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Police broke in to my house with a false report
Posted by: pissed off ()
Date: October 21, 2008 12:03AM

Some crazy lady called into the police and said that she saw someone being strangled inside my house. The police came out to my house and no one was home so they proceeded to brake my front door down and 2 bedroom doors. When I came home and found the police in my house, I asked why they were in my house. They said they had to break in because they were responding to a phone call they received from a neighbor. This was obviously a bogous call. There was no one in the house much less being strangled. They must have come to the wrong house. Now I have incurred a $600 expense bill.

I was referred to risk management who then directed me to their insurance company. The insurance company claims that the police is not liable (they are immune from liability) and that the insurance company will not cover the repairs.

What recourse do I have? Any suggestions on how to recover cost for damages by the police?

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Re: Police broke in to my house with a false report
Posted by: TJ ()
Date: October 21, 2008 07:25AM

go strangle your neighbor? I mean they can't accuse you twice for the same crime, can they?

p.s. don't REALLY strangle your neighbor. that would not be a nice thing to do.

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Re: Police broke in to my house with a false report
Posted by: barracuda ()
Date: October 21, 2008 07:57AM

Why do police feel they need to BREAK DOWN doors rather than just OPEN them? (Assuming, of course, that the door in question is unlocked)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/21/2008 07:57AM by barracuda.

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Re: Police broke in to my house with a false report
Posted by: Sue your neighbor ()
Date: October 21, 2008 08:33AM

Sounds like an easy case to win. Find out if she's made other, similar 911 calls. If she has it would be slam dunk. FOIA all 911 records from her residence.

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Re: Police broke in to my house with a false report
Posted by: pgens ()
Date: October 21, 2008 10:36AM

From https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/police/crs/ :

"Be advised that it is a crime to make a false police report. Anyone found to have submitted a false police report will be prosecuted under the authority of Virginia State Code, Section 18.2-461, which shall be punishable as a Class 1 misdemeanor. Maximum possible penalty is one year in jail and/or $2,500 fine."

One idea would be to use the page I linked to submit your own report to the police detailing what happened, that you believe the neighbor had malicious intent or was grossly negligent, and suspect the police report was falsely filed resulting in hefty and expensive damages to your house. The form is to be used for, among many other things, destruction of property. Just write it so you are blaming the neighbor and not the police department, and ask that the report be investigated.



All that said, no one EVER tells the whole story when they post shit here (like why bedroom doors were locked. Who locks their bedroom doors when they leave the house?). If you have problems with the law and your neighbors know it, don't bother the police with bullshit. If your record is sparkly clean then fine, but if you attract trouble then you aren't going to get anywhere.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/21/2008 10:37AM by pgens.

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Re: Police broke in to my house with a false report
Posted by: Connie ()
Date: October 21, 2008 11:03AM

the police is clearly not liable. they were responding to a legitimate call from a concerned citizen(even if the citizen had made a false report). imagine what would have happened if they didn't break down the doors and the next day someone really discovered dead/strangled/decomposing bodies inside the house?

if you can prove that the person who made the false police report was really telling a lie(not just because he/she was crazy or make an honest mistake), you can sue, in small claims court, probably... but it's not going to be worth it to sue for just $500....

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Re: Police broke in to my house with a false report
Posted by: jack black ()
Date: October 21, 2008 11:04AM

I always lock my bedroom doors when i leave the house. Dont You? seriously. It's not a bad idea.

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Re: Police broke in to my house with a false report
Posted by: pissed off ()
Date: October 21, 2008 12:17PM

pgens,

Thanks for the information.

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Re: Police broke in to my house with a false report
Posted by: pgens ()
Date: October 21, 2008 12:30PM

jack black Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I always lock my bedroom doors when i leave the
> house. Dont You? seriously. It's not a bad idea.

If I'm going to be away for an extended period of time I close the doors, but don't lock them as I have a safe for valuables.

Most bedroom doors don't have locks for shit and can be easily picked anyway, if not simply twisted hard enough to break.

If I was renting a room and left then yeah I might lock it because that would be my "front door," but the concept of locking a bedroom door is weird, maybe it's just me.

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Re: Police broke in to my house with a false report
Posted by: KayKay ()
Date: October 21, 2008 01:03PM

pgens Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> jack black Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I always lock my bedroom doors when i leave the
> > house. Dont You? seriously. It's not a bad
> idea.
>
> If I'm going to be away for an extended period of
> time I close the doors, but don't lock them as I
> have a safe for valuables.
>
> Most bedroom doors don't have locks for shit and
> can be easily picked anyway, if not simply twisted
> hard enough to break.
>
> If I was renting a room and left then yeah I might
> lock it because that would be my "front door," but
> the concept of locking a bedroom door is weird,
> maybe it's just me.

No, not just you, unless you are renting a room. Even when we go away we dont even close the BR doors. There is only my family in the house.

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Re: Police broke in to my house with a false report
Date: October 21, 2008 03:04PM

The easiest thing to do is to go to the media and raise hell. Once the press aims a spotlight at them, the bureaucrats will scurry to fix this ASAP.

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Re: Police broke in to my house with a false report
Posted by: ? ()
Date: October 21, 2008 03:25PM

WashingToneLocian Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The easiest thing to do is to go to the media and
> raise hell. Once the press aims a spotlight at
> them, the bureaucrats will scurry to fix this
> ASAP.


For what? The police are not at fault here. They had to react on the information they were given. You know full well if they hadn't reacted to the exigency of the situation and just shrugged their shoulders and left without investigating any further and foul play actually had occurred the media as well as the Fairfax Underground know-it-alls would be all over it. The police are routinely placed in no-win situations such as this. If they didn't follow through and someone dies or is hurt they are at fault. If they do follow through and some guy has to replace a couple of doors they are apparently at fault in the minds of many as well.

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Re: Police broke in to my house with a false report
Posted by: taso flocus ()
Date: October 21, 2008 03:47PM

I have a feeling the whole story has not been posted. The OP is leaving out significant details in his story.

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Re: Police broke in to my house with a false report
Posted by: My take ()
Date: October 21, 2008 06:35PM

I don't think anyone is arguing whether or not the police should do what they did, But I think the issue is that they may have acted on an anbonymous call or probably they went to the wrong house. If either case is true, then they should be liable to pay for the damage they caused. Otherwise, I mean think about it, every idiot out there wanting to get a laugh will be making calls like that just to get the police up and at'em causing havic all over the place. Talk about total state of chaos....

This is why the police has a risk management department backed by an insurance, to cover this type of mistakes. At lest it appears to be a mistake or a false report. If it was a mistake by the policwe and they went to the wrong house, then their insurance should pay of the damages. If the person that called them did not leave a name or phone for the poilce to determine if it could be a hoax or a real emergency, they again they are at fault.

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Re: Police broke in to my house with a false report
Posted by: ?.? ()
Date: October 21, 2008 08:14PM

If she saw someone being strangled in the house, does that count as a peeping tom? Isn't that illegal besides filing a false police report?

Did she call 911 or the non-emergency number? 911 would have log of where and who called. Supposedly the non-emergency number does not id callers.

Isn't a search warrant required when there is no other evidence of foul play before entering a residence? Request a FOIA to include all radio and dispatch transmissions.

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Re: Police broke in to my house with a false report
Posted by: your caught ()
Date: October 27, 2008 04:52AM

So you were hanging yourself during masturbation in front of a window and got caught !

So why didn't you just let the cops in and say, "no one is getting strangled, I was just masturbating."

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Re: Police broke in to my house with a false report
Posted by: Bob ()
Date: October 27, 2008 05:00AM

your caught Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> So you were hanging yourself during masturbation
> in front of a window and got caught !
>
> So why didn't you just let the cops in and say,
> "no one is getting strangled, I was just
> masturbating."


Alias? Is that you?

You are the only other person active at this hour. In fact, you are the only other person active since midnight.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/27/2008 05:01AM by Bob.

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Re: Police broke in to my house with a false report
Posted by: Gravis ()
Date: October 27, 2008 08:23AM

?.? Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Supposedly the non-emergency number does not id
> callers.


they do id callers on the non-emergency number.


"the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."095042938540

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Re: Police broke in to my house with a false report
Posted by: Johnny8 ()
Date: October 27, 2008 02:44PM

How would you know it was your crazy lady neighbor that called? The police usually don't know who calls, that is handled by 911 operators. They gave you that information but wouldn't pass on how to pay for the damages?

Something smelsl. C'mon, whats up, really?

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