Page 1 of 2 1 2 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 20

Hybrid View

  1. #1

    Default Police Entered a Rented Storage and Office Space Without Permission

    My question involves police conduct in the State of: Illinois.

    Hi, never had anything like this happen and not sure what to do. My Wife and I have differing opinions. A little back ground:

    I am 50 years old, and my wife of 30 years and I own and operate an online sales business. We rent space in a commercially zoned area of town that serves multiple purposes for us including; Storage, Office, shipping facility, and man cave. The unit is 18' wide by 56' deep, and has a mezzanine around 500 square feet. Total floor space is right around 1500 square feet. There is a 12' wide 15' tall overhead door, as well as a walk through door(north wall of unit). The upstairs is all open flooring with no walls. The stairwell is on the North wall of the unit. Downstairs is divided into four separate rooms plus a bathroom. The doorway that leads to 3 of these rooms(plus restroom) is 28' back and on the South wall of the unit.

    The building this unit is in is roughly 30,000 square feet, has about 12 similar units to ours, and is in the shape of a "U". All the entrance doors to all the units are inside the "U".

    Here is what happened:

    Sunday afternoon at 2:50 p.m. I was in the unit alone, just stopped for the facilities and to drop off some supplies. I had just finished using the restroom at the very back wall of my unit when I heard a female voice faintly inquire from what I believed to be outside. I responded, and headed towards the door surprised as we very rarely have visitors. I had only taken a step or two when I looked up to see the Officer was in my unit, and rapidly approaching the office in my unit. We met about a step before she reached my office doorway, or about 25' into my unit and on the opposite side of the room from where she entered.

    To say the least, I was startled that there was someone this far into my space without an invitation. This is not a store front, it is not open to the public. My initial thoughts were that something was terribly wrong with a family member or something.

    I spoke first, politely I believe as I inquired "how can I help you?" To which she responded, "I noticed your door was open, and I am doing a security check. To which I responded (not as politely) "I did not invite you in, why are you inside". And she repeated it was a security check, and my door was open. As I escorted her to the door, there was some continued dialogue including her saying something to the effect of, "If you don't want us to ensure your unit is safe, we won't ever check it again. Once we were outside, I pulled out my identification and offered it to her. She said "I don't even want that" and abruptly walked away.

    Nothing was seized. Nothing was searched other than what was in plain sight. She did not touch me, or as far as I know anything in my unit other than the floor.

    Still I believed the intrusion into my private space was unwarranted based on "an open door" especially at 3 p.m. on a sunny Sunday afternoon. I then called the Department and explained the situation to a Sergeant. He basically belittled me, said I was "making a big deal of nothing" that the Officer was absolutely correct in entering the building. I pointed out to the Sergeant the door she entered was less than 6' from my van which was running, titled, licensed, and insured in my name. The Sergeant did basically outline the process of filing a formal complaint........but he also insinuated something to the effect that they wont protect my space if I don't want them too.

    I just find that really disturbing.

    I was literally 30 seconds and 30' from having her confront me while I was on the toilet in my private space. And since I feel the line between protection and intrusion was crossed, that an implication(or anything that could be construed as such) that protection wont be available moving forward is unfathomable. And I heard that from two different officers.

    Anyway, My Beautiful Wife agrees the Officer is way in the wrong. But she thinks we gain nothing filing a formal complaint except making ourselves a target for potential future harassment. She may well be right about the harassment. But I think our duty as Citizens to report misconduct outweighs those negatives.

    At this point, I have not filed a formal complaint.

    Any advice or opinions would be greatly appreciated.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jul 2010
    Posts
    8,006

    Default Re: Police Entered My Rented Storage/Office Space

    You can certainly file a complaint if you wish.

    The officer was simply doing her job. A running van outside a storage unit is what some folks in law enforcement call a clue or a flag. It is entirely possible she called out before she entered the unit and got no answer, then entered further into the unit and called again. That may have been when you heard her.

    If you no longer wish for them to check your unit in the event they find a security concern, they have stated they are fine with that. It's not a threat or anything. You expressed an issue with them doing their duty so they have offered you the option of them not investigating in the future.

  3. #3

    Default Re: Police Entered My Rented Storage/Office Space

    Quote Quoting free9man
    View Post
    You can certainly file a complaint if you wish.

    The officer was simply doing her job. A running van outside a storage unit is what some folks in law enforcement call a clue or a flag. It is entirely possible she called out before she entered the unit and got no answer, then entered further into the unit and called again. That may have been when you heard her.

    If you no longer wish for them to check your unit in the event they find a security concern, they have stated they are fine with that. It's not a threat or anything. You expressed an issue with them doing their duty so they have offered you the option of them not investigating in the future.
    I thought her job was to uphold the Constitution of The United States of America. I thought I had an absolute right to privacy in my Person, Places, and Things.

    While I agree there are times when the intrusion upon the rights of one are warranted given a specific set of circumstances, I do not believe this situation comes anywhere close to that.

    The fact that she would not accept my offered identification tells me she wasn't really securing my unit anyway.

    The open door and running van were suspicious enough for her to enter without a warrant; but not suspicious enough for her to accept identification from the person she encountered inside.
    That doesn't make any sense to me. It's been a long time since 8th grade civics.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2013
    Posts
    18,340

    Default Re: Police Entered My Rented Storage/Office Space

    Quote Quoting BLUEEAGLE COMMERCE
    View Post
    I thought her job was to uphold the Constitution of The United States of America.
    No, her job is to prevent crimes from being committed if at all possible, and clean up after they are committed.

    3 PM on a Sunday afternoon when people are rarely doing business, especially in a non-retail environment, with a door open would certainly invite a security check.

    If I were in your place I'd want it.

    If your place was cleaned out on a Sunday afternoon, you'd be the first one on Monday squealing like a stuck pig "Where was security? Who can I sue for not providing security?"

    You're making a mountain out of a mole hill. Get over it and be thankful that they do security checks.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    California
    Posts
    20,594

    Default Re: Police Entered My Rented Storage/Office Space

    The short answer is that she was doing her job. Quite frankly, this is something the police do with great frequency. They patrol commercial properties, rattle doors, check on open spaces and businesses. A van outside a commercial space with an unsecured door on a Sunday afternoon can also be read as, "burglary in progress". These are uncommon business hours and circumstances and will certainly attract the attention of even a moderately experienced officer.

    The public generally expects the police to conduct preventative patrols. This sort of thing can identify break-ins, can result in the apprehension of crimes in progress, etc. It's good police work. The alternative is that the officers all sit in the office playing Angry Birds and wait for the burglary calls to come in rather than acting to prevent or deter them.

    As for entry, there was an apparent exigency (thus, an exception to the warrant requirement or consent) that existed given the totality of the circumstances. Once you revealed yourself and identified yourself as someone who was supposed to be there, all was good, the exigency was over, and the officer took off. It does not sound like she had anything to apologize for. She was doing her job, why would she apologize for that?

    While YOU may find the act intrusive,for every one person who finds the act intrusive there are dozens who thank them for their diligence. Personally, I have never once had anyone get angry with me for checking on them or their property under a similar circumstance. Perhaps next time, you can lock the door behind you?

  6. #6

    Default Re: Police Entered My Rented Storage/Office Space

    Special Thanks to my old friend Carl for responding. While I disagree with you for the most part, I respect your opinion, and appreciate you taking the time to respond. And for the record my old friend. If this encounter had taken place at or near my entrance way, I would have been grateful, and thanked the Officer earnestly for her concern.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    California
    Posts
    20,594

    Default Re: Police Entered My Rented Storage/Office Space

    Disagreement is fine, but, the legal standard is such that the police can and do make entry under such circumstances daily and in all pars of the country. You may not like it, but it is what it is.

    In fact, I and officers like me have also made entry into residences under similar suspicious circumstances as well.

    This officer did what most of us officers would do - call inside from the doorway, then cautiously enter to see that no one is harmed and that nothing is amiss. It is part of the community caretaking exception (an exigency) to the warrant requirement of the 4th Amendment ... thus, it is NOT a violation of the Constitution. In my decades, I have found victims down from violence and medical issues both in a residence and a commercial property, I have discovered thieves still on site, have interrupted crimes in progress, and even stumbled upon cold burglaries that had I not happened upon the scene and wandered in may not have been discovered for days or weeks.

    Sorry, Blue, but the law is on the officer's side here and she did nothing wrong from a legal or ethical standard. If you wish to change the law or local agency policy, you will have to address that with your state and local politicos.

  8. #8

    Default Re: Police Entered My Rented Storage/Office Space

    I disagree. Using a community caretaking exception to void the warrant exception is a thinly veiled run around the protections of the 4th Amendment. The fact that she didn't also check the other 2 units with open doors at the time also is inconsistent with a community caretaking concern. Wouldn't those open doors also raise the same suspicions?

    I just got done watching the exterior security video of my neighbor. I only have video and audio from inside the unit on my camera. His video (with no audio) shows her approach to my nearly fully closed door, pause for less than 2 seconds, then push the door open and enter the unit. Presumably she called out during that very brief pause.

    My audio you can hear her faintly call "hello", and clearly here me respond "coming" (admittedly I am much closer to the microphones at that point).

    So no, I absolutely believe the totality of the circumstances in no way justifies her entrance into the private space of my unit. Nor do I think the exigent circumstances she would be able to articulate would withstand Judicial scrutiny. I also can't immediately recall any Illinois or U.S. Case Law that has upheld a search on such weak exigencies.

    If her motive is community caretaking, this is how I think things should have played out ideally.

    She makes her inquiry at the doorway and waits a reasonable time for that inquiry to be answered. I answer her query at the door within a reasonable time. Her suspicions are eased, my sense of security is heightened, nobodies rights are violated.........Have a Nice DAY! I am not the one who deviated from that script.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    California
    Posts
    20,594

    Default Re: Police Entered My Rented Storage/Office Space

    There could be any number of reasons why she chose to walk to your door and not the others, it could well be because none of the others had vans with the engines running in front of them or there was nothing to draw her attention to them. We can't know.

    Your dislike of the situation and disagreement with the current standard of the law aside, based on your description the officer did nothing outside of policy or the law and what little you CAN do, you did. You called the agency to voice your disapproval. You can make additional calls if you'd like, but it will likely do little to stop a common practice by law enforcement everywhere.

    As I suggested, if you want to keep out unwanted visitors - including unwanted police officers, lock the door.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    California
    Posts
    20,594

    Default Re: Police Entered My Rented Storage/Office Space

    I'm sorry you are disappointed, but this is as it is and has been for my entire career. Nothing unlawful or untoward occurred here. If you believe otherwise, you can engage an attorney and see where that gets you.

    The exception was likely more than just an unlocked door. I can't know because I was not there and did not speak to the officer. But, you combine two, three, or more articulable elements,and you have the makings of just cause. Had evidence of criminal wrongdoing been uncovered,perhaps an argument MIGHT be made for suppression. Though, in my experience from actually uncovering such evidence in similar checks is that it would not ... provided the articulation and totality of the circumstances were sufficient. But, none of that occurred here. This is not a criminal matter.

    Regardless of what you might think, what I might think, or what anyone on an internet message board might think, nothing will be accomplished by complaining here. If you want to change the status of the law or local police policy and practice, then you need to start advocating for such changes. In the meantime, law enforcement officers everywhere will (hopefully) continue to do their jobs as it appears this officer did.

    1. Sponsored Links
       

Page 1 of 2 1 2 LastLast

Similar Threads

  1. Breaking a Lease: Breaking a Lease for Rented Office Space Represented by Landlord as Residential
    By Sara777 in forum Landlord-Tenant Law
    Replies: 7
    Last Post: 03-12-2014, 05:07 AM
  2. Unlawful Eviction: Illegally Rented Out Storage Unit As Living Space
    By legalqs in forum Landlord-Tenant Law
    Replies: 11
    Last Post: 12-18-2013, 12:14 PM
  3. Unlawful Eviction: Business Kicked Out of Rented Space
    By dgarvey in forum Landlord-Tenant Law
    Replies: 3
    Last Post: 10-25-2013, 11:14 PM
  4. Parking and Access: Rent Collections for a Rented Parking Space
    By redsox9687 in forum Landlord-Tenant Law
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 11-17-2010, 07:01 AM
 
 
Sponsored Links

Legal Help, Information and Resources