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Boston cops opened a can of worms with this one

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  • #1

    Boston cops opened a can of worms with this one

    http://boston.cbslocal.com/2011/10/1...n-north-shore/

    The article states that the police went through the North Shore, in neighborhoods and parking lots. They targeted any car that had valuables left in plain sight or keys left in the ignition and ... attempted to open the cars


    if the car was left unlocked they left a warning note inside to scare the driver into locking their cars up.


    My beef with this is that... "Teaching people a lesson" is NOT the job of the police.
    They in fact violated the fourth amendment rights of every single car owner in the area because there was NO "reasonable suspicion" of ANY crime what so ever. Hell they were even parked legally.



    i mean wtf... going around and scouting out cars with valuables to try to open the cars? And they think this is a good idea? The only difference between this and a thief is that they used their badges as excuses to open the cars. and supposedly they didn't take anything out ...
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  • #2
    There's a right way and a wrong way to do it. they clearly did the latter.

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    • #3
      I think if I found one of these notes on my car, I'd raise a huge stink about how something was missing, and that the cops must have taken it. "Teaching someone a lesson" can work both ways, after all.

      I did something like that to this one guy in high school who set next to me in study hall who kept taking my books as a prank. He always gave them right back, but it started to get annoying. So one day, I decided to put a stop to it. I watched him out of the corner of my eye and waited for him to take one of my books. I turned around and told him, "Very funny. Give it back." He gave it back, and I just glared at him and said, "Give the other one back too!"

      He told me he only took the one, and I told him, "My Spanish book is missing! You've been messing with my books, so you must have taken it! Where the hell is it?" I could see all the color drain from his face as he tried to tell me he didn't take my Spanish book, just the other one, and I kept appearing to get angrier and angrier and not believe him.

      When he appeared to be on the verge of panic, I just smiled and said, "I'm just fuckin' with ya! I didn't bring my Spanish book!" He seemed quite relieved, and never played that prank on me again.
      --- I want the republicans out of my bedroom, the democrats out of my wallet, and both out of my first and second amendment rights. Whether you are part of the anal-retentive overly politically-correct left, or the bible-thumping bellowing right, get out of the thought control business --- Alan Nathan

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      • #4
        If you are, for some reason, going to leave valuables visible in your car (and what qualifies as "valuable" is itself questionable) then which is worse: a thief stealing it by opening the unlocked door, or a thief stealing it by breaking a window?
        "My in-laws are country people and at night you can hear their distinctive howl."

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        • #5
          Heck, if I was a car thief I'd appreciate the little blue marker informing me of which vehicles contain potential valuables. -.-

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          • #6
            Speaking from near-personal experience: A co-worker had his car broken into and the radio stolen. His insurance made a point of telling him that had he not had the car locked, they would have told him he was SOL.

            ^-.-^
            Faith is about what you do. It's about aspiring to be better and nobler and kinder than you are. It's about making sacrifices for the good of others. - Dresden

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            • #7
              Originally posted by Andara Bledin View Post
              Speaking from near-personal experience: A co-worker had his car broken into and the radio stolen. His insurance made a point of telling him that had he not had the car locked, they would have told him he was SOL.

              ^-.-^
              Yes insurance doesn't pay if the car's unlocked.

              However that's not the business of the LEOs

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              • #8
                Barring the constitutional aspect, about which I'll not comment, it's not such a bad idea as criminals aren't warned ahead of time of the markers being left, and they're working to prevent easy crime in the future. I'd say that's worthwhile.

                Rapscallion
                Proud to be a W.A.N.K.E.R. - Womanless And No Kids - Exciting Rubbing!
                Reclaiming words is fun!

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by Rapscallion View Post
                  Barring the constitutional aspect, about which I'll not comment, it's not such a bad idea as criminals aren't warned ahead of time of the markers being left, and they're working to prevent easy crime in the future. I'd say that's worthwhile.

                  Rapscallion
                  Bringing technicalities into this conversation, I don't see any Constitutional rights being violated. I'm sure the one most people would point to would be illegal search and seizure but seeing as they weren't searching cars and taking any evidence, that would be incorrect by literal definition.

                  I definitely don't agree with going into people's cars just to prove a point, but I honestly don't get why anyone would leave their cars unlocked, especially with the keys inside.
                  Violence has resolved more conflicts than anything else. The contrary opinion that violence doesn't solve anything is merely wishful thinking at its worst. - Starship Troopers

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                  • #10
                    I don't get why anyone would leave anything of value in a car in a large city. Even in Kansas City it's completely fucking stupid to leave anything of worth in your car.

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                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Greenday View Post
                      Bringing technicalities into this conversation, I don't see any Constitutional rights being violated. I'm sure the one most people would point to would be illegal search and seizure but seeing as they weren't searching cars and taking any evidence, that would be incorrect by literal definition.

                      I definitely don't agree with going into people's cars just to prove a point, but I honestly don't get why anyone would leave their cars unlocked, especially with the keys inside.
                      "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."

                      A car is an "effect." If police are looking into windows for valuables, they are conducting a search. If they are testing locks, they are conducting a search. This is clearly prohibited by the Fourth Amendment. Just because they didn't take anything, doesn't mean it is not an illegal search.
                      Good news! Your insurance company says they'll cover you. Unfortunately, they also say it will be with dirt.

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                      • #12
                        Searches involve looking for evidence of crimes. No such activities were taking place.
                        Violence has resolved more conflicts than anything else. The contrary opinion that violence doesn't solve anything is merely wishful thinking at its worst. - Starship Troopers

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                        • #13
                          Originally posted by Panacea View Post
                          A car is an "effect." If police are looking into windows for valuables, they are conducting a search. If they are testing locks, they are conducting a search.
                          It prohibits unreasonable searches. The argument here is that they were not actually searching cars beyond just looking inside, which can be done without actually entering the vehicle, and locking any doors they found that were not locked.

                          I sincerely doubt this would make it past the first test against it's reasonableness.

                          ^-.-^
                          Faith is about what you do. It's about aspiring to be better and nobler and kinder than you are. It's about making sacrifices for the good of others. - Dresden

                          Comment

                          • #14
                            Locking doors they find unlocked? I missed that part... but it's the worst. How do they know there wasn't a good reason for the door being unlocked? For example, a lock that doesn't work right, or a lost key? (Some cars have a separate key for the door than for the ignition.)
                            "My in-laws are country people and at night you can hear their distinctive howl."

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                            • #15
                              Originally posted by HYHYBT View Post
                              Locking doors they find unlocked? I missed that part... but it's the worst. How do they know there wasn't a good reason for the door being unlocked? For example, a lock that doesn't work right, or a lost key? (Some cars have a separate key for the door than for the ignition.)
                              Yeah, that would really tick me off. I've accidently locked my keys in the car before and it's not fun. By locking the door, they keeping the owners out of their car. While thiefs can still find a way into the car if the break the door.

                              I guess I can appreciate the intention, but not a whole lot of thought was put into this.

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