Any COPS out there? Cop harassment question, serious.?

Question

My mother in law has had some trouble with the cops because of my brother in laws. They age from 12 - 20.
Well, last weekend they came over and took a bunch of stuff from her carport that they say was stolen, lawnmowers, gas cans, and stuff. On the so called ticket it just says for "last name". It doesn't name any one person for the stolen stuff nor does it name the "victims" of the stolen stuff. It doesn't even say why the stuff was being taken. That is all it says on the paper.
One of the cops was trying to pick a fight with my brother in law while he was holding his 1 year old baby.
The cops have since been pulling over anyone that leaves that house.
Either today or last night they pulled over my mother in law and brother in law right after they got a pop at a drive through gas station.
My brother in law asked why they were pulling them over and the cop said "just to see if you have car insurance".
Can they do that? Don't they need a REAL reason to pull you over?

Is this harassment? And what can they do about it.
Any help would be appreciated.

I was just trying to help my M-I-L out a little. They do have problems and we try to stay out of the drama.
So here are a few questions:
1- The police took property without a warrent or concent, can they legally do that?
2- They entered the house without consent or a warrent, can they do that?
3- It is one cop in particular that is doing the harrassing, what can they do about it?
4- Some of the property that was taken I know for sure wasn't stolen property but the cops took it anyways, what can they do about that?
(The other stuff that was taken was stuff the kids said people gave them, they were lawnmowers that didn't run and the kids want to learn how to fix them. My mother in law even say a guy drop them off with a truck, so that doesn't make sense, but like I said I stay out of the drama so I don't know for sure).

Thanks to the people with real advice, for the jerks with the rude comments, please don't post to my question.

Answer 1

what you have is the fact it appears your brother in laws are either stealing or buying and/or selling stolen property.

And yes if it was not stolen they would not have bothered to take it into evidence. And I am not sure what they gave you, but no it will not say the victim name ( they are not going to tell the victim to the person or family who had the stolen items.

And what you had was most likely the thing they use for a reciept,

Next yes they are going to try and catch someone else bringing or taking stolen property.

This is called probable cause , the fact alot of stolen stuff is found at one location, it gives you a good chance at a future search warrant to search the rest of the house, and to have alot of the people comming and going stoped ( for various reasons) to find out who they are and to have a look inside thier cars. This is actually fairly standard procedure.

And since the "stuff" was on your car port they most likely beleive that the parents living there are in on it, since they would have to know this stuff did not merely appear.

And beleive me they can find a reason to stop any car ( I bet you crossed that yellow line just now, or you did not signal a turn)

And of course the real probable cause ( they don't have to tell you why they really stop you) but the real cause was possible stolen property.

Answer 2

May I please give you the best advice that I can - This coming from someone in the know about such things.

It's truly is impossible to weigh the merits of a complaint based on what you've written. One side of a story is never the whole story and there are important ingredients that you may not know yet. So my personal advice is that if you truly believe the officers did something procedurally wrong, ethically wrong, or even broke the law, make a report to their internal affairs unit and insist on in internal investigation. That advice pertains to conduct only. But you also have a challenge about the evidence and whether they seized it according to law, etc etc. This is where the defense attorney come in. Discuss with him/her all the points that you feel are unjust and improper to get his perspective on whether it's helpful to the case.

Answer 3

I am a police officer but without both sides of the story, I can't really say if this is harassment or not. I depends on a lot of things....i.e. what state you live in, what kind of information they have to prove the items are stolen etc. etc. Maybe your mother in law needs to go talk to the chief or the sheriff and see what information they can give her. If that doesn't work, talk to the prosecuting attorney.

Answer 4

I am not a cop, but I would say it is harassment. Maybe if your brothers in law are such trouble makers that they have to have an eye kept on them at all times?!?!?! I am not sure because I don't know you or your family. Sorry I couldn't help!!

Answer 5

You're being harrassed. They also appear to have seized property without a warrant.

Get a lawyer, or contact the ACLU.

Answer 6

sounds like you are trailer trash and deserve to be hassled...