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Old March 23, 2009, 07:50 AM   #101
gretske
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Join Date: May 3, 2008
Location: Lake Murray, SC
Posts: 182
Quote:
I would also guess that most 911 centers are not notified in advance of any midnight calls that are scheduled. So even if you called, they probably would not know about a warrant being served, and if they knew, probably are not going to tell you.
Remember, this was a dispatch based on a call to 911, not a warrant being served, so the 911 dispatch center would have known.
Quote:
That said, just cooperate on scene and save the beefing for later.
You are missing the point. The citizen did not know whether the people on the other side of the door were really LEOs or not. What if it was bad guys pretending to be cops? Cooperate, as you suggest, and you could be dead. It's not a uniformed cop approaching you on a street corner, it is a disembodied voice on the other side of a closed door at 3 AM. (Land Shark? Candygram?)


I would have never opened the door until I was sure they were LEOs. And, opening the door to see their ID is NOT an option in a case like this; if they are bad guys, they will just push the door open, and I am a dead nice guy. I would probably have called 911 to verify that they were cops before opening the door, if I could not get a visual ID for myself. I would NEVER, EVER in a million years, open the door until I was sure beyond any doubt that the voices on the other side were LEO. I don't think there is anything the voice on the other side of the door could say that would convince me.

While I agree that the citizen did not act in a completely appropriate manner according to the report, you have to admit that having your door pounded on at 3 AM is an extraordinary, and frightening, experience. The LEOs have a much higher standard than a citizen in a case like this. Citizens do not have a responsibility to be "nice" when rousted at 3 AM, but LEOs have a legal obligation to be certain before taking serious action.

Quote:
There is no set procedure for citizens dealing with the Police.
Sure there is. It is called the Constitution and it sets out exactly what rights citizens have regarding law enforcement.

I predict a big lawsuit!
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