An Officers Right to Approach & Question-on private property?

Well, this incident just happened last week, I put a email into the county sheriffs office .. and here's the email I sent..

Hello,

I would like to know if there's any county Law stating that a officer retains the right to...

~~pull up in private driveway at 1am and ask for ID and what a person is doing while they are standing on the porch with another adult and smoking a cigarette of the private property? (yes, I'm dead serious)


No 911 call was made from the place of residence and the person in question was 19 and the owner of the private property was inside the house awake and visible from the front door.

If they do NOT have the right to do so, what would be my course of action?

~Thank you "

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Here's their reply... (I've taken out the last name and the county out)

I you would like to call me I'd be happy to discuss this with you. Commander Bill **** *** County Sheriff's Office Patrol Division Office xxx-xxx-xxxx
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What I would like to know is, why can't they just quote me the law ?? Like, send me the link STATING whether or not the officer has a right to do so. Should I call them or not? Personally, I expected WAY better response than the 'milk & cookies' reply~!

How can it be that hard? or is it THAT complicated? What do you think I should do? What would you do? I've tried to go through the 1000 law that are online already, but to no avail..

He may not be aware of the law. I was questioned once in the state of Arizona and he asked for my ID and I said I didn't have one and after arguing with me for awhile he radioed in and found out that the law in Arizona states you only need ID on you if your driving.

Your best bet would be too call a local lawyers office or look up the law and see exactly what it says. Don't rely on the police for accurate information.

reply to post by Komodo


I would say that no, that officer should not have been on your property demanding ID without giving a reason.

I am in NZ, so I don't know how it works in the US, but if a cop did that to me, I would politely ask his reason for being on my property, and if he did not have a good reason, I would politely ask him to leave (even tho I wanted to say eff off).

He can go on your property if he has a reason to be there, like looking for someone running from him possibly hiding in your bushes or something. He can even ask you what your doing though I'd imagine you could refuse to answer.

Really just guessing though as all States have different rules.

Originally posted by kro32
He may not be aware of the law. I was questioned once in the state of Arizona and he asked for my ID and I said I didn't have one and after arguing with me for awhile he radioed in and found out that the law in Arizona states you only need ID on you if your driving.

Your best bet would be too call a local lawyers office or look up the law and see exactly what it says. Don't rely on the police for accurate information.

thanks kro32, I did try to look it up, which took me a couple of hours and I couldn't find it, thus the reason for me sending the email; the lawyer is to cost me 50-100$ for the first 30mins, which i don't have. ;( ..

just wondering if there's anyone else that had this issue before and what they did about it.. ?

Originally posted by kro32
He can go on your property if he has a reason to be there, like looking for someone running from him possibly hiding in your bushes or something. He can even ask you what your doing though I'd imagine you could refuse to answer.

Really just guessing though as all States have different rules.

well.. there are no bushes out front of my house and it's right on the main drag thru town.. and to ask someone on a porch who is smoking a cig .......a little odd to me... and to ask .."what are you doing?" LOL.. hmmm..ok ..

Call up that cop then and have him tell you where the law is so you can look it up for yourself. Maybe he is trying to help but don't just take his word for what it says.

they can come on your property with even NO reason...they get away with it by saying they had some "suspicion" and were doing their jobs. (Judge would agree they had been performing the duties reasonably)

You can be detained for up to 24 hrs (approached, questioned and cuffed) on your own private property at any time without reason. (eventually, they have to tell you).

The Officer's right to "reasonably believe" he has a personal reason HE thinks is important...that carries weight in a court of law. We pay police to stop, question, search, detain folks in cars, homes, private or public. Its what they do.

Originally posted by kro32
Call up that cop then and have him tell you where the law is so you can look it up for yourself. Maybe he is trying to help but don't just take his word for what it says.

that's just it, why can't he just have another officer look up the law for him since he's the commander and then just link it to me.. ?? I mean.. in the age of the internet.. is it really that hard?? I think I'm asking a honest question to which I fully expect him to shoot me a link or two..

Why call him ? I just don't want to get in a argument you know .. all i want is the freaking statute/law stating where says he can or not .. I don't care either way ..

if you get my meaning ..

Interestingly..a cop cannot park and run radar on cars FROM and ON private property. Stores, schools, churches, corners, bushes ,Walmart, gas stations...etc...etc...yes.

Originally posted by LazloFarnsworth
they can come on your property with even NO reason...they get away with it by saying they had some "suspicion" and were doing their jobs. (Judge would agree they had been performing the duties reasonably)

You can be detained for up to 24 hrs (approached, questioned and cuffed) on your own private property at any time without reason. (eventually, they have to tell you).

The Officer's right to "reasonably believe" he has a personal reason HE thinks is important...that carries weight in a court of law. We pay police to stop, question, search, detain folks in cars, homes, private or public. Its what they do.

edit on 6-8-2011 by LazloFarnsworth because: (no reason given)

I understand that but, my point is, where's the LAW that says they can do that.. ?? That's not that tuff of a question to answer from the Commander of the County Sheriff's Dept. I've always gone by the "either is a yes or no and anything else is nothing less the devious"

Don't we pay them to UPHOLD what is already written ?? I wouldn't care either way .. but, i guess nothing is sacred any more in the USA ....

Many things vary slightly depending on the state, but in general:

An officer has the right to make a “Terry Stop” , in most states, based solely on reasonable suspicion, your presence on private property has no bearing on this as long as you are in his line of sight. So for example if he walks up to your house, looks in, and sees something he suspects to be contraband, he actually has the right to perform a search of that property. This is known as the “Plain view Doctrine” . Therefore, if he sees something in “plain view” that causes him a “reasonable suspicion” he has every right to detain you, frisk you, briefly question you, and in some states demand you present your identification.

If he suspected that you were loitering, preparing to break into a house, or even breaking curfew, then he had the right to do what he did.

reply to post by Komodo


Youre mistaken. There are many laws...not just one law about this, and those fall into many more reasons, circumstantial and actual, suspicious, and potentially dangerous.

There are many different laws...lump them together under what an officers need to question you and where...even on your property...and you see...its wide. Very wide. All he needs to say is he had a "need to".Thats it.

States, counties, villages, countries...there is no one "law" youre seeking. There are many...he need only to be doing what he says was his duty.

There is no law that prohibits a cop from doing exactly what they want to do when they want to do it. They are not here to protect you, but to function as armed tax collectors for the city/county/state.

I am not sure what state you are in but according to california law a peace officer can only request identification or question an individual if they have probabal cause to do so, so unless you were being loud and obnoxious, pissing in the street, or doing anything to give the officer reason to be suspicious of you, other than bein out at 1 am ( which is not a crime) then no what he did was illegal and so that is probably why the commander u contacted is giving you the song and dance he is, he hopes you will just drop it where it iz so the dept dosent get any bad publicity or have to repremand an officer.

You can do what you like with it but i wuld recommend you press the issue and make them come clean with you, well hope this is helpful

I'd say your best off just forgetting about it, even if he did it to be a jerk he can just claim he was suspicious.
I once walked out of my house and the cops pulled over before I'd even closed my door or left my gate and questioned/accused me about stealing one of their land rovers.

Obviously they knew I had nothing to do with any such incident as they just saw me leave my house, my guess is they were just being jerks looking for someone to annoy. I doubt there was any stolen land rover in the first place although being Belfast maybe there was.

Best thing to do is just forget it and not dwell on it because if you do they probably achieved their original aim.

Originally posted by JROCK2527
so unless you were being loud and obnoxious, pissing in the street, or doing anything to give the officer reason to be suspicious of you, other than bein out at 1 am ( which is not a crime)

Not necessarily true. First off many cities/counties/states have curfews, especially during summer vacation. Additionally, all you have to do is fit the description of someone that they are looking for, or even simply be in the wrong place at the wrong time to be considered a suspicious person. So if a neighbor called the police on you, if he thought you matched the description of someone who had committed a crime, or even if there was a crime committed nearby and they were looking for folks out in the area, all these can be used for a terry stop.

What"s fair for him is fair for you. Request to see his Official Law Enforcement or Peace Officer ID card and request his badge number and the name of his shift commander and his phone number By law he has to give it to you. In some states you can request his presence at the site and also in some states you can request the presence of the Sheriff (not a Deputy). because he's an elected offical representitive of the people. He is elected so he works for you.

call him and record the conversation, repeat your question you emailed to him over the phone and request and answer before you bother telling him who you are or anything identifiable about the occurrence, he will likely tell you the officer had the right to do so if he suspected something on the property. i wouldn't be surprised if he'd say that even if it isnt legally true.

then i would give him the specific details so he could look it up in his system and see if it was relating to any case and get the answer out of him just what was the cop suspecting?

if you feel the cop gives you any bogus answers or gives you a tough time, put the recording on youtube.

reply to post by pryingopen3rdeye


Then give them a valid reason to come back and arrest you…
In most states what you're suggesting violates Wire tapping laws, and is an arrestable offence.