Two Lakeville police officers are causing yet another stir for the department and city. The first incident, if you don’t remember, was a drunken Lakeville police officer who provided alcohol to teenage girls and then video taped them. Now, supposedly as part of some community awareness campaign, two Lakeville cops are making national headlines after they walked into a family’s home while they were sleeping.
According to the officers, after their knocking at 3 AM went unanswered they entered the home and woke up the sleeping man and four kids having a sleepover to let him know the garage was open, the keys were in the ignition of his vehicle, the door was unlocked and that the TV was on. I’m all for public safety awareness but I’m a bit unsure that this is an acceptable way to go about it. I really find it hard to believe that if the officers were knocking that the children didn’t hear them…
Something about the man’s story sounds fishy (honestly, it sounds like he was high or drunk and passed out) and while I don’t like the idea of police officers coming into anyone’s home for any reason, I do believe them when they said they were doing their duty to make certain that everyone was safe inside.
Do you think the officers acted appropriately in this situation?
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June 20th, 2008 at 12:37 pm
I’ll agree that it sounds like the homeowner may have been passed out drunk but entering a home in that manner could have had some dire consequences for all involved. It sure has bad publicity written all over it for the Lakeville PD.
June 20th, 2008 at 12:39 pm
Yeah, I mean, if something bad had occurred and the officers saved their lives I think that this story would have had a different spin so it’s kinda a lose/lose.
June 21st, 2008 at 9:37 am
I’d call this abuse of power as well.
Garage open with keys in the vehicle is not uncommon I would think – that’s just forgetfulness.
You can only discover the door being unlocked when you try entering. TV on is irrelevant – TV stations don’t broadcast at 3am because nobody is watching – they broadcast because people are up and watch TV.
I do believe that the knocking may not have woke anyone up – I know it would take a fair amount of knocking to wake me up and it wouldn’t wake up my kids. There is a video out that shows how a smoke alarm for minutes on end outside a bedroom won’t wake up kids…
June 21st, 2008 at 9:47 am
The article says that it wasn’t just unlocked but that it was ajar. Does that change anything for you?
June 21st, 2008 at 7:45 pm
Not really. If I fail to close my door completely it shouldn’t invite the police in my house at 3am, even if you put all of it together.
It would be different if there were noises coming from the house indicating something going on, or other physical evidence (blood trail, etc). A garage door open, keys in the ignition, door ajar, and TV on doesn’t constitute a reasonable amount of evidence.
Looking at it another way, if they woke a judge up at 3am to present that evidence to obtain a warrant, they would have been laughed at. I understand that it’s slightly different circumstances here (they were doing it for “public safety”), but the point is the same.
June 22nd, 2008 at 12:23 am
One of the most complete violations of privacy I’ve ever heard of. Public safety, wonderful, but before you barge into someone’s home uninvited at 3am, I’m pretty sure you are going to need a much better reason that saying the door was ajar and the garage door was open. Last I checked, neither of those were against the law and do not warrant a 3am wake up call of cops “pounding on the walls” to wake you up.
I’ll say this, the cops are lucky he doesn’t sleep with a gun under his pillow or he’d have plenty of reason to defend himself and his children. Remember that story from a year or so ago in Minneapolis or St. Paul where the cops invaded the wrong home and got in a gun fight with the guy trying to defend himself? Yeah, that really wasn’t all too smart either, they had the wrong home. Oops.
These Lakeville cops are morons who overstepped their authority way, way, too far.
June 22nd, 2008 at 8:08 pm
I’ve never commented here before, but, I love the local information.
I watched this on the news, and the fact that the door was ajar, well, at 3am, my doors are all closed and locked. If I was walking by someone’s home at that time and saw the door ajar, and flickering lights (as the TV was probably giving off) and everything else seemed quiet, as though the family was asleep, I’d probably assume intruder and call the cops. So cops walking into this home doesn’t seem to be that over the line.
Basically, if it were my home in this same state, I’d want the cops to check it out.
June 22nd, 2008 at 8:22 pm
Dawn, thanks for commenting and glad you like the local info.
June 22nd, 2008 at 9:07 pm
Thanks for not calling me an idiot for my poorly worded comment too… good grief.
June 23rd, 2008 at 8:16 am
I think the intention is a good one, but you would think they they would have tried to call the home as well before walking in. With that being said I would still be okay with what they did and would want them to check on me as well if all the things that caused them to check it out was going on at my house.
June 23rd, 2008 at 12:27 pm
Just another copper abusing his authority. Why don’t these guys go fight some real crime. “don’t taze me bro…”
I like how cops can whip an illegal u-turn on the highway and then race back at 95 MPH to pull you over just to give you a ticket for going 69 in a 65 zone, endangering dozens of motorists along the way.
I hate to hate cops.. but the truth is out there.
June 26th, 2008 at 9:05 am
What would happen if I did this to my neighbor in the interest of checking up on them? If my neighbor complained, there would be criminal charges and I would go to court where a judge or jury would determine whether my excuse for entering was acceptable in light of existing breaking and entering laws. Where is the public prosecutor? Why haven’t charges been filed? Shouldn’t this be left up to our jury system to determine whether the officers committed a crime?
July 2nd, 2008 at 9:06 pm
[...] And instead of driving around town, they’ll be walking into your home to check to see if you’re all right. [...]
July 8th, 2008 at 7:53 am
[...] the home checkup gone wrong which was the second time Lakeville’s police officers gained national attention, the man [...]
July 9th, 2008 at 4:10 am
The information I heard what: The overhead garage door was open and a vehicle was inside the garage with the doom light on. The keys were in the vehicle’s ignition and the service door from the garage to the house was open. The officers looked inside, through the windows, and saw the children lying on the hardwood floor inside the residence. The officers knocked and attempted to call (using their voices, not the telephone) inside the residence without success. Then they made entry inside.
When you take the totality of the circumstances, which would lead a “reasonable” person to “reasonably” believe something might be wrong inside the house, the officers have the right to enter without a warrant (legally). It’s called exigent circumstances.
Now, nothing was wrong, but how are the officers suppose to know that?
I don’t want to use “what if’s” but what if the officers hadn’t acted? And left the garage door open and not taken any action? This would give someone access to the interior of the house by means of the service door, which was ajar. Now the unthinkable happens, one or all the children get abducted, maybe someone or all gets killed and/or raped? It’s does happen in this world. How many people would feel safe letting 5 and 7 years olds sleep on a different level of their house near an unsecured and open door all night?
Some people are so quick to throw these officers under the train maybe this father needs to be charged with Child Endangerment. Is it any different than leaving or child in a vehicle while you run into the store?? I’m not sure.
As for heavy sleepers. Again, are these officers suppose to know if someone is a heavy sleep? How could they know this?
These officers acted in good faith and did nothing wrong. They have a tough job and can’t read minds or tell the future, or always tell what’s going on in the present, or what has taken place with the information at hand. They sometimes have minutes or only seconds to decide what to do then act on it, hoping it’s correct. And after-the-fact, others have days, weeks, and years to say what the correct course of action should have been. And many times they have more information than what the officer(s) had at the time they made their decision.
August 5th, 2008 at 8:09 pm
[...] to this article over at the Star Tribune, in a third colossal fuck-up, the Lakeville City Council has put its little city on the map again by refusing [...]
September 9th, 2008 at 9:43 pm
[...] that the officers acted inappropriately based on the information that they had at the time, unlike Lakeville’s officers that may have violated someone’s 4th amendment rights or Apple Valley’s officers inappropriate threatening of taser use, but I am on the fence [...]
October 16th, 2008 at 6:21 pm
A comment has been removed by me.
January 9th, 2013 at 8:14 am
As a mother of 5 children, I can say does anybody have any idea HOW distracting kids can be! A sleepover with 4 kids ? They probably crashed out hard after a fun-filled evening! kids fall asleep with the tv on ALL the time! Even me!! I guess Lakeville pd saved him some $ on his electric bill! You mean to tell me that cops just lurk around the neighborhood peeking in windows??? What a scary ending to the gathering! I agree with the above comments! Thank God the guy didn’t freak out and hurt anybody! I hope the kids don’t need counseling!!
January 9th, 2013 at 11:27 am
Angela K.
If they did need counseling, I am sure the counselors of 4 years ago got some work in.
Interestingly, all of you Lazy Lightning history buffs should read comment #7. Welcome dm!
lefty