QUESTION
police walk inside my house without permission
Asked on Nov 06th, 2017 on Police Misconduct - Florida
More details to this question:
11/06/2017 around 12 pm and 13 pm two police officers literally open my house gate, walked to the house door and without knock or introducing themselves they just open my front door and walked in. My girlfriend was in the kitchen and heard the door and thought it was me so she walked towards the door and almost had a heart attack seen a police officer inside the house holding the door. She wasn't even dressed when they open the door, so she asked them to close the door so she could walk to the room and get dress. After she came outside and asked one of the officers why did open the door without asking or knocking and the police officer said they came because of a fire alarm, my girlfriend told them that she didn't hear any alarm and ask them again if they had a warranty to just come and open the house door without even knock, one of the officers said it was a silent alarm. So I am here asking myself, is this legal? please help
2 ANSWERS
False Arrest Attorney serving Fort Lauderdale, FL
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Gary Kollin, P.A.
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If police entered a residence without authority or exigency, it could be considered an invasion of privacy and a violation of your civil rights under the Fourth Amendment. A lot depends on whether it was a mistake or an intnetional violation. Police reports, dispatch records, and 911 records are among the items needed to be reviewed. Police dispatch recordings are destroyed after 30 days generally so requests for them should be made promptly.
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Answered on Nov 07th, 2017 at 6:00 AM
Consumer Debt Collector Harassment & Abuse Attorney serving Tampa, FL
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Tischhauser Law Group
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If there was a legitimate silent alarm and they were dispatched by alarm company, likely yes. If law enforcement gets a legitimate emergency call, and the front door is open or unlocked, and they claim they knocked with no answer, they mught well enter the doorway for security purposes and to make sure everything is OK. This sounds like what occurred. While it was embarrasing and inconvenient, you should be considerate of the circumstances and thankful that the officers responded quickly and actually investigated the issue rather than driivng by for a look see, since you are a law abiding citizen and they were responding to an emergency alarm. Now, if you are NOT a law abiding citizen and are "offended" because law enforcment officers would have discovered your bale of weed (for personal medicinal use) on the dining room table, then you want to rethink having a monitored alarm system. On the off chance that you think there was some ruse, where the police lied about a fake alarm call to intrude into your house without a warrant for some purpose, then you need to retain a civil rights or criminal lawyer (especially if you have a past) to gather evidence of the misconduct and go from there.
Answered on Nov 07th, 2017 at 5:28 AM
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