police and property

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  • police and property

    How far can the cops go when they have to destroy someone's property?
    For example--someone's murdered in a night club. The detectives arrive. One of them goes into a back room to investigate some theory, and gets attacked. Crawls back to his people. They run to catch the attacker--and stop in front of a reinforced steel door to the basement.
    Can they--or will they-- use explosives? Or they need a special permission? Contact the owner?

    And what if it is a public place (school?)?
    Thanks in advance!

    And the owner is not the prime suspect--I was told they can 'destroy' the property if the owner is the perv they chase at that time.

  • #2
    police and property destruction

    Keep in mind, that given time even the most public place will become deserted if the police have the time.

    popularmechanics.com/scie...rint.phtml

    Of special interest, note the smiley face on the battering ram.

    My first thought if I was chasing a bad guy and a steel reinforced door blocked the way to a basement, I'd think traps and ambushes. I'd also think delaying tactic and there is a back door.

    For police there is a line of rising escalation. A patrol cop will stop crime in progress, but dead bodies and other crime scenes require detectives, etc. A heavily armed baddie would bring in SWAT. Bad guy bombs mean bomb squad.

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    • #3
      You didn't state if it's a large city, small town, etc. A good size
      city will call in SWAT as to where in a small town, the Sheriff's
      department might handle things, but then again, in a small
      town, everyone will know everyone.

      Policies are dictated by size town, etc.

      Charli

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      • #4
        Police

        Police Officers in "Hot Pursuit" of a felony suspect wanted for murder can basically chase that suspect almost anywhere. Department policy will dictate how far and under what circumstances they may enter a house, building, school, etc. If, the suspect has barricaded himself and the officers cannot arrest him/her without serious risk to their lives or others, they will call in SWAT. On LAPD, the street officer is given a lot of discretion in their duties. We used to kick in a lot of doors/windows chasing felony suspects.

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        • #5
          Police/crime resources...

          Check;
          www.copsnwriters.com www.crimewriters.com or see The Advice Squad's website. Also see www.crcpress.com for details on crime scene/criminal investigations/SWAT tactics.

          8)

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          • #6
            Interview a police officer or sheriff. I've interviewed a detective
            and about to interview a sheriff. Makes a big difference when
            you get first hand knowledge of how things work.

            Charli

            p.s. Approach any cop in the city and tell them you're writing
            a screenplay and would like to interview them, they'll eat it up.

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            • #7
              Thanks, people!

              Comment


              • #8
                I think police can use whatever force they believe is required, and that justifies any damage that might result. Collecting on damages is tricky, filled with legal problems.

                Many years ago, our neighbor around the corner was a victim of a drive-by shooting. Convinced it was a drug deal and more violence was inside, the cops blasted through our back yard for access to the rear of the vic's house. $150 in property damages were finally paid to us, but we were out a helluva lot more than that.

                Interesting part was what happened to the victim's wife/widow. The cops trashed the house looking for drugs, still convinced of the drug angle. None were ever found, and since the crime has not been solved, it was never established that the guy was an innocent vic or some participant in gang activities. [he had a record]

                Damages were denied, a ton of papers filed, and finally the insurance company paid for some of it.

                [sidebar: during this ordeal, we learned that drive-bys are solved within four hours--or never. After that first period of success, it's only through informants that these are ever solved]

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