Police at the door....just seems odd

[Tikitoi]

When we lived in an apartment complex a uniformed was at our back patio door opened the screen and trying to get the glass door open! It was just me and the kids, and I pulled the curtains back to see what was going on, as I could only hear this noise. He then saw me and asked who do I live here with, I told him myself & kids, he just left with no explanation.

All I will say is respect goes both ways.

 

[Carly_Roach]

Question -- do you have to answer the door if a police officer is at the door?

No. Unless they have a warrent.

Actually, they don't need a warrant to knock on the door. Unless a situation has been called in that necessitates them entering the premisis forcefully (domestic violence, out of control party, fleeing perpetrator, etc), police will need a warrant or permission to enter.

As for answering the door, no - there's really no law I know of that states you have to answer your door. However, the police don't just pull someone's address out of a hat and decide to knock on their door. They're there for a reason, even if they've been given the wrong house or apartment number. It would be wise to answer the door.

In the OP's example, I agree with a PP that it's unusual for an officer to not tell you the reason why they're there. One situation where I think they wouldn't openly offer information would be if there was a child kidnapping situation where they don't want family, friends or neighbors tipping off the kidnapper that the police are looking for him/her. I'm sure there are other reasons.

If you're still uncomfortable with why the officer was there, I concur with other posters that you should contact the precinct and ask them. The last thing the police want is more members of the public distrusting them. They'll put your mind at ease if you call.

 

[Carly_Roach]

When we lived in an apartment complex a uniformed was at our back patio door opened the screen and trying to get the glass door open! It was just me and the kids, and I pulled the curtains back to see what was going on, as I could only hear this noise. He then saw me and asked who do I live here with, I told him myself & kids, he just left with no explanation.

All I will say is respect goes both ways.

I think in a situation like that I'd be thanking my lucky stars I had all my doors locked and NO ONE was able to get in. Who knows what kind of criminal that PO was looking for on that day?

If I saw an unannounced PO at my back door (HIGHLY unusual!), I think I'd be incredibly anxious about who had done what to whom, were they armed, why was he was tracked to my neighborhood, and did they get him yet?

 

[krcit]

Wow! I didn't know there was such a thing. I guess I watch too many Law & Orders, too, where they always announce themselves, even as they are breaking in. I guess I always figured that's to cover themselves, too, so people don't accidentally shoot them coming through the door, unannounced, saying they didn't know who they were.

I would have (bleep) my pants, if the cop broke down my door because he thought I might be in danger since I didn't answer the door.

Do you remember the commercial from years ago that had the old lady saying "Help, I've fallen and I can't get up?" Well, my brother had that on his answering machine and someone called and when they heard that they called the police and my brother woke up to cops and firemen in his house My brother was a cop at the time and they all were when they realized what had happened.

 

[JessicaR]

Actually, they don't need a warrant to knock on the door. Unless a situation has been called in that necessitates them entering the premisis forcefully (domestic violence, out of control party, fleeing perpetrator, etc), police will need a warrant or permission to enter.

As for answering the door, no - there's really no law I know of that states you have to answer your door. However, the police don't just pull someone's address out of a hat and decide to knock on their door. They're there for a reason, even if they've been given the wrong house or apartment number. It would be wise to answer the door.

In the OP's example, I agree with a PP that it's unusual for an officer to not tell you the reason why they're there. One situation where I think they wouldn't openly offer information would be if there was a child kidnapping situation where they don't want family, friends or neighbors tipping off the kidnapper that the police are looking for him/her. I'm sure there are other reasons.

If you're still uncomfortable with why the officer was there, I concur with other posters that you should contact the precinct and ask them. The last thing the police want is more members of the public distrusting them. They'll put your mind at ease if you call.

Of course they don't need a warrent to knock on the door. I dont recall saying they did. If they have a warrent and knock and you refuse to answer, they can enter.

 

[AshleyW]

Of course they don't need a warrent to knock on the door. I dont recall saying they did. If they have a warrent and knock and you refuse to answer, they can enter.

Not necessarily. I'm a dispatcher and our officers can only force entry on a warrant if they can visibly see the person with the warrant inside the house. If the person hides in the house and doesn't answer, we can't force entry. Unless it's a no knock warrant, in which case we bring in our SRT team, which is quite an event.

 

[JessicaR]

Not necessarily. I'm a dispatcher and our officers can only force entry on a warrant if they can visibly see the person with the warrant inside the house. If the person hides in the house and doesn't answer, we can't force entry. Unless it's a no knock warrant, in which case we bring in our SRT team, which is quite an event.

Wouldnt that be for an arrest warrnet? Not a search warrent?

 

[tigercat]

Not long ago I was woken up by a man and a lady screaming at each other. They were drunk. He was really being abusive towards her. Now this was at about 2:30 a.m. I called the non emergency number and told them the situation. He was yelling at her not hitting her. They told me that they would be along shortly. I went back to bed and shortly after that they got into a car and drove away. I started to go back to sleep when there were a lot of red lights in the room. A banging (very loud) started at my front door. I looked out of my window and there were 4 cop cars and as many cops. I asked what they wanted and was told to open the front door NOW. I tried waking my husband while I threw on a housecoat but he was fast asleep. I opened the door and 2 of them stepped in. They stopped when they saw me and just asked if there was any trouble here. After my heart slowed down I let them know what had happened. They apologized but they were only doing their job. At least I know now that they will come really fast if I need it. My husband and both son's never did wake up so in the future if there is any problems I'll call the cops to help me not the 3 men in the family LOL
tigercat

 

[DisneyScraps]

I called and spoke to a officer he said it is field contact. The Chief of Police is asking them to randomly contact people so they are visable and to help citizens to feel more comfortable with the police. I asked him why this wasn't explained because the contact seemed odd. He said it was because it would be a long of a conversation.

ok I get it but maybe leaving a flyer with the information or something like that.

I knew it wasn't anything to do with us. We haven't had any problems and keep a quiet profile in the neighborhood.

Lisa

 

[IMissEd]

The Chief of Police is asking them to randomly contact people so they are visable and to help citizens to feel more comfortable with the police.

Wow, I hope you told him they had the opposite effect: uneasiness and fear.

 

[DisneyScraps]

I did, I told him it was just odd and I am all for good police interaction but it didn't have that effect on me.

Lisa

 

[AshleyW]

Wouldnt that be for an arrest warrnet? Not a search warrent?

Yep - I assumed everyone was talking about arrest warrants. Search warrants are pretty rare compared to arrest warrants. Our city does a handful of search warrants a week (usually less than 5) compared to the hundreds of arrest warrants we serve per week.

 

[sbell111]

I would definitely verify that is was an real PO. Too many scams out there.

They may not say why but should be able to confirm the visit.

I would imagine that the chance of a scammer showing up with an official-looking police car is very slim.

I almost never answer my front door when it is someone I don't know. (I can see who is at the door without being seen.) I screen my phone calls also.

Question -- do you have to answer the door if a police officer is at the door?

No. Unless they have a warrent.

Failing to answer your door may result in a large increase in the drama. It's better just to answer it.

 

[MickeySP]

We'll they're good at it if they got not only the uniform, but a marked police car too.

You do know you can buy light bars, wig wags, uniform parts etc... including badges & door seals online?

 

[sbell111]

They needed a helicopter to look for a 10 yr old buried dead body? What taxes paid for that?

They may have been using hyperspectral imaging, which could possibly find a body buried even decades before.

 

[sbell111]

You do know you can buy light bars, wig wags, uniform parts etc... including badges & door seals online?

Yes, to a point, but the odds of them dummying up a fake uniform AND police car to get you to open your door is very, very much smaller that the odds of an actual police officer knocking on your door.

 

[daisax]

They needed a helicopter to look for a 10 yr old buried dead body? What taxes paid for that?

They could also detect variations in terrain from above that might be hard to gauge on foot (or take a lot longer). Unexplained buildings, excavations, etc.

 

[rigs32]

For the last 3 yrs i covered xmas eve arraignments. Our warrant squad was out in full force on dec 23. You didn't come back to court? Now you're spending the holidays in jail. On a normal day there's be less than 5 arrest warrant arraignments. That day there was about 15.

 

[CPT Tripss]

They may have been using hyperspectral imaging, which could possibly find a body buried even decades before.

A walk by with a decent tricorder would have been a whole lot less expensive.

 

[DarthKTrava]

A walk by with a decent tricorder would have been a whole lot less expensive.

You Trekkie, you.

Times I've had to call the cops due to disruptive neighbors (loud fights in the street) it took about a HALF HOUR for them to show up. Granted the county has less cops than cities do.... I'd given up on the cops, the perps long left and I went back to bed before the cops FINALLY showed up.