7 ms·
Cops to grab unlocked stuff from cars in East Rock area, for safekeeping
- Kinnard 11y agoThe links not working for me. Is this real?
- Kinnard 11y agoYes. It is. http://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/local/Police-to-Take-Valuables-from-Unlocked-Cars-to-Send-Message-339302892.html http://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/local/Police-to-Take-Valu... :0
- hga 11y agoWorks for me, but this is a much better article, among other things pointing out the items will be sold in 60 days if not claimed, has a copy of the notice, pictures and comments of the areas's "top cop", etc.: http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/east_rock_car_break_ins/ http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/...
- elipsey 11y agoHmm... I wonder if they peruse storage devices while they're at it?
- mikeash 11y agoLawsuit in 3... 2... 1.... I'm sure they have the best intentions, but you just can't do this.
- huac 11y ago"confiscating goods that are invitations to thieves is one of the six exceptions in Connecticut law to the requirement for a search warrant" they can just do this (unfortunately)
- t2015_08_25 11y agoWell at least they might be able to do this if Connecticut were to secede from the United States. Not sure if you're from the U.S. or not, but we have a Bill of Rights which was originally intended to protect states from the federal government... But in this case it looks like we'll have to use it to protect us from our own states.
- JadeNB 11y ago> Not sure if you're from the U.S. or not, but we have a Bill of Rights which was originally intended to protect states from the federal government... This language seems overly patronising, and unlikely to contribute to the important point that the rest of your post makes. I think it doesn't matter whether or not GP is from the US.
- ledude 11y agothe 4th amendment has been incorporated to the states. states can't legislate/constitutionalize less protections than what federal law provides.. you know... because the supremacy clause this should be killed by a federal court very fast [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incorporation_of_the_Bill_of_Rights#Amendment_IV https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incorporation_of_the_Bill_of_R... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supremacy_Clause https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supremacy_Clause
- voxic11 11y agoActually the justification for incorporating the bill of rights (well some of it) comes from the 14th amendment, not the supremacy clause.
- dragonwriter 11y agoThe supremacy clause is, however, the basis for why state statute can't brush aside the protections in the federal constitution, including those incorporated against the states by the Fourteenth Amendemnt.
- 11y ago
- wlesieutre 11y agoEast Rock resident, saw this in the paper. Apparently it's legal as part of their "community caretaker" function, with some previous discussion on r/Connecticut https://www.reddit.com/r/Connecticut/comments/3r7tl5/new_haven_police_to_take_valuables_from_residents/cwluai9 https://www.reddit.com/r/Connecticut/comments/3r7tl5/new_hav... One thing being ignored by a lot of the conversation that the police are at least going to be running plates and trying to call people, but I still don't love the idea. Also have to wonder if once they open your car, can the police can just say "It smelled like weed" and search all your stuff?
- mikeash 11y agoThose comments raise an interesting question: why aren't the police just locking the cars?
- Zikes 11y agoThe implication is that thieves will break the windows and snatch whatever they can. Since the police can't break the windows and "hold the contents for safekeeping" they have to skip the locked cars.
- radiorental 11y agoWait, what? If car is unlocked and laptop is visible - they take the laptop and lock the car. Try to contact owner. If car is locked and laptop is visible - nothing?
- dogma1138 11y agoWould you want them to bash in a window instead?
- radiorental 11y agoIf consistency was applied they'd either a) lock the car and leave the property intact b) try to contact the owner Neither of which they are doing
- lujim 11y agoSure could you also randomly enter my house to make sure I didn't leave the stove on? Thanks but no thanks.
- nkrisc 11y agoHaving seen a block of houses burn down due to only one resident's stupid mistake, I have to admit a bit of a desire to agree with that idea.
- lujim 11y agoI think I would rather line the house with smoke detectors and pay the homeowners insurance than grant the cops the right to enter my house at anytime for a "safety check".
- nkrisc 11y agoUltimately that's what we do and I agree. We don't allow cops to randomly enter our homes for safety checks. That said, the situation discussed in the linked article is similar, but not entirely the same. While the police are entering private vehicles, it's in the pursuit of reducing and preventing crime, not the case in the hypothetical situation you posited. I also think the notion that this is all a front for probable cause is a bit far-fetched and cynical. For one, do only criminals leave their cars unlocked with valuables in plain sight? What exactly would the "cover for probable cause" strategy accomplish?
- lujim 11y agoMy first post was tongue in cheek, my second one a response to your literal interpretation of it. What I was really saying is that I think police are overstepping their bounds on this. I would rather that no one enters my private property to save me from myself over small things. House on fire? Thanks a million for helping. I'm a dirtbag that leaves a dog in a hot car? Smash my window by all means. I forgot my phone in the cup holder and I'm dumb enough to leave my car unlocked? I will learn a moderately expensive lesson and won't do it next time. It's not up to the Federal or State government to treat me like a kid.
- daveloyall 11y agoLike many HN readers, I can't help but speculate about how people could game new systems. Here's what I came up with for this one: this system allows participants to exchange goods and currency, in broad daylight, with plausible deniability.
- chillingeffect 11y agoIt could also expose police officers to incredible dangers. Q: What if Jane X. Badgal were to fill a laptop case with explosives and a GPS/camera, then look for someone's open car near a police station and leave the device in it? A: Police officer grabs device, remote detonation happens, with little evidence to go on.
- daveloyall 11y agoOh, interesting. Also, poison or biological agents.
- dogma1138 11y agoI'm pretty sure if some one wanted to blow up or kill cops there would be quite an easier way to do so. Also the likelihood of someone being deranged enough to want to do it, and be capable of rigging a GPS and Camera to a laptop filled with explosives while being able to get their hands on explosives which could fit in a modern laptop is pretty slim. If any "dangerous" incident will happen it will be more likely if a plain cloths police officer will open some one's car door in sight of the owner and the owner over reacts and lashes out. Some one booby trapping electronics to blow up cops what is this a 90's action film? Next they'll rig a police cruiser to explode if they go below 60.... P.S. I'm sure that if some one puts a bomb in a laptop that would be more than "little to no evidence", the bomb components, explosives used, the car and who ever drove it there, that's a mountain of forensic evidence right there....
- chillingeffect 11y agoSee, you made the same mistake the successful deranged person would have fooled the police into making: You said the car would be part of the evidence. But go back and read what I wrote: the psycho puts the bomb into someone else's already open car. The car is a distraction. > there would be quite an easier way to do so First, psychos are not rational evaluators. Second, setting a bomb in a public place is a lot easier than sniping cops. There's no need to run, there's no head-to-head confrontation. The weapon can be untraceably manufactured in one's home - you can't just whip together a decent sniper rifle. > Some one booby trapping electronics to blow up cops what is this a 90's action film? That was a witty phrase in the Aughts to shut down outsiders in security circles, but since then, there have been growing cases of snipers attacking police. It's reality, unfortunately and this policy increases the attack surface of officer security. [ 1 2 3 4 ]. [ 1 ] http://abcnews.go.com/US/suspect-pennsylvania-cop-shooting-sharpshooting-survivalist/story?id=25545808 http://abcnews.go.com/US/suspect-pennsylvania-cop-shooting-s... [ 2 ] http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/13/us/dallas-police-headquarters-shooting/index.html http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/13/us/dallas-police-headquarters-... [ 3 ] http://www.cbsnews.com/news/sniper-kills-two-officers-later-shot-in-va/ http://www.cbsnews.com/news/sniper-kills-two-officers-later-... [ 4 ] http://gothamist.com/2013/07/05/police_search_for_sniper_who_shot_r.php http://gothamist.com/2013/07/05/police_search_for_sniper_who...
- smegel 11y agoStuff from unlocked cars?
- tibbon 11y agoThis sounds terrible. The same logic could be used where if your house is unlocked then the police can seize anything they want "for safekeeping".
- chillingeffect 11y agoAnd how about for data? 1. Log into a cell phone/computer. 2. See if there are any files with incorrect permissions. 3. Make backups and delete the originals so no hackers can get them?
- hotgoldminer 11y agoPure civil forfeiture play on the part of the PD. The ACLU will challenge this and win.
- chris_wot 11y agoUmmm... Apparently if you don't claim your goods within 60 days they sell them!
- chris_wot 11y agoCan we change this link to http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/east_rock_car_break_ins/ http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/... - the current article doesn't allow me to use the back button!
- rmason 11y agoHad a boss once who lived near a couple of state prisons. A couple of times a year he was awakened by cops handing him his car keys and scolding him for leaving them in the vehicles. It was rural area with zero crime. He always figured if there was an escapee he'd much rather have him take the vehicle than break into his house threatening his family to get his car keys. The cops never understood that point of view.
- daveloyall 11y agoSo, nobody is ever going to leave their car unlocked in East Rock again. Ever. Is that a win?
- nkurz 11y agoFrom the other comments here, I think I'm in the minority, but I find this offensive not because of the potential for abuse by the police, but because it legitimates the idea that it's OK to steal from unlocked vehicles. Maybe it's because I'm old and rural, but I'd prefer to live in a society where the societal convention is that "theft is wrong" regardless of whether it requires breaking a window, rather than implying that the victim is to blame for failing to to push a button to properly signify their desire that their belongings not be stolen. What are the limits to this approach? Should the police break the window and empty the glove compartment, on the theory that windows are easy to break and one shouldn't keep anything valuable in the car? Should the police try out their bump-keys on empty houses, and pro-actively remove the valuables from the 90+% of houses where these work? Should they "kidnap" the kindergartner who is in public without chaperones so that no one else does? Or should they figure out ways to punish those who break the law rather than those who are obeying it?