Unreasonable Search of Homes
Yesterday, Toronto Police announced through the media they would begin a canvas of north Toronto homes in the search for clues about the disappearance of Miriam Makhniashvili. Investigators warned residents they would be knocking on their doors until they answer and they would "ask" to look around their home.
Personally, I would not allow police to enter my home without any reason. Does that make me a bad person? Perhaps, but this may be setting a dangerous precedent.
Maybe next time they won't need to ask or have a reason.
"You will expect a knock at your door and police will keep knocking at your door," Det. Sgt. Dan Nealon told a news conference. "We're also asking to be invited into your home just for a quick peek into areas of your home to ensure that there is no evidence ... and we can move on."Although my heart goes out to the family of the missing teen and I support the Toronto Police, I have a huge problem with the tactics used by the police. Residents need to grant permission to the investigators to enter their home, but what if they say no? Are they considered a suspect?
Personally, I would not allow police to enter my home without any reason. Does that make me a bad person? Perhaps, but this may be setting a dangerous precedent.
Maybe next time they won't need to ask or have a reason.
posted by Jason at 6:21 AM
12 Comments:
A girl is missing, that is the issue. If you have nothing to hide let them in. Might change your tune if it was your daughter they were looking for.
If it were my daughter I would want them to do everything they could as well but there are bigger issues here. People are supposed to be assumed innocent unless proven guilty. This turns that on it's head. If you refuse them entry you become a suspect? Police departments could in the future routinely search peoples home whenever they have a crime they can't solve. Personally with the track record the government has I have little trust left and would not let them in my house either.
Sean: If you have nothing to hide do you mind the cops stopping by every friday night and searching your home, your computer, your files, your safety deposit box, your mail, your email, your web logs, blah.
A girl is missing, and if the cops came to my door I would tell them they are wasting their time and searching my home would not help their effort and close the door.
If anything searches like this hurt the chances of finding this girl. Account for all the man hours searching homes of innocent Canadians, and then apply those man hours into doing real police work. An hour wasted searching someone with nothing to hide's home is still an hour wasted, even if you get beyond the whole constitution burning.
Jason, I hate to tell you this, but there is a law that allows police to not only come in and search a house, but requires the owner/resident to co-operate fully with the police or face up to two years in jail. And it's the police who decide if you are "co-operating".
Of course, this section of the law only applies to a certain class of people. Those people are not registered sex offenders or drug users, nor are they anyone who has been convicted of any violent crime. The people who "have to" co-operate with a police search of their residence are... registered firearms owners.
Oh, and if the police say they have had an anonymous phone call telling them there is a firearm in your house... that's all the excuse they need to come in and look around. And the way the law is written, they can use anything they find against you.
One of the reasons we firearms owners find the present firearms laws so repugnant...
What a complete over reaction. No one said they were going to search computers or files or whatever else. Just look around. With all the pedophiles and wackos out there I have no issues with them ruling people out. Obviously someone knows where she is, and I doubt they would invite the cops in to search.
To those who think the police should be able to search your house or car without a warrant I give a rousing chorus of Zieg Heil's. Glad you outed yourselves.
Sean McAllister said...
A girl is missing, that is the issue. If you have nothing to hide let them in. Might change your tune if it was your daughter they were looking for.
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I love left-wing logic.
So...why not lobby for random personal searches on pedestrians? After all, you *could* be carrying a gun, a taser, illegal drugs or any number of other things, couldn't you? And hey, IF YOU'VE GOT NOTHING TO HIDE, why not?
Do us all a favor and move to a nice police state somewhere. People like you are dangerous to our civil liberties.
People like you are more concerned with civil liberty's than a girls life. Which is worse? All I'm saying in this instance, for the reason they have said, I don't mind. Why is that so hard to understand?
But Sean, you have yet to shown that giving up my civil liberties somehow helps this missing girl.
If the cops searching my house will help find this girl great but I'm not sure how it will help, and I don't know why my word isn't enough.
I guess a person can only occupy a few square feet and there is a finite amount of space on the planet so every square foot you search is one sq foot closer to the girl.
I don't care if its a missing girl or ten missing nuns, they are not missing in my home so looking around solve nothing, period. And if somehow me not giving up my rights makes me a suspect, then I cry for this girl the type of people in charge of looking for her are truly incompetent.
Okay let me spell it out for the blind. The cops want to search the nearby homes for a clue. You, I am assuming here, are innocent. Yet you object. Do you think the guilty party will invite them in for a look around? And as far as freedoms go, I guess you missed this http://djxtreme.wordpress.com/2009/09/18/phillip-garrido-police-dropped-the-ball/
Sean McAllister said...
Okay let me spell it out for the blind. The cops want to search the nearby homes for a clue. You, I am assuming here, are innocent. Yet you object. Do you think the guilty party will invite them in for a look around?
You're still not getting it, are you? There is a line that just can't be crossed, and the old "what have you got to hide?" is always the first step (for the "common good", of course). Like I said, if that's acceptable to you then go find a nice safe little police state to live in. Those who would trade freedom for security deserve neither...
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