Off-Duty Cop?

Question

So last night, we are asleep. At 3 am, someone bangs on the door. I look out the window, and there is a police officer (in uniform) on my law with a flashlight. He sees me look out the window and flashes his light up at me. So my dogs are freaking out and I yell at my husband to get up. I look out the window again, and I dont see a cop car, just a pickup truck in front of our house with its lights on.
So my husband goes down. The cop tells him that he stopped because our garage door was open. Thats it, thats the only reason. At 3am!
We live in a small town suburb, its very low crime. No one locks their doors or anything. We have left our garage door up accidently several times.
So can cops do this? Just come on your property in the middle of the night for an open door?

I know it may seem like he was doing his duty and I understand the responses to that regard. But the time of night and the manner that he approached our home with the flashlight and what not seemed far more intrusive than necessary.
And to the people who mentioned I may have prefered to be killed or robbed, honestly, is that really appropriate? Im just making an inquiry into my rights here. There is no need to be vile. Obviously I would never want anything like that to happen to me or my family. I just want to know if his behaviour was appropriate for the circumstances.

Answer 1

Hi! I do see your point, however I do see the cops point as well. Maybe a neighbor called or something stating that they had a feeling something was wrong, or that your house was being broken into. That would explain why the police was banging on the door so hard, and with a flashlight - to make sure there was no robber in the house. Maybe there has been a rash of robberies in the neighborhood - maybe not your subdivision or something, so they are just on high alert to look for things out of the ordinary that could appear to be a burglary. I agree with you that the police could have gone about this a different way. Maybe he could have called the house or something prior to banging on your door so early.

Another possibility is that he might have not been a police. Even though he was in uniform, doesn't mean he was a police. The pickup truck makes me wander if he was a real police man or a robber himself, checking to see if anyone was home. You never know. You might want to call the local police department and confirm that it was actually a police man - if it was not, you might want to report a suspicious person in your area pretending to be a police man. Not to scare you, I'm sorry. I watch too much CSI. LOL
Good luck with everything and keep us updated.

Answer 2

State laws vary, but most are very similar in this issue, and tht is your right to privacy. A person, regardless of time may approach your house as long as they are not doing it with malice intent, unless your property is clearly posted. I think that based on the scenario you have given, the officer may have used poor judgment, but it is unlikely he had any malice intent. His intentions were good, however his methods could have used improvement.
In addition, all police officers are considered to be "on duty" at all times, for the most part. Whether they are being paid or not, they still serve the same purpose, and that is to safeguard the people (primarily) and property in their given jurisdiction.
To answer your question, yes, the officer was legally able to notify you that your garage door was open, but it is understandable why you were upset. More than likely, he may have been investigating your personal welfare, considering that the garage door is one of the preferred methods of entries into homes by home invaders.

Answer 3

If I were a police officer, I would've just rang your doorbell. How fast asleep were you; do you think you would've heard it? Other than that, he was within his rights to do that to you. It was just to inform you of something that you forgot to do (I know it was an accident, but still.) Even in a low-crime area like yours, there still may be punks and robbers who will come and steal something from your garage, or create other havoc. In the future, you might want to go outside and check the garage door before you go to bed, and if it's up, put it down. My father and I do it all the time.

Oh, by the way, I live in a small city in rural Manitoba, and my father and I also lock our doors every night before we turn in.

Answer 4

OK grow up! Would you rather he didn't and get up next morning and find crap gone? or have some family member/friend find your bodies because cop didn't care enough to stop? This day in age it doesn't matter where you live you should always take extra precautions and lock your doors and make sure garage door is down....heck in future I wouldn't even open door to guy dressed as cop with no police car in sight! If he was that insistent I'd call local police department myself and discuss situation with them! Get off your high horse and next time tell the officer thank you and go close it.....

Answer 5

A police officer is always a police officer whether "On Duty" or not. If he had a suspicion that there was a problem because the door was open, I am surprised he didn't call for a second unit to assist. He shouldn't have knocked on your door without back up.

Answer 6

how do you know he was really a cop? you can buy police uniforms anywhere. be more careful and do not open the door next time. what if you were home alone and you opened the door? you have to think of these things.

one time i was home alone and a man came banging on my door saying he was from FPL (florida power and light) and it sounded urgent. i was suspicious cause i didnt see a FPL truck. i called FPL and they told me DO NOT open the door because they did not send anyone to my house and to call the police. but then he left right away.

the man could have been a criminal but when your husband opened the door he might have made up the garage door bs as an excuse. be careful!

Answer 7

Maybe one of your neighbors called in for a property security check. They could have said something like "I just got out of work and when I got home, I noticed my neighbors garage door open. Their car is in there, but no lights on in the house. Can you check on them for me?" Maybe the officer in question was on his way home from his loooonnnnnggggg shift and wanted to make sure everything was okay. Maybe he was investigating something more serious and wanted to make sure noone was hiding in your garage. If your worried about it, call his dept with his badge number.

Answer 8

Yes! Police can come to your house if anything poses a threat. Or maybe you have been robbed and the perp decided to go into your home..But for this situation I would call your local Police Agency and ensure he is really a cop...Believe me 911 will know.

Answer 9

Yes they can. He was not doing anything a normal citizen couldn't do - which was knock on someone's door to warn them of a possible danger. You should be thanking him for what he did. It shows he is a very observant officer who has a strong sense of duty. There might have been reports of crime in your area that you do not know about. We also live in a very low crime area - but still take normal precautions like locking our doors. It only takes one time. I say bake the guy a batch of cookies and take them to the station.

Answer 10

It sounds like something a lot of midnight shift officers do. It sounds like he was doing his job. Maybe he was on his way home(in his truck) and saw the door open and stopped to check it out.