A family was awakened at 2:30 in the morning on 7/11/2020, to a phone call from the local police telling them that there are officers at the front door. The woman of the house had to have them repeat this information three times before it registered in her sleep fogged brain.
When 'woman of the house' made the mistake of opening the front door and stepping out to talk to them she was informed by the officer; they were coming in the house to see that everyone is OK, and they don't need a search warrant.
Then the officer wanted to know who is in the house, and what they are doing. The resident cooperated far more than they should have. But like most people they grew up respecting the police and reluctantly answered their questions.
The officer threatened to use force when the woman told him no he can't enter the house, he took hold of her wrist and was trying to force her to his partner when the husband appeared in the kitchen door. The officer quickly let go of the womans wrist!
The problems with this encounter are:- When officers roll up on a house at 2:30 in the morning and the house is dark, the yard gates are locked, nobody is in the yard, and they have to have dispatch call the house to get someone to the door the chances of the 'report' being false are highly likely!
- Being questioned about a knife fight on the front porch, given the above observations, the officers should have reasonable suspicion the report was false and probable cause to believe the person coming to the door is not going to lie!
- While answering questions about the reason for the early morning visit, the resident was treated as though they were lying, then 'warned' that they (the officers) ARE coming in the house and they don't need a warrant.
- Given the facts from statement #1 above, the officers who climbed the fence to enter the property were trespassing, breaking and entering, disrupting the residents peaceful enjoyment, intrusion, and burglary for entering private property without just cause.
- ANY time a person's reasonable expectation of privacy could be invaded a search warrant IS required! Since there were no obvious signs of a crime being committed there was no reason to continue onto the property, dispatch or who ever called could have had someone in the house meet the officers at the fence! If there was any type of disturbance, or even lights on in the house, or a fight of any kind were in progress a search warrant would not be required!
Most people understand that police officers are a necessary evil. In this incident the police were used as pawns by an unscrupulous person(s) to harass, intimidate, and threaten innocent citizens! This certainly can not be an isolated incident. In cases like this, it shows the over bearance police forces!
Should we defund the police for their 'abuse of power'? Of course not, that would be ridiculous! However, common sense has to be a part of their decisions, treating everyone as though they are guilty until they can prove their innocence is not an effective way to maintain friendly community relations!! Especially when visual observation of the residence shows no signs of any event that could be remotely misconstrued to match what was reported!
How are false reported handled at the police station after contact has been made and it is obviously a false report?
If the police are falsely notified of a possible crime by an 'anonymous' voice on the phone, website form, or any other form of communication, how can the accused believe in justice?
How can you call it a justice system when innocent people are accused with NO means of filing charges against a false accuser?
How is it justice when someone knowingly, willingly, maliciously, and falsely accuses others of a crime but the accuser is not punished for their false allegation/report?
If it is not an anonymous report, why is the accused not immediately given the accusers information?
The answers to these questions should be reason enough to never allow anonymous 'reports' of any alleged illegal activity!!
Colorado Statute 18-8-111 (1)(a)(I)(B)(II) He or she makes a report or knowingly causes the transmission of a report to law enforcement authorities of a crime or other incident within their official concern when he or she knows that it did not occur;
(III) He or she makes a report or knowingly causes the transmission of a report to law enforcement authorities pretending to furnish information relating to an offense or other incident within their official concern when he or she knows that he or she has no such information or knows that the information is false; ?or
1) If the accuser has no idea whether or not the incident they are reporting actually happened, is it false reporting?
2) If an accuser merely believes an incident happened, even when it didn't, is it false reporting?
How is the accused supposed to trust the 'justice' system when they have no recourse to collect damage done to them by false allegations/reports to the police?
Some may ask: what damage was done? The answer is simple being awakened in the early morning hours, being treated like a criminal, having one's privacy invaded, the possibility of negative implication the allegations could have on the accused's employment, being slandered, and the inability to charge the person who made the false allegation!
Many don't trust the police, judges, or the 'justice' system!
The Sixth Amendment provides that a person accused of a crime has the right to confront a witness against him or her in a criminal action.
If this incident wasn't reported as a 'criminal action' why did the police enter private property, over a fence with locked gates, at 2:30 in the morning?
If the city wants to claim the false allegation as theirs, then the scope of the injustice done to innocent residents greatly increases! Because that means they are 'protecting' the actual person who filed the false report, aiding and abetting criminal activity (false reporting), and abusing their power! Which means they can show up at any house at anytime and claim some one reported something, even when nobody did!
The residents are supposed to believe the police wouldn't falsify reports to increase revenue for the city? Especially since the city (mayor and city council) has already grossly abused their power and closed 'non-essential' businesses! More Constitutional rights have been violated in the name of 'public safety' than most people are willing to count!
All the residents of the afore mentioned residence were slandered to the police. It is possible the false report of a knife fight on the front porch, at 2:30 in the morning, was a malicious effort to get at least one person in the home fired.
The woman should have called 911 to verify the caller ID of the previous call was correct and it was in fact officers at the front door. What are the ramifications, given the facts above, of officers crossing a fence with locked gates, onto private property, without probable cause?
