should someone have to get their house searched for calling 911

from North Shore News

Couple Assaulted, Home Ransacked, Arrested For Accidentally Dialing 911
Joanna Habdank

NORTH VANCOUVER - A North Vancouver couple has complained to District of North Vancouver council and said they will sue the North Vancouver RCMP after officers responded to their hang-up 911 call by breaking down their door, making a forceful arrest and jailing them overnight when the couple refused to allow a house-search.

The RCMP said, however, that in this case, federal policy commands a home-check, designed to ensure public safety.

North Vancouver resident Marget Lieder said that in the early evening of Oct. 25 she was having wine with her partner and a guest when she misdialed the emergency number, meaning to call 411 instead. After promptly hanging up, the police contacted her, saying two officers were dispatched and warned her her home would be searched to confirm she wasn't in danger.

"I don't want my privacy to be invaded just because I misdial a number," she said. Once the officers arrived, she only spoke to them on her porch, refusing entrance. "They didn't have a search warrant and they didn't have anything to do in my house."

She insisted she had nothing to hide and there was no cause for distress. Three more officers arrived shortly after, broke down the door and arrested Lieder and her partner, Larry Pierce, for obstruction of justice, she said.

"I was sitting on the couch. They stuck a Taser in my face, threatening me with 50,000 volts," said Pierce, a well-known lawyer. "They threw me on the floor, twisted my left arm. A police officer stuck his knee into my ribs and jumped on me." Later he found out that his two ribs were cracked, recalled Pierce. The couple said the officers began taping them right away even though their rights weren't read until they were in the car. Once in jail, Pierce remembered he was interrogated for over an hour.

North Vancouver RCMP Const. John MacAdam said police are obliged to search the premises after a hang-up 911 call. Pierce maintained his rights were violated and he will go ahead with a lawsuit.

i dunno, i mean, how are they supposed to know, and if it was a break in or something, or someone was being held hostage, they wouldnt want to just like ..ring the doorbell. Or call back....its kinda sticky i think, i feel bad for the people..i mean the physical violence is way out of line, but HAVING to search her house I understand.



One night I went to sleep and when I woke up there were three cops standing above my bed and my roommate and boyfriend were cuffed in the living room. Supposedly someone called 911 saying there was a woman screaming and a baby crying in our apartment, they needed to search the house and needed to search me for bruises, so i got out of bed nekked, they took a quick look around and then apologized and left. They were completely respectful, i had bongs and pot sitting right by my bed, they totally saw it, smiled and said nothing (they weren't there for that and I dont think they cared) . I didnt feel violated or anything.

I just think the lady should have let them in, but I dont think that justifies what happened.

retarded. once when i was like 13 i was dialing a friends phone number that was lil x91-1xxx and since i dialed so fast only the three numbers in the middle registered. when i got the emergency dispatch i was so freaked out i hung up. 10 min later a cop knocked on the door, talked to my mom for a few and then left. Arrests and breaking down the door is a bit much. i'd sue.

K

Well, shit. If I dial 911 and am forced to hang-up, I hope to god that the police will sidestep whoever answers the fucking door. If they had nothing to hide, they should have let them in. Jeeze. They kind of deserve what they got.

Have to agree with Alias. Putting them in jail was too far, but going into the house to check was not.

The Vancouver police or the RCMP in the Vancouver area sometimes go a little over board. Yes they do have to check on 911 hang ups as we have a major drug problem in Vancouver. They never know where something is going to turn up. Because of the drugs and the gangs that control them we have also had people go missing and the like. Its sad but they have to do this to make sure people are safe, honestly though most people would co-operate.

I don't know about canada... but I do know american law. Under ordinary circumstances they have to have a warrant ( a consent form filed by a judge saying that the action is under the legal jurisdiction and not in violation of your rights as a citizen) to search your house. If they have your consent then they don't need a warrant.

If it is an emergency situation, then they don't need a warrant. someone calling 911 and hanging up qualifies, because it's a report of an emergency and they don't have any idea what is actually happening at your house.

so basically if they have the legal grounds to search your house, you can't stop them. However, another law is that the police must knock on your door and announce that they are coming in to search the place. They won't just kick in your door and barge in. If they feel that the situation is dangerous enough that announcing thier presence will put someone in jeopardy and that they need to bust down the door and come in (which a 911 hang up doesn't qualify as) then they will send in a tactical assault team, not just the regualr first respondant cop on the beat.

another thing is that they can't arrest you simply for telling them that they can't come in. they will detain you in handcuffs outside so that they can go about thier business. remember, if they are arresting you it means that they are intent on actually charging you with a crime. Obstruction of Justice is just hollywood. No one ever get's convicted of this. That means that you commited action(s) that signifigantly impaired the abilty of the police to perform thier duties and solve a crime. If they don't have enough to go on to solve the real crime, then they certainly don't have enough to bust you for commiting that one. and they really are not going to charge you for stopping them from solving a crime in the case where there was no crime being commited, like this one. I don't see anyway that that case will get prosecuted to trial.

breaking down the door if no one answers i can understand, however arresting the couple and then performing a search of the house after they explained what happened is going a bit too far. however the proper thing to do after a misdial like that would be to call the dispatch back and tell them that you misdailed, while it ties up the lines for an extra minute it saves them the trouble of sending cops to your house and whatnot.