The Cops show up at my house the other day..

[Anonymous]

It sounds like this 911 thing is pretty fool proof!

I'm pretty sure we didn't dial 911 and it couldn't have been my BB Storm, cuz we all know how solid that thing is, and I wasn't home, and it's in my companies name. However, the police did take it seriously enough to have two cruisers comb the neighborhood for awhile.


Most everybody here has a gun? What kind of place is this?

 

[JustOneMore]

Years ago when our daughter was around 15-16 shid did something (cant remember) and we told her she was grounded! Well after about 30 minutes of arguing, she walks thru the kitchen, picks up the phone and dials 911 then drops the reciever. I notice the reciever hanging so i go hang it up. RING RING "this is hancock co sherriffs dispatch is everthing ok?" the whole time the wife and daughter are still yelling. I explain the situation and the dispatcher says she HAS to send an officer out.

So the officer arrives and checks on everyone and all is good,........ Till the daughter tells him that we cant ground her and as long as she is home before curfew that there is nothing that he or us can say.

You should have seen her face when the officer told her, " If your parents say you are grounded why do you Try walking out that door and we will see what i cant do".

 

[Joe Williams]

Years ago when our daughter was around 15-16 shid did something (cant remember) and we told her she was grounded! Well after about 30 minutes of arguing, she walks thru the kitchen, picks up the phone and dials 911 then drops the reciever. I notice the reciever hanging so i go hang it up. RING RING "this is hancock co sherriffs dispatch is everthing ok?" the whole time the wife and daughter are still yelling. I explain the situation and the dispatcher says she HAS to send an officer out.

So the officer arrives and checks on everyone and all is good,........ Till the daughter tells him that we cant ground her and as long as she is home before curfew that there is nothing that he or us can say.

You should have seen her face when the officer told her, " If your parents say you are grounded why do you Try walking out that door and we will see what i cant do".

Reminds me of the time Sean threatened to call the cops on us because we told him he had to eat his veggies LOL.

 

[alfahornet]

So the officer arrives and checks on everyone and all is good,........ Till the daughter tells him that we cant ground her and as long as she is home before curfew that there is nothing that he or us can say.

You should have seen her face when the officer told her, " If your parents say you are grounded why do you Try walking out that door and we will see what i cant do".

I bet she didn't walk out

 

[public servant]

huck ahuck ahuck.... good one.

He didn't make the call, neither did his wife. There were MANY cars in the area, according to his statement. I think they had no idea of the exact location; therefore, they were choosing the 'best' location as to what/where the call came from. .....fishing....

Why the smart comment? Does it bother you that your fellow officers may actually be fishing for information or a glimmer of hope to address the issue? You seem insecure about it... why? Sorry if it bothers you that people are aware that you and your fellow officers may not know what is going on, or may 'feel' like something is wrong and need to 'fish'... sniff sniff

Wow...calm down...it was a joke. Sorry...I forgot the purple rule.

Why would it bother me that people know that if they dial 911 and get disconnected (either accidentally or if say the person beating the hell out of them or raping their wives, girlfriends or daughters ends the call) the police are going to attempt to determine where the call came from rather than sit and see if anyone calls back when they find the body.

I figure that's why the 911 system was in place. Sorry you have such disdain for the police and the way they do their job. They aren't perfect...but they try.

You call it "fishing"...I call it doing their job.

 

[hornadylnl]

Wow...calm down...it was a joke. Sorry...I forgot the purple rule.

Why would it bother me that people know that if they dial 911 and get disconnected (either accidentally or if say the person beating the hell out of them or raping their wives, girlfriends or daughters ends the call) the police are going to attempt to determine where the call came from rather than sit and see if anyone calls back when they find the body.

I figure that's why the 911 system was in place. Sorry you have such disdain for the police and the way they do their job. They aren't perfect...but they try.

You call it "fishing"...I call it doing their job.

This makes me think back to the Border Wars thread earlier where (forget how exactly) they bypassed warrants to gain entry to a house that was used to traffic illegals.

What would prevent a LEO from using the "911 was dialed from this house, we need to come inside" line? A poster above mentioned that a LEO tried gaining entry into his place using the 911 thing. If a person didn't know any better or have a good defense lawyer, how would they know to have the 911 records checked to make sure the LEO wasn't bluffing?

Settle down, Public Servant, not making accusations, just food for thought.

 

[Benny]

Years ago when our daughter was around 15-16 shid did something (cant remember) and we told her she was grounded! Well after about 30 minutes of arguing, she walks thru the kitchen, picks up the phone and dials 911 then drops the reciever. I notice the reciever hanging so i go hang it up. RING RING "this is hancock co sherriffs dispatch is everthing ok?" the whole time the wife and daughter are still yelling. I explain the situation and the dispatcher says she HAS to send an officer out.

So the officer arrives and checks on everyone and all is good,........ Till the daughter tells him that we cant ground her and as long as she is home before curfew that there is nothing that he or us can say.

You should have seen her face when the officer told her, " If your parents say you are grounded why do you Try walking out that door and we will see what i cant do".

Wow. She was 15-16 years old when she did this? That's bordering on "adulthood."

To Joe Williams:

That sounds like something my 5 year old son Xander will be doing in a year or two.

Wow...calm down...it was a joke. Sorry...I forgot the purple rule.

Why would it bother me that people know that if they dial 911 and get disconnected (either accidentally or if say the person beating the hell out of them or raping their wives, girlfriends or daughters ends the call) the police are going to attempt to determine where the call came from rather than sit and see if anyone calls back when they find the body.

I figure that's why the 911 system was in place. Sorry you have such disdain for the police and the way they do their job. They aren't perfect...but they try.

You call it "fishing"...I call it doing their job.

All of the unconstitutional cops out there that do "fish" put the good guys out there in a really bad situation...

I'm not an LEO, but I have a few of questions for anyone disagreeing with the actions the LEOs have taken in the stories in this thread:

How quick would you be ready to crucify the cop that stopped by your house after a dead 911 call and didn't feel like looking around when your family is actually in danger? Since someone comes to the door, should he/she just take their word for it and leave?

What about the kid getting raped/tortured in the basement that happened to get to a phone for a couple of seconds before it is ripped out of his/her hand?

Could you sleep at night knowing you could have done something to save that kid, but didn't because someone might have accused you of "fishing?"

 

[Denny347]

This makes me think back to the Border Wars thread earlier where (forget how exactly) they bypassed warrants to gain entry to a house that was used to traffic illegals.

What would prevent a LEO from using the "911 was dialed from this house, we need to come inside" line? A poster above mentioned that a LEO tried gaining entry into his place using the 911 thing. If a person didn't know any better or have a good defense lawyer, how would they know to have the 911 records checked to make sure the LEO wasn't bluffing?

Settle down, Public Servant, not making accusations, just food for thought.

Food for thought. We are damned if we do and damned if we don't. We show up and I get people who are angry for me checking on them. Just like some here, they think we are making it up. My laptop will have the display from the phone company on it showing the name of the person the phone is registered to, the number, and the address, so I'm not making it up. If it is a cell phone, it will show the number, cell phone company, the tower address it bounced off of, and sometimes the coordinates of the phone. 99.9% of the time it is someone that dialed a number with 911 in it and it automitically calls 911. Citywide, we probably respond to 4-5 hundred of these every day, next to alarms, it is the most common run type. If I don't check and someone actually needs help...I'm screwed. Hell, even if I check it and someone comes to the doors and says everything is ok and there is someone inside that needs help...I'm still screwed. Can you see the headlines, "Cops let woman die inside house after husband says all is ok after she dials 911." Nice federal lawsuit and all the fun stuff that comes with it. FBI gets to come in and accuse you of being a criminal while they are investigating the aligations. I've seen it firsthand and it is ugly. We try to do the best we can, we try to check the 911's to make sure there is not someone there that needs us. Most of us would be very upset knowing that someone was inside that needed us and we could have helped had we just taken a few steps to discover them, at the same time we are covering our own butts. We are smart enough to NOT us 911 as a means to gain entry into a house. We cannot "self dispatch" on those runs, they HAVE to come from dispatch so it would be painfully obvious that it was a lie. It's really a non-issue. Why use such a dumb reason? Also, this arguement could be used for just about EVERY run we go on, even traffic stops.

 

[Denny347]

What would prevent a LEO from using the "911 was dialed from this house, we need to come inside" line?

Maybe the same thing that keeps the millions of gun owners from going out on random shooting sprees, we follow the law. We took an oath and AMAZINGLY actually adhere to it.

 

[hornadylnl]

I don't believe the "911 call" excuse has been used in any large scale but I'd be surprised if it never has.

If you responded to one of these calls and did gain entry and found a bag of weed on the table, would you be able to arrest them?

 

[Denny347]

All of the unconstitutional cops out there that do "fish" put the good guys out there in a really bad situation...

"Fishing" does not have to violate anyones rights. I fish all the time in traffic. I stop cars for valid reasons but I really looking for wanted persons, burglary suspects, robbery suspects, stolen cars. I'm not looking to write tickets to as many non-criminals as I can find, I looking for actual criminals to arrest. I'm also not looking to go around searching cars. I usually done't need to, Most of the time I can see it/smell it when I walk up to the car. If I can't, I'm not going to bother looking for it if the driver is not going to jail. I guess "fishing" is seen as stopping people for no real reason other than the hopes that they are doing something illegal. I dono.

 

[hornadylnl]

"Fishing" does not have to violate anyones rights. I fish all the time in traffic. I stop cars for valid reasons but I really looking for wanted persons, burglary suspects, robbery suspects, stolen cars. I'm not looking to write tickets to as many non-criminals as I can find, I looking for actual criminals to arrest. I'm also not looking to go around searching cars. I usually done't need to, Most of the time I can see it/smell it when I walk up to the car. If I can't, I'm not going to bother looking for it if the driver is not going to jail. I guess "fishing" is seen as stopping people for no real reason other than the hopes that they are doing something illegal. I dono.

And how is using a burnt out license plate light to pull over someone hoping to get a drug bust much different than using a 911 call excuse to gain entry in a house. Do you believe using a burnt out light simply as a reason to pull someone over to look for more crimes is in line with the 4th amendment?

 

[samot]

If you responded to one of these calls and did gain entry and found a bag of weed on the table, would you be able to arrest them?

Uhmm, Ya !

 

[hornadylnl]

Why couldn't a "bored" cop use a city ordinance that says grass can't be over x inches tall and go around knocking on doors to hand out tickets? Just think of all the cracked open doors they could peer through or smell for drugs.

Suspect a guy might be cooking meth in his house? Get out the ruler and measure his grass.

 

[tedbower]

I don't know why any law LEO on this site even answers questions anymore , all you end up doing is trying to defend yourselve's for the job you do.

 

[Joe Williams]

I am curious about something. Is there anyone here who really, truly believes the police are going around knocking on random doors claiming to have gotten a 911 call just so they can search a house?

 

[Denny347]

And how is using a burnt out license plate light to pull over someone hoping to get a drug bust much different than using a 911 call excuse to gain entry in a house. Do you believe using a burnt out light simply as a reason to pull someone over to look for more crimes is in line with the 4th amendment?

I am 100% legal to stop someone for the light
IC 9-19-6-4
Tail lamps
Sec. 4. (a) Except as otherwise provided in this section:
(1) a motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, and pole trailer; and
(2) any other vehicle that is drawn at the end of a train of vehicles;
must be equipped with at least one (1) tail lamp mounted on the rear that when lighted as required in this chapter, emits a red light plainly visible from a distance of five hundred (500) feet to the rear.
(b) Only the tail lamp on the rear-most vehicle of a train of vehicles is required to be seen from the distance specified.
(c) A motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, pole trailer, and any other vehicle drawn at the end of a train of vehicles, excluding a truck-tractor, that is:
(1) registered in Indiana; and
(2) manufactured or assembled after January 1, 1956;
must be equipped with at least two (2) tail lamps mounted on the rear that, when lighted, complies with this section.
(d) A tail lamp upon a vehicle shall be located at a height of not less than twenty (20) inches and not more than seventy-two (72) inches.
(e) Either a tail lamp or a separate lamp must be placed and constructed so as to illuminate the rear registration plate with a white light and make the plate clearly legible from a distance of fifty (50) feet to the rear. A tail lamp or tail lamps, together with a separate lamp for illuminating the rear registration plate, must be wired so as to be lighted whenever the head lamps or auxiliary driving lamps are lighted.
As added by P.L.2-1991, SEC.7.

 

[BE Mike]

Why couldn't a "bored" cop use a city ordinance that says grass can't be over x inches tall and go around knocking on doors to hand out tickets? Just think of all the cracked open doors they could peer through or smell for drugs.

Suspect a guy might be cooking meth in his house? Get out the ruler and measure his grass.

The best cops are proactive. They don't just wait for calls, they are looking for crimes in progress or evidence of crimes which have occurred. They make traffic stops for minor offenses, and yes if they see a bunch of guns, cash, and small appliances in the back seat, they ask questions. A good cop knows what is going on on his beat. Heck yes the good cops try to sniff for drugs. What is your fixation with drugs?

 

[BE Mike]

Some time ago, my wife got a call from a 911 dispatcher asking if everything was ok. She said that yes everything was ok. A little while later a young police officer was at our door. He said that there had been a 911 call from our residence and asked if he could look around. I explained that my wife and I were the only people home and neither of us had dialed the phone. I invited the officer in. He talked briefly to us, obviously to make sure that we were safe. He said that it was rare, but occasionally there were mistakes made in the 911 system and this was one of them. We talked a bit and he went on his way. I guess nothing man-made is perfect.

 

[hornadylnl]

The best cops are proactive. They don't just wait for calls, they are looking for crimes in progress or evidence of crimes which have occurred. They make traffic stops for minor offenses, and yes if they see a bunch of guns, cash, and small appliances in the back seat, they ask questions. A good cop knows what is going on on his beat. Heck yes the good cops try to sniff for drugs. What is your fixation with drugs?

I don't have a fixation with drugs. I've never done drugs unless they were prescribed by my doctor and even then, I don't take them any longer than I absolutely need to.

This is my question.

It is generally accepted that it's okay for a cop to pull someone over because they have a light out without any intention of ticketing them for it. There only hope is to find something else to arrest them for. I understand that our current laws allow this.

If this is ok in your vehicle, why isn't it ok in your house? It's the same principle. The courts on one hand say they 4th amendment applies to your house but not to your vehicle? I understand that an officer needs your permission to search your vehicle unless you have something illegal in plain site. We all know that no LEO has ever used intimidation tactics to get those who don't know their rights to consent to a search. Some argue that it is up to the individual to know they have the right to refuse to a vehicle search on the side of the road but our courts have also ruled that LEO's have to inform people of their rights via Mirandizing them.

Am I the only one that sees all this as a double standard? Am I only innocent until proven guilty after I have had my Miranda rights read to me?

No, I don't believe that LEO's are running around door to door making up 911 calls to get into people's houses but I'm not so naive to believe that it absolutely, positively can't happen either.