system has been compromised. If the 911 system were a secure, infallible system, then it might justify probable cause, but since it is so easily hacked, as we see with the various "swatting" incidents, it should no longer be considered reliable. Either secure the system, or toss it.
11 posted on 08/19/2012 2:42:20 PM PDT by fr_freak
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To: jobim
 
 
They need to contact whatever communications center that dispatches officers for that jurisdiction and get a print-out of the call chronology so as to determine if there was any real calls to service in the first place and try to determine the origin of these complaints as well as officer actions and comments. Use the info, if any, to make a complaint to the department concerning those false calls - obtaining the info and making a complaint NOW is important in the event these 911 calls escalate in severity. If they get any static about obtaining chronology information from the dispatch, consult an attorney - matter of fact they may want to anyway on the side of caution. Also they need to think if there is someone in their lives who would want to deliberately target them with "SWATing" stunts.
 
 

12 posted on 08/19/2012 2:44:43 PM PDT by lapsus calami (What's that stink? Code Pink ! ! And their buddy Murtha, too!)
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To: jobim

We had this problem and it turned out to be a glitch in the phone lines, the cable company we used for our phone service.

Once it was investigated and fixed, it never happened again.

It was a bit unnerving to have the police show up at our door twice.


13 posted on 08/19/2012 2:46:24 PM PDT by OpusatFR
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To: fr_freak

I think it is reasonably secure, as they can trace the source of the call, and prosecute those who do fake calls.

What’s the alternative? No one can call the police? Calls can be faked without 911, you know, just call the police in a normal fashion. Should the cops ignore those calls, too?


14 posted on 08/19/2012 2:48:36 PM PDT by Persevero (Homeschooling for Excellence since 1992)
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To: Dallas59

I agree. Its a tough situation. Leftists pull that kind of crap as a means of harassing police and creating animosity toward police.

I’ve seen them show up after a cancelled call as well. My cousin thought his truck had been stolen one night till he found it in a field across the road. He pulled in a driveway and went to the door. Nobody was home so he went to leave and his truck was gone. He called the police and when he was waiting for them he saw it in the moonlight a good 100 yards off the road. He called the police again and cancelled but they showed up anyway.


15 posted on 08/19/2012 2:52:43 PM PDT by cripplecreek (What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his soul?)
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To: Persevero
I think it is reasonably secure, as they can trace the source of the call, and prosecute those who do fake calls.

Wrong. The swatting incidents that have made the news recently were the result of spoofed caller IDs. That is to say that though the phone call was made from a location other than the Smith's house, it appeared to be coming from the Smith's house on the operator's control screen. This way, the hackers can say "I've got a gun and I'm going to kill everyone!" then hang up, and the 911 operators tracing the call (incorrectly) to the Smith's house, where they are sleeping peacefully, and BOOM, they wake up with M-16s in their faces.

I don't say we throw out the 911 system, even as it is, but I say that the police should not be able to use a 911 call solely as the basis for entering a residence, because the system is unreliable now. They should go investigate, but if they cannot find any evidence of a crime being committed and the occupants claim no knowledge, the police should have no legal basis for entering.
16 posted on 08/19/2012 2:57:40 PM PDT by fr_freak
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To: fr_freak
but since it is so easily hacked, as we see with the various "swatting" incidents, it should no longer be considered reliable. Either secure the system, or toss it.
Swatting is not hacking ... and just what would you replace the current system with that is so much better?
17 posted on 08/19/2012 3:01:12 PM PDT by oh8eleven (RVN '67-'68)
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To: jobim

Appear at the window with hands visible and state “I do not consent to a search - if you have a warrant, kick the door down and enter.”


18 posted on 08/19/2012 3:06:40 PM PDT by struggle (http://killthegovernment.wordpress.com/)
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To: jobim

About 20 years ago I had police at my door. They stated someone made a foul and vulgar 911 call from my address.

My spouse was napping upstairs, and it was me and the dog. I left them on the porch, woke up my husband and we both denied any part of the prolem. They really didnt believe us. We told them it was their glitch. they left.


19 posted on 08/19/2012 3:08:08 PM PDT by Chickensoup (STOP The Great O-ppression)
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To: jobim

About 20 years ago I had police at my door. They stated someone made a foul and vulgar 911 call from my address.

My spouse was napping upstairs, and it was me and the dog. I left them on the porch, woke up my husband and we both denied any part of the prolem. They really didnt believe us. We told them it was their glitch. they left.

These days cant you program phones to give different call back numbers?


20 posted on 08/19/2012 3:08:57 PM PDT by Chickensoup (STOP The Great O-ppression)
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