COPS!!!!!!!!!!

[dougt06]

So on my way home from work today is spotted a house that has recently went up for sale. After dinner i ask my wife if she would like to go take a look at it. We take the short drive down the road to the other house, and as we are pulling into the driveway i notice a sheriff's car behind me. A few minutes pass and i look in my rear view mirror and see that he has came back and pulled into the driveway and is stopped at the end of the driveway and is blocking me from leaving. He gets out of the car so i roll down the window and he says "So what are you doing here?" I simply replied that i was taking a quick look at the house, and asked if there was some problem. He goes on to tell me that the house belongs to a friend of the sheriff and that the deputies had been asked to do extra patrols around the house and that it didn't look good for my truck to be sitting in the driveway of an empty house. So i told him that he was right behind me when i turned in, and he just looked at me dumbfounded. He asked for my drivers license and sure enough it wasn't in the pocket i usually keep it in my wallet. So after fumbling through my wallet for a few minutes he tells me its no big deal if I cant find my license, he just needs my name and DOB. So I finally find my license and he takes down my info and goes on his way. Needless to say i was extremely by this point. I just cant believe that i got hassled for pulling in and looking at a house with a giant for sale sign in the front yard. And if the cop had been paying attention he would have seen me pull in. I'm glad to see my tax dollars so hard at work when the deputies are doing personal favors for the sheriff and his friends and hassling me when i have done absolutely nothing wrong, and didnt even care that i didnt have a drivers license on me!!!!

 

[IndyMonkey]

You were on property that was not yours.

He was policing the community looking for people that are where they do not belong.

You can be identified with out your license.

 

[jblomenberg16]

Clearly vacant house with a giant for sale sign = easy target for burglars.

I know you are upset, but it sounds like he didn't ask anything unreasonable (unless there is more in there that I missed). Anyone, including a protective neighbor could have asked you what you were doing there, and who you were.

Whether or not you answer is of course up to you.


Now, play the scenario out a different way. You own a home that is for sale, it has been obviously vacant for a while, and it gets broken into. There happened to be a cop that noticed a vehicle in the driveway about the same time it was broken into, but he passed it off as none of his business. Would you be happy that the cop did nothing?

 

[dougt06]

It is just the fact that the cop told me that he was doing it as a personal favor for a friend of the sheriff. And i was behind the wheel of my vehicle and he said it was no problem if i didn't have my license that he would just take my word for it. And after i gave him my drivers license he just wrote down my info and left. I don't think he was trying to "identify" me. And the house didn't look abandoned at all. The yard was mowed and there were curtains hanging in the windows.

 

[Archbishop]

It is just the fact that the cop told me that he was doing it as a personal favor for a friend of the sheriff. And i was behind the wheel of my vehicle and he said it was no problem if i didn't have my license that he would just take my word for it. And after i gave him my drivers license he just wrote down my info and left. I don't think he was trying to "identify" me. And the house didn't look abandoned at all. The yard was mowed and there were curtains hanging in the windows.

I with you on this point. In my mind it's not that he investigated, but rather he admitted that it was a personal favor thing.

 

[IndyMonkey]

It is New Castle, its not like the County police are that busy.

 

[esrice]

If I called into the local police department, can't I request extra patrols in my area if I feel there is a need?

Isn't this essentially what the Sheriff did?

 

[IndyMonkey]

If I called into the local police department, can't I request extra patrols in my area if I feel there is a need?

Yes, but it doesnt make a very cool story.

 

[IndySSD]

It is just the fact that the cop told me that he was doing it as a personal favor for a friend of the sheriff. And i was behind the wheel of my vehicle and he said it was no problem if i didn't have my license that he would just take my word for it. And after i gave him my drivers license he just wrote down my info and left. I don't think he was trying to "identify" me. And the house didn't look abandoned at all. The yard was mowed and there were curtains hanging in the windows.

I lived in NC for about 7 years and my family has lived there for generations and there has been a ridiculously high number of burglaries in and around NC over the last few years. Homes for sale are prime targets for that as well as vandalism by kids and people breaking in to use as a "smoke house".

Also, it's a tiny town and most everyone knows everyone who's been there for any amount of time so yeah, it's kind of a good ole boy town and the people who know each other generally watch out for each other.

The officer could have probably been a little nicer, you'd think he would want his friends house to sell but I don't think he's way out of line for checking out someone eyeballing the house, even if it is for sale.

 

[OAK]

It is just the fact that the cop told me that he was doing it as a personal favor for a friend of the sheriff. And i was behind the wheel of my vehicle and he said it was no problem if i didn't have my license that he would just take my word for it. And after i gave him my drivers license he just wrote down my info and left. I don't think he was trying to "identify" me. And the house didn't look abandoned at all. The yard was mowed and there were curtains hanging in the windows.

The courtesy of police setting a route to watch a property is open to all. I know several times when my folks would leave for a lengthy vacation, they would call the sheriff before hand and ask if there could be an officer drive by on occasion. Of course this was in a small town.

 

[christman]

Two shirtless hotties in your avatar make for a cool story.

 

[Praetorian13]

He was doing a favor for a friend by looking after his house while he was gone. Cop or not is there really anything wrong for doing a friend a favor?

 

[dougt06]

Wow i love how all the a$$ holes come out on here and make the story the way they want it to be. I have never heard of anyone being hassled for looking at a house in broad daylight on a busy highway. Its not like i was out looking in windows or trying to open doors. And for all you d*ck heads who think i'm trying to tell a cool story, sorry if it didn't match up to your story telling standards.

 

[IndyMonkey]

Wow i love how all the a$$ holes come out on here and make the story the way they want it to be. I have never heard of anyone being hassled for looking at a house in broad daylight on a busy highway. Its not like i was out looking in windows or trying to open doors. And for all you d*ck heads who think i'm trying to tell a cool story, sorry if it didn't match up to your story telling standards.

Your succeeded in what I was looking for.

Regardless of what you think, you were on property that was not yours.

 

[lovemachine]

Wow i love how all the a$$ holes come out on here and make the story the way they want it to be. I have never heard of anyone being hassled for looking at a house in broad daylight on a busy highway. Its not like i was out looking in windows or trying to open doors. And for all you d*ck heads who think i'm trying to tell a cool story, sorry if it didn't match up to your story telling standards.

WOW!


IBTL!!!!

 

[PatriotPride]

Here's a hint. Next time, stay in the street while you take a look at the house. No need to give the police an excuse to come talk to you, and should they choose to hassle you, you are well within your rights to hand them your papers and say nothing.

 

[OAK]

Wow i love how all the a$$ holes come out on here and make the story the way they want it to be. I have never heard of anyone being hassled for looking at a house in broad daylight on a busy highway. Its not like i was out looking in windows or trying to open doors. And for all you d*ck heads who think i'm trying to tell a cool story, sorry if it didn't match up to your story telling standards.

Maybe you were hot headed in that situation too!

 

[esrice]

Wow i love how all the a$$ holes come out on here and make the story the way they want it to be.

You really can't be so sensitive. You posted your thoughts on an open web forum, with the intent of others giving their . That's exactly what everyone has done.

We've seen many examples on here of officers who have overstepped their bounds. I just don't see that in this case.

 

[PatriotPride]

Wow i love how all the a$$ holes come out on here and make the story the way they want it to be. I have never heard of anyone being hassled for looking at a house in broad daylight on a busy highway. Its not like i was out looking in windows or trying to open doors. And for all you d*ck heads who think i'm trying to tell a cool story, sorry if it didn't match up to your story telling standards.

Yeesh no need for hostility. It should be a given that if you're standing in someone's driveway and a cop is doing nothing/bored, they're going to stop and talk to you. Hell, just look at the trouble some of us run into while going about our business legally carrying a firearm. "Papers please?!" You always have the option to plead the 5th

The lock...I feel it coming.

 

[IndyMonkey]

Did they quit putting Realtor phone numbers on signs?