Your take on the Lakeville Police "raid scandal". (house, neighborhoods)

[MNNative]

You've all probably heard about the guy who woke up to Lakeville Police in his home a while back (I can't seem to find a thread regarding this on here, so if there is, I apologize for double-posting).

Police decision to enter home sparks outrage in Lakeville

According to the police:
The officers were out scoping neighborhoods as part of Lakeville's campaign to prevent crime. They spotted this guy's garage door open (keeping doors shut at night is a top priority in this campaign) and they also found not only keys in the ignition (though the car was off) but also the door to the house open. With 4 boys (all under age 7) at a sleepover in the living room, the cops were suspicious and proceeded to find the adult. Apparently, the kids were afraid to wake the dad up. Anyhow, the police found him in his bedroom fast asleep and he was obviously a sound sleeper cause it took flashing lights at his face, pounding on the wall and yelling to wake him up. He's angry that Lakeville Police entered his home and gave him an unpleasant awakening. Apparently he feels it could have gone all wrong and that Lakeville PD shouldn't have the right to enter people's homes--that it was a violation of the 4th Ammendment.

So what do you think?

[MNNative]

My personal opinion/reaction...

#1 First of all, when my kids have sleepovers they aren't allowed to stay up until 3am, especially alone.

#2 When other people's children are at my home (regardless if it's for a play date or sleep over) and their parents aren't present, they become my complete responsibility. Leaving children unattended at 3am with the house door unlocked, keys in the ignition and the garage door open is simply unacceptable. Let's just say my kids would not be spending the night over at their house anymore...

#3 This seems to raise the question of what police are for. What is their purpose, their job? In my opinion, I see them as patrolmen who are to do just that, patrol for suspicious behavior. Once they see such a situation, they should then inquire about it. It seems to me (based on the information that's been released) that the Lakeville PD were justified in being in that neighborhood. They were justified in wanting to take a closer look at a garage door being open. When the door is open, keys are in the ignition, the house is unlocked and there are 4 kids practically within reach, I don't blame them for being suspicious of an adult not responding to police communication. I highly doubt they said "Hey, let's go wake this dude up for sh*ts and giggles!"

#4 In a trigger-happy society I see the point regarding how it could have turned ugly. IF he had awoken to shouting, then perhaps he'd have reached for his (insert popular gun here) and been aggressive. BUT, it really sounds like it only got so loud (pounding on bedroom wall, flashing lights in his face, etc) BECAUSE he was such a sound sleeper. Maybe since it's never happened to me before I am naive, but I think that in most cases police call out who they are and somewhere in the confusion LAKEVILLE POLICE would have resonated.

#5 Personally, my eyebrow would be raised when the kids told me they were afraid to wake the adult up.

#6 Maybe residents should be required to "register" their preference...If a squad car sees suspicious behavior at a residence, before approaching said home, they look up the property address and there is a special note specifying "Yes, please inquire about suspiciousness" or "No, stay off the lawn!" Then, any PD won't have to worry about "unlawful/unwanted entry".

[Haver]

Garage door open, keys in the car, and house door open in the middle of the night makes me think "This guy's being robbed". I think the police did the right thing, the guy's an idiot. If there really were burglars this could have developed into something very serious.

[JenLee]

I guessed I missed the part about there being 4 small boys there that night! If I were the parent of one of those boys, I'd be so angry with that guy he would need the Lakeville Police to protect himself from me!

The guy is an idiot in my opinion. If the police had raided the guys' house without probable cause, that would be different.

I had 2 kids and they had many friends and many sleep-overs through the years. We never went to bed before the kids; and I spent several nights up all night because some snot-nosed kid thought they could stay up later than the adults and then get in trouble.

[talktobrent]

This all comes down to prevention tactics. Had the police not investigated and something was really wrong, you can bet the public would be outraged by such "negligence." Also, they probably could have just seen everything was Ok and left. Oops!! the kids start the house on fire or go wander into the neighborhood and cause trouble. Guess who gets blamed? The police, for not alerting this poor adult that the children in his house were doing dangerous acts while he was sound asleep. It's just a matter of damned if you do, damned if you don't. You will never know when the police prevent a crime, but you will always know when they do things like this.

[kuan]

Crap I've had my garage door left open all day and all night. Never thought about it this way.

[my54ford]

Originally Posted by kuan

Crap I've had my garage door left open all day and all night. Never thought about it this way.

I do the same thing and so does the deputy across the street from me What would have happened if the guy did wake up heard an adult talking to those kids and came out with a gun? Cops think they can do what they want and get away with it. If there was really a need for them it would have taken a half hour for them to get there.

[MNNative]

Originally Posted by JenLee

I guessed I missed the part about there being 4 small boys there that night! If I were the parent of one of those boys, I'd be so angry with that guy he would need the Lakeville Police to protect himself from me!

The guy is an idiot in my opinion. If the police had raided the guys' house without probable cause, that would be different.

I had 2 kids and they had many friends and many sleep-overs through the years. We never went to bed before the kids; and I spent several nights up all night because some snot-nosed kid thought they could stay up later than the adults and then get in trouble.

Originally Posted by talktobrent

This all comes down to prevention tactics. Had the police not investigated and something was really wrong, you can bet the public would be outraged by such "negligence." Also, they probably could have just seen everything was Ok and left. Oops!! the kids start the house on fire or go wander into the neighborhood and cause trouble. Guess who gets blamed? The police, for not alerting this poor adult that the children in his house were doing dangerous acts while he was sound asleep. It's just a matter of damned if you do, damned if you don't. You will never know when the police prevent a crime, but you will always know when they do things like this.

I think this is what gets me so cheesed about it. I mean, kids. (Yup, JenLee--we don't go to bed before the kids either.) This guy gave them the run of the house and even opened the garage door and stuck the keys in the car for them to take a joy ride.

I completely agree with your post, Talktobrent.

[jazzymentality]

Honestly the best thing to do is leave a note stating all the things that man violated. They also needed to state what the effects could have been, due to his unawareness of all the danger involved in making the decision to not have the door locked and such. After that, leave his car keys there by the note and shut the garage.


Then in the morning the police should have either called or stopped by the house again to make sure that man got the message. They shouldn't have made a big scene and raided the house. There are more professional ways of handling a situation.

[my54ford]

Originally Posted by jazzymentality

Honestly the best thing to do is leave a note stating all the things that man violated. They also needed to state what the effects could have been, due to his unawareness of all the danger involved in making the decision to not have the door locked and such. After that, leave his car keys there by the note and shut the garage.


Then in the morning the police should have either called or stopped by the house again to make sure that man got the message. They shouldn't have made a big scene and raided the house. There are more professional ways of handling a situation.

HE did not VIOLATE anything! There is no law saying you have to close and lock your doors or take your keys out of your car. There are still thousands upon of thousands of people who don't do that!