Now if something could be done about the home invasions done in Child Abuse allegations.
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For Immediate Release: April 2012 | ||
Victory: Richmond Police End ‘Wake Up Call’ Initiative After Rutherford Institute Warns It Could Lead to Fishing Expeditions, Confrontations
RICHMOND,
Va.— One day after receiving a letter from constitutional
attorney John W. Whitehead of The Rutherford Institute warning
that the department’s “Wake Up Call” initiative poses serious
threats to the privacy and security of homeowners, the
Richmond Police Department has terminated the program,
announcing that it will come to an end on May 1. The
initiative, begun on April 7, directs police officers to
examine the interiors of parked cars between the hours of
midnight and 4:00 a.m. for the presence of valuables left in
plain view and wake up the owners to alert them to the dangers
of vandalism. However, as Whitehead pointed out, not only
could the initiative become a pretext for officers to engage
in “fishing expeditions,” but the late-night knocks could also
unduly alarm residents who mistake the police visits for home
invasions, leading to violent confrontations.
The
Institute’s letter to the Richmond Police Department is
available here.
“This
is a victory for the Fourth Amendment and the privacy and
property rights of homeowners,” said Whitehead, president of
The Rutherford Institute. “This is also a good example of how
democratic government can and should work. As Patrick Henry
reminded us, ‘The Constitution is not an instrument for the
government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the
people to restrain the government—lest it come to dominate our
lives and interests.’”
The
Richmond Police Department’s “Wake Up Call” initiative, which
is carried out between the hours of midnight and 4:00 a.m.,
reportedly tasks officers with examining the interiors of
vehicles parked on neighborhood streets to determine whether
any valuables are in plain view inside the vehicle. If
officers determine that valuables are present in plain view,
they then verify through motor vehicle records whether the
owner lives in the neighborhood, and if so, “midnight shift
officers [would then] knock on the [owner’s] front door for an
unexpected wakeup call.” Eighteen such wake up calls have
occurred since the initiative began.
However, as Whitehead pointed out in his letter, the program gives rise to numerous concerns that warrant putting an end to it. First, because police do not have an absolute right to intrude upon residential property, their presence on residential property in the middle of the night could be viewed as an encroachment upon the Fourth Amendment rights of the homeowners. Second, a police officer’s late-night knock on a resident’s door could cause the homeowner to mistake the police visit for a home invasion, thereby leading to an unintended violent confrontation. Third, in the absence of probable cause as required by the Fourth Amendment, the initiative could become a pretext for officers to engage in “fishing expeditions” at residences that officers desire to inspect or search. As Whitehead concluded, “There are certainly other means available to the Richmond Police to serve the goals of the ‘Wake Up Call’ initiative without invading the privacy and security of homeowners.” CLICK HERE TO READ THIS ARTICLE ONLINE | ||
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