Posted on 06/10/2013 9:27:46 PM PDT by bamahead
BOULDER, Colo. - Boulder police say they have a right to enter unsecured homes if residents leave an open door.
Boulder police Sgt. Michael Everett tells the Boulder Daily Camera entering unsecured residences is a standard procedure for most law enforcement agencies, including Boulder police. He says the practice is not likely to stop.
Chrissy Smiley called police to complain after she returned to her south Boulder condominium after walking her dogs Thursday and found a card from a Boulder police officer sitting on her dining room table letting her know he had been there.
Boulder police officials told The Camera officers can enter a home that is closed and even locked if they have a “reasonable suspicion that something was amiss… such as if the officer observes mail piled up by a door or sees someone inside who appears to be in physical distress.”
Although I am uncomfortable with this, in some neighborhoods an open door is an indication of something wrong, and should be investigated.
If I’m following the logic of some here today, they’d be within their rights to check the Call History on the phone in your bedroom as well.
urban cops have become the enemy, criminals with badges
That’ll work great right up to the time a cop gets shot.
Do you feel the butchery getting closer?
Does this mean if a homeowner comes home to find you in their bedroom, can you just say the door was open and I decided to investigate why—you know, just a neighborly thing to do.
Aren’t you a trespasser? Why aren’t the police? They’re not “special”, despite their thinking they are.
This may fly in urban/sub-urban/ex-urban situations, but in my neck of the woods, somebody’d end up dead.
Well, I'm creeped out, even 40 years ago the idea that when I left for a 3 day weekend that the cops might enter my locked house just to poke around, would have freaked me out.
Interestingly, it would have freaked out everyone 40 years ago, this would have been unimaginable then.
Maybe they’re still looking for JonBenet’s killer.
That's how the Night Stalker operated as well.
How to Get Arrested in Arizona for DUI With a BAC of 0.00
http://news.yahoo.com/arrested-arizona-dui-bac-0-00-black-185209528.html
Several years ago a home owner was shot and killed by a deputy that entered a home with an opened door. It was at night. The deputy entered the home and was confronted by the owner, armed with a fireplace poker. The deputy stated that he attempted to identify himself, before shooting the home owner. The deputy was cleared of wrongdoing.
I was burglarized about 30 years ago in San Francisco. I called the police and watched one cop climb the apt. building's fire escape, checking every window as he went. When he found one that wasn't locked, he opened it, announced it was the police and entered.
If a burglar with a gun enters your house and shouts, "POLICE," I guess you're not supposed to shoot.
They know if they get sued in Federal Court they will get their heads handed to them, but figure most people cannot afford to sue.
Agreed.
They do have the imperative to enter when something really amiss but, just walking in because the door is unlocked?
Mistakes are bound to happen and bad things too.
What if I’m on the toilet and can’t get to the door, which you discovered unlocked?
I frequently walk out of the house leaving it unlocked and this was ever so try when I lived in Oklahoma.
Not a good policy to enter a home because you feel you can, as a so called friend.
No, this is just you getting your jollies by violating a boundary of another person.
Kinduh like alcoholics but with a gun, badge and shielded by the government.
Entering a home in the dead of night isn’t going to result in anything good.
This cop is a hitman.
Just remember the Clint's words from "Line of Fire":
Aim High!
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