Weird Police Response

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Uncle Buck

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This happened to me the other day: I was helping a nephew work on his truck when A state Trooper pulled in to my driveway. I came out from under the hood of the truck and asked if I could help him. He asked me where #9 was located. I told him I owned and lived in #9.

Trooper: "Are you being robbed?"
Me: "What?"
Trooper: "We recieved a phone call that said your house is being robbed."
Me: "Not that I know of. We just got back from the parts store."

I went to my truck and retrieved my house key and a pistol. The State Trooper asked me to leave the pistol in my truck and said he would go with me to check the house.

We checked the house and everything was fine.

We have had cases of our phone line "Crossing" with someone elses, making our line seem like one of the old party lines.

A lady from a company I had been waiting to hear from called my number and someone answered my phone.
"Hello, is Uncle Buck there?"
"I don't know who lives here. We are robbing this house, do you know where he keeps his valuables?"

She hung up and called the police. (I am glad to know I still have neighbors who care.)

1. I was a little irritated about having to leave my gun in the truck, but did not figure it was time to argue with the State Trooper. I can understand his reaction, he does not know my background or training.

2. When I went through the house to clear it, I realized I had left quite a few guns out. They would have been an attractive target if my house had been broken in to.

I am mostly irritated at myself for leaving so many valuables out in the open. We were going to do some shooting, but then we had a problem with one of the truck.

How do you guys think you would would react to #1 and do you always remember to secure your valuables?
 
"I can understand his reaction, he does not know my background or training."

I think you nailed it right there.
 
It's very easy to get used to not being robbed. A few years with no incidents and all my neighbors stopped locking up their valuables (you know the neighboods out here in Ashaway, Buck!). Two weeks ago one of my neighbors had 2 bikes worth $900 taken from his driveway. I always lock everything up, set the alarms and shut off all the lights (the light switches are hidden so if you don't have a flashlight, you'll break your neck in my basement), even if I leave for 20 minutes. My wife never does. Robbery = now she does. But nothing will happen for 2-3 months and she'll fall back into her old ways.
 
State Trooper? Highway Patrol? That is a little strange in my book.

A lady from a company I had been waiting to hear from called my number and someone answered my phone.
"Hello, is Uncle Buck there?"
"I don't know who lives here. We are robbing this house, do you know where he keeps his valuables?"

She hung up and called the police. (I am glad to know I still have neighbors who care.)
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Are you saying this exchange is the cause of the visit from the law?

As for being asked to leave your piece in the truck, I would have told him, "With all due respect, it's my property and I can't do that. What if someone is in the house and something happens to you?" He as likely could have asked you to stay outside, while he incidentally took inventory of all those firearms you say were laying around and visible. It is easy to be forgetful or lax in your own home. But it may make it difficult to remember where they all are at a moment's notice

It used to be common to hear of cops coming to your aid. Now when you see one, it's probably a good idea to be somewhere else. That said, I think this is a good story.
 
It's helpful for me to put myself in the Trooper's position... It's obviously just good standard procedure and common sense to prefer that anyone walking with me and not a colleague... and unknown to me... be unarmed. That's not weird at all. I wouldn't have argued either. You could have actually been a hoodlum posing as the home owner... In fact, I'm kinda surprised he didn't ask to see your ID...or did he?
 
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Sounds like a very typical response that I would expect around here. I would have told him that I'd prefer that he wait for backup before going in but, if not, I'd be happy to wait at the vehicle if he didn't want me armed (which I would also expect).
 
Yeah I definitely understand him asking you to leave your gun outside. That is a very strange and confusing instance of lines being crossed. Glad to hear about your place being ok.

Very strange to hear/see people leave their homes unlocked. My Dad always leaves his place unlocked and ATVs where you can see em. He figures since he lives out in the middle of nowhere nobody will bother his stuff. Only problem is while his back was turned his middle of nowhere is now populated and there is a High School just across the street from him.

Bottom line is never let your guard down.
 
Looking this in the cops eyes.

I would not allow you assist in searching the property, let a lone carry your pistol with you. If the house needs searched I'll do it.


Even being able to provide the keys wouldn't guarantee its your house.

Had an incident where a cop responded to a similar (almost identical) case. The reportedly owner assured the cop everything was OK.

I went to the same house a couple hours later and took the burglary report.
 
I would not have allowed the cop to go inside, I would have checked it myself, I would never allow a cop to enter my home without a warrant, period! NO, IFS, AND OR BUT, I only allow a couple very close friends & my pastor to step foot into my house. only thing illegal in my place is some shine in my frige, but its the point. no warrant, no entrance. good by!
 
I would not have allowed the cop to go inside, I would have checked it myself, I would never allow a cop to enter my home without a warrant, period!
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You may not have a choice. If a crime in progress is reported, cops can infact enter without a warrant to determine if the reported crime is in fact taking place or not.

If the cop does allow you to accomany you in searching the house, and a bandit is inside, you get hurt, the cop could be held liable.

The cop who allows you to assist in the search if putting you and himself in danger.
 
Me:


"Leave my gun out here while you go in and secure the house?


No thanks.
You stay out here, and bag and tag the bad guys as I toss them out."

It's my house. There's no way I'm gonna let him have all the fun.

When I went in for burglar alarm calls at night, the alarm technicians and police officers tended to tell me that I had no business going into the business that I managed.

That didn't fly. Period.

"I manage this place. I'm responsible for it, 24/7. You are NOT walking through that door without me, and you go nowhere in that building without me."

Sure, the police had the authority, I guess, to refuse me access if they could say with certainty that there was a crime in progress, but a technician-contractor for the alarm company was in no position to tell me squat.
 
Hmmm.

LEO is called out on burglary.
He arrives at residence.
Finds 2 males in drive way hotwiring truck, one has a gun.
LEO is uncomfortable with male with gun, that had been previously hot wiring truck, following him into dark building with a gun?
 
Heres what the cop imagined:

You both enter your house. In the kitchen you find a teenager stealing beer out of your fridge. You whip out your pistol, hold it sideways, kill the intruder, shoot the cop ten times in the back, and then accidentally shoot yourself through the left palm. He gets sued for everything he owns and loses his job. The end.

you cant blame a police officer for wanting to control the situation, its his job. if you were in his situation you would want the alleged homeowner to disarm. Its not like he handcuffed you and took the pistol and you didnt get it back for a month. he just asked you to put it away for a second.
 
as said no cop will under any circumstance enter without my permission, which will not be granted without a search warrant. end of it. otherwise, I will give him my standard statement, about him being part of a "legal gang" & I will turn him over to the proper people, & thats people I grew up with & relatives with right connections, it will cost him personally more money that he will be able to handle. & it may not be legal, but he will wonder why his life turned upside down. I grew up in the 1% biker world, 35+ year friendships, plus relatives involved with certain aspects of council, both in legal worlds, & underworlds, & thats not biker, to put it mildly. if he wants to ruin his life, & his future, let him enter or try to arrest me for not allowing him into my house without a warrant.

most issues with people I handle, or have handled, & never have police involvement period, simple, effective, & its all in who you kow. & the only threat is costing cash, & career, with what will happen.
 
as said no cop will under any circumstance enter without my permission, which will not be granted without a search warrant. end of it. otherwise, I will give him my standard statement, about him being part of a "legal gang" & I will turn him over to the proper people, & thats people I grew up with & relatives with right connections, it will cost him personally more money that he will be able to handle. & it may not be legal, but he will wonder why his life turned upside down. I grew up in the 1% biker world, 35+ year friendships, plus relatives involved with certain aspects of council, both in legal worlds, & underworlds, & thats not biker, to put it mildly. if he wants to ruin his life, & his future, let him enter or try to arrest me for not allowing him into my house without a warrant.
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Wow.

Dude, relax or you're going to give yourself a heart attack or stroke from stress.

If I am called out on a burg, or possible intruder in the house, I am NOT there to be nice and fuzzy. My basic job function is summed up in the phrase, "To Protect and Serve".

I go into harm's way to keep YOU, my fellow citizen, OUT of danger.

(One thing, though--unless someone is in danger, RIGHT NOW, I always wait for a backup officer. Always. There is a thing called "tombstone courage".)

No, I don't know the level of your training--and I don't care. You could be quite simply a concerned homeowner, with minimal familiarity with firearms. You could be a firearms enthusiast and/or competitor, even a National Champion. You could also be a bona-fide snake eater, not too long from really scary places in the service of our Nation--or maybe a contractor or Blackwater operator.

I don't care.

All I know is that I received a call that someone was possibly in your home that had no business being there; and that person, if there, potentially poses a lethal danger to you and your family.

MY job is to go into harm's way; to prove that the threat is not there and if it IS there, to effect lawful arrest--or to neutralize that threat if necessary. I am sworn to this duty; to the honor of protecting my neighbors; my fellow citizens.

So, if we're called, just kick back a bit. Let us do our duty, and get out of your hair.

It's what I have sworn an oath to do. To Protect--and to Serve.
 
Bud: After we went through the house, I checked the phone. The lady had called twice. The second time she called back and talked to the answering machine, leaving a message that she was concerned and did not know if the first call was a joke. She called the police when there was no answer the second time.

I had ended up having two State Troopers and two Sherrifs Deputies arrive. (We are in the county and the incident determines who shows up.) The state police patrol car was closer than a sherrifs car.

The house sits down the bottom of a hill and has its own driveway. We were in the upper driveway working on the truck.

As some have mentioned, and now that I think more about it, I am surprised that I was not asked for an ID before the entry. One of the deputies took my info, from my ID Card, after the incident. (Maybe it was because of the way I walk? The first officer on scene did not feel threatened?)

The first officer on scene, I had never met him before. The next two, a sherrifs deputy and a state police officer, I had met them at least twice before. Nice guys. They said they were going to chaulk this one up in the Weird Calls category.

I do not have an adversarial relationship with police officers. Sorry, I still think most of them are there too help. Maybe more people need to develop a better working relationship with their police departments.

The only thing I can think of is we had crossed phone lines and the party line effect happened again. (This is how I found out my neighbor had cancer.)

Swamp Yankee: You mean that little place has any type of crime, other than kids racing up and down the streets? :) I am trying to remember to make sure everything is put away when I am not in the house, but I wonder if I will again become complacent in a few months.


Rusty: :eek:
 
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