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If the police break down your door in executing a warrant...

If the police break down your door in executing a warrant...

  • Yes

    Votes: 46 100.0%

  • No

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Other

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    46
radcen

radcen

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If the police break down your door in executing a warrant...

...and they are at the wrong house... Should they be required to pay for repairs and a replacement door?

The question presumes that the wrong address was listed on the warrant and/or the police went to the wrong address different from that which was listed on the warrant. The question does not presume a good faith but incorrect suspicion of an otherwise innocent person.
 
Yeah, they should, but good luck with that.
 
radcen said:
If the police break down your door in executing a warrant...

...and they are at the wrong house... Should they be required to pay for repairs and a replacement door?

The question presumes that the wrong address was listed on the warrant and/or the police went to the wrong address different from that which was listed on the warrant. The question does not presume a good faith but incorrect suspicion of an otherwise innocent person.
Click to expand...

It's what civil courts are for, presuming the police refuse to accept responsibility for their error. Depends on the jurisdiction, but I don't believe the police can be criminally charged with misconduct for the error. People make mistakes - courts make things right.
 
CanadaJohn said:
It's what civil courts are for, presuming the police refuse to accept responsibility for their error. Depends on the jurisdiction, but I don't believe the police can be criminally charged with misconduct for the error. People make mistakes - courts make things right.
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As long as there's no malice involved, and usually there is not, I don't think criminal charges are necessary. But a thousand bucks or so to fix the literal physical damage is not unreasonable.
 
Fairly common apparently.
Police claimed that that a confidential informant told them a drug dealer lived at the house. But the informant later came forward to say the police version of the story wasn't true, and added that they had only contacted him after the shooting in order to justify their botched raid. The city of Atlanta this summer settled a federal lawsuit with Johnston's family for $4.9 million.
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When Police Break Down Your Door
 
CanadaJohn said:
It's what civil courts are for, presuming the police refuse to accept responsibility for their error. Depends on the jurisdiction, but I don't believe the police can be criminally charged with misconduct for the error. People make mistakes - courts make things right.
Click to expand...

Some years ago there was a case in Texas where the DEA "dynamically entered" the wrong motel room. The tear gas killed the two-year old daughter of the family staying there. I never heard how the case came out; I suppose it was settled under some sort of secrecy agreement.
 
if they screw up and kick down the wrong door, yes, the town should pay for repairs. my guess is that many departments already do this, though. those that don't should.

it's easy to be hard on cops, but most of them are pretty good, and have to deal with the worst segment of humanity on a day to day basis. my (albeit anecdotal) experience is that most of them are pretty dedicated, and take the job seriously.
 
radcen said:
If the police break down your door in executing a warrant and they are at the wrong house. Should they be required to pay for repairs and a replacement door? The question presumes that the wrong address was listed on the warrant and/or the police went to the wrong address different from that which was listed on the warrant. The question does not presume a good faith but incorrect suspicion of an otherwise innocent person.
Click to expand...

Don't know about everyplace, do know a bit about around here. The controlling authority handles such matters. For the Sheriff's dept it is the Board of County Commissioners and the police are under the City Authorities, either City Council or City manager. If the citizen doesn't feel the amount of compensation is high enough they can go to arbitration or small claims court.

I can't think of a single Police department that is authorized to pay civil claims.
 
radcen said:
If the police break down your door in executing a warrant...

...and they are at the wrong house... Should they be required to pay for repairs and a replacement door?

The question presumes that the wrong address was listed on the warrant and/or the police went to the wrong address different from that which was listed on the warrant. The question does not presume a good faith but incorrect suspicion of an otherwise innocent person.
Click to expand...

Yes they should compensate you for it. I even think if they have the right house the renter or property owner should be reimbursed for any damage law enforcement causes.After all we are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law so law enforcement busted the door down and trashed the home of a innocent person.
 
radcen said:
If the police break down your door in executing a warrant...

...and they are at the wrong house... Should they be required to pay for repairs and a replacement door?

The question presumes that the wrong address was listed on the warrant and/or the police went to the wrong address different from that which was listed on the warrant. The question does not presume a good faith but incorrect suspicion of an otherwise innocent person.
Click to expand...

Yes, of course they should.
 
Diogenes said:
Some years ago there was a case in Texas where the DEA "dynamically entered" the wrong motel room. The tear gas killed the two-year old daughter of the family staying there. I never heard how the case came out; I suppose it was settled under some sort of secrecy agreement.
Click to expand...

That's a terrible example and I don't think there's any way I would go away quietly if my 2yr old daughter was killed in such a scenario. Perhaps there's some type of federal law that protects agents in such a scenario but it doesn't seem right to me and unless there's public scrutiny and public contempt shown for such an act, it's liable to happen again.
 
radcen said:
If the police break down your door in executing a warrant...

...and they are at the wrong house... Should they be required to pay for repairs and a replacement door?
Click to expand...
It should come directly out of their salary IMO.
 
I'm surprised they don't have to. I'll add something compensatory like a years pay for the homeowners/renters too.

There was a story of a lady in Atlanta this happened to. She was elderly and didn't realize it was the police, grabbed her gun to protect herself from what she thought were thugs breaking in to do her bodily harm. A shootout ensued and several days later she was guest of honor at a funeral.

Around the same time football player Michael Vick was on trial for animal cruelty and hundreds of animal rights activist lined the street of the federal courthouse in Atlanta to protest Vick during his trail. I was listening to a talk radio show where the host said its unfortunate that in 2006 the life of a black woman is less valuable than the life of a dog as evidenced by the community reaction to the Vick cases vs. hers.

Kathryn Johnston shooting - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
I would have to hope that I became aware of them and realized they were, indeed, the actual legit police before the door was broken down.... otherwise the broken door will probably be the least of our collective worries.
 
radcen said:
If the police break down your door in executing a warrant...

...and they are at the wrong house... Should they be required to pay for repairs and a replacement door?

The question presumes that the wrong address was listed on the warrant and/or the police went to the wrong address different from that which was listed on the warrant. The question does not presume a good faith but incorrect suspicion of an otherwise innocent person.
Click to expand...

Yes, and in most cases they do that I'm aware of.
 
radcen said:
As long as there's no malice involved, and usually there is not, I don't think criminal charges are necessary. But a thousand bucks or so to fix the literal physical damage is not unreasonable.
Click to expand...

I'm fine with criminal charges. Cops are not above the law.
 
You should be able to shoot them as well.
 
radcen said:
If the police break down your door in executing a warrant...

...and they are at the wrong house... Should they be required to pay for repairs and a replacement door?

The question presumes that the wrong address was listed on the warrant and/or the police went to the wrong address different from that which was listed on the warrant. The question does not presume a good faith but incorrect suspicion of an otherwise innocent person.
Click to expand...

The police should ensure themselves for these kinds of things. Fixing the damage is the least that they can and should do.
 
Helix said:
if they screw up and kick down the wrong door, yes, the town should pay for repairs. my guess is that many departments already do this, though. those that don't should.

it's easy to be hard on cops, but most of them are pretty good, and have to deal with the worst segment of humanity on a day to day basis. my (albeit anecdotal) experience is that most of them are pretty dedicated, and take the job seriously.
Click to expand...


They chose this profession, no one forced them to take a job dealing with the dregs of society...

They wanted to for the authority it affords them. As such, they should be held accountable for their actions under the highest level of scrutiny.

Simply put, it's easy to be hard on them but we should be hard on them
 
ChezC3 said:
They chose this profession, no one forced them to take a job dealing with the dregs of society...

They wanted to for the authority it affords them. As such, they should be held accountable for their actions under the highest level of scrutiny.

Simply put, it's easy to be hard on them but we should be hard on them
Click to expand...

some of them are on power trips for sure. i don't really think that most took the job so they could lord it over everyone.

hold them to a high standard, sure. honestly, though, the best thing we can do is to highly regulate SWAT nationwide and eliminate a big part of the failed drug war. that's why they are kicking down doors, not because they are on a power trip.
 
Helix said:
some of them are on power trips for sure. i don't really think that most took the job so they could lord it over everyone.

hold them to a high standard, sure. honestly, though, the best thing we can do is to highly regulate SWAT nationwide and eliminate a big part of the failed drug war. that's why they are kicking down doors, not because they are on a power trip.
Click to expand...

I've yet to meet one that didn't have a power trip. The nicest, sweet as pie lady I knew 3 years into it -- all of the sudden acts like she'd take a billy club to my head at the slightest provocation. I'm not saying it is a completely conscience decision, that every single cop went into LE because they were victims of bullying, but there is a part of them somewhere, deep down that needs that authority to fulfill themselves.

SWAT definitely need to be under the microscope and as I'm an advocate for ending the insane and asinine War on Drugs, we agree to a point.
 
Whoever made the mistake should be required to pay for it. That may be the police, if they read the warrant wrong, or made a mistake when they requested the warrant, or it may be whatever judge signed it if they made the mistake when they wrote down the address.
 
Rocketman said:
You should be able to shoot them as well.
Click to expand...

Agreed. The ATF casualties at the beginning of the seige in Waco were cremated too quickly for a coroner to determine cause of death, but all the survivors of the compound were charged with manslaughter. All were acquitted (strong suspicion that the casualties were from friendly fire, supported by the unseemly fast disposal of the bodies). In Texas, even the police have no right to invade the home without first demanding surrender.
 
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