An old neighbor of mine told me this happened to her once, and she told the officer that she did not own a cell phone, and she had only a landline, and if that officer thought he was coming in her house, he was sadly mistaken. Long story short, the officer walked back to his cruiser and got on the radio. A few minutes later a supervisor arrived and explained the situation to her, basically saying the same thing the responding officer told her. She said she told the supervisor the same thing, if you think you are coming in this house, you have another thing coming. After a minute or two of back and forth, my neighbor said “look, I am not coming to the door (she opened a window to talk”, if you like, have your dispatcher call the number back that they are saying called 911 and if they call her number, she will gladly let them come in. She shut the window, the two officers stood outside for a few more minutes than left, she heard no more about it.
When my son was little, we had an officer come to the door late at night. My mother was getting ready for bed, my son already in bed for hours, and I was on my computer…
He said someone in the next town called in a domestic disturbance. 🤔
Knowing the area, I’m pretty sure he was supposed to be at the house next door, but I did not argue. When it comes to kids, a small thing can lead to CPS (once was called because I wouldn’t let the neighbor kids play in my food garden and they were required to waste time and come out).
I let him peek in my son’s door to see he was sound asleep. He gently woke him up to ask how he was. My son was still half asleep so didn’t even remember the next morning.
Without a warrant, it’s up to the homeowner/resident if you let them in or not. Sometimes it won’t matter, other times it’s better to just let them look.
On the other hand, you can tell them you need to call the station first and close the door. Call the local police station and ask if there’s an officer supposed to be there. If yes, the decision is up to you
You need to make the decision yourself based on your family and your instincts.
Oh I don’t know, maybe you could ask Kenneth Chamberlain Sr. about police being allowed to enter a property. No, sorry, you can’t. Officers from the White Plains Police Department, New York, shot him dead because he wouldn’t let them in.
In 2011 while asleep, Chamberlain accidentally activated his LifeAid medic alert pendant, triggering a phone call from the monitoring service. Because he was groggy and grumpy at having been woken, he didn’t make much sense when they called. They passed the call to the police who then demanded he open his door and let them search his apartment.
Chamberlain told them repeatedly that he was an old man and it was a mistaken activation of his pendant, but they wouldn’t leave him alone. He dug his heels in, declaring that he was entitled to his peace and quiet and that he didn’t need to let the police enter, further stating that he would harm anyone who tried to enter (castle doctrine).
White Plains PD took this as a challenge; they weren’t going to let this “N-word” dismiss them this way. (One of the attending officers was heard to refer to Chamberlain by the “N-word.”)
Chamberlain’s apartment had a substantial door which impeded the police from entering for a significant period of time and they also refused to allow his niece to mediate between them or to speak to her uncle – they in fact threatened her with arrest if she didn’t go away. When they eventually forced entry, they shot him as he lay on the floor.
Chamberlain was a retired Marine and twenty year veteran of the department of corrections.
The White Plains PD eventually settled with Chamberlain’s family for $5 million in 2023.
A film about the incident starring Frankie Faison was released in 2019
[2] before widespread distribution in 2021. It’s an unappreciated gem of a movie that suffered from the pandemic issues of low movie theatre attendance. I recommend it, whether you’re a law enforcement officer or member of the public. It’s an exercise in seeing how things get out of control when nobody will back down.
