3 ms·

The police can't search the home without a warrant. They just showed up at the door where one person was (presumably) inside, and the other trying to get in.

The police can't search the home without a warrant. They just showed up at the door where one person was (presumably) inside, and the other trying to get in. > Why is that not a situation where they go okay, prove it, and he pulls up paperwork and such I mean... I own my house and I'm not sure I could do this on the spot. Maybe I have a copy of some paperwork somewhere? But I can understand a police officer not wanting to learn to be a lawyer on the spot.

bmitc 3y ago
Maybe they shouldn't arrest people then if they don't have the information required to make that determination. It takes a two minute phone call to the town offices to determine who owns a property.
- gregjor 3y ago
  Actually it's not that easy. Paperwork could be in progress for a sale, for example. Or the squatters can produce a fake lease agreement. None of that would appear in any county or city records. The courts, not the police, look at evidence and hear both sides if someone claims to own or rent a property. Before jumping to conclusions like this try calling your town office or county assessor to find out if that's something they can actually do, accurately and with current information, over the phone, 24/7. I already know the answer. The police do not act as prosecutors, legal researchers, or judges. The law protects squatters, unfortunately I agree. The police are law enforcers, not arbitrators or title insurance researchers.
- shadowgovt 3y ago
  It's not what the police do. The police keep the peace and questions of property ownership are figured out later. In this case, working backwards from the arrest (and discounting most of the presented information as coming from the source of the arrestee and unfiltered by a known yellow journalism rag), I can hypothesize that the officer was presented with a situation where one individual was clearly resident in the property, and the other individual had attempted to force entry, was arguing with the cops about owning the property inhabited by the other individual, and refused to leave. Easiest solution to that problem for the cop is to take the individual who was invading the property and give him some time in the cool-off tank overnight until everything can get resolved. On average that's the better solution. Imagine if the police were ripping you out of your home just because some lunatic showed up on your doorstep and started ranting that they owned your house. Playing the odds of perceived circumstance is likely to arrive at the best outcome here; the scenario where the angry invader is the legitimate property owner and the person resident in the building is the squatter is the rare scenario.
lotsoweiners 3y ago
Isn’t the record of who owns the home on your county assessor’s website. I can pull this info up in 1 minute.

bmitc 3y ago

Maybe they shouldn't arrest people then if they don't have the information required to make that determination. It takes a two minute phone call to the town offices to determine who owns a property.

gregjor 3y ago
Actually it's not that easy. Paperwork could be in progress for a sale, for example. Or the squatters can produce a fake lease agreement. None of that would appear in any county or city records. The courts, not the police, look at evidence and hear both sides if someone claims to own or rent a property. Before jumping to conclusions like this try calling your town office or county assessor to find out if that's something they can actually do, accurately and with current information, over the phone, 24/7. I already know the answer. The police do not act as prosecutors, legal researchers, or judges. The law protects squatters, unfortunately I agree. The police are law enforcers, not arbitrators or title insurance researchers.
shadowgovt 3y ago
It's not what the police do. The police keep the peace and questions of property ownership are figured out later. In this case, working backwards from the arrest (and discounting most of the presented information as coming from the source of the arrestee and unfiltered by a known yellow journalism rag), I can hypothesize that the officer was presented with a situation where one individual was clearly resident in the property, and the other individual had attempted to force entry, was arguing with the cops about owning the property inhabited by the other individual, and refused to leave. Easiest solution to that problem for the cop is to take the individual who was invading the property and give him some time in the cool-off tank overnight until everything can get resolved. On average that's the better solution. Imagine if the police were ripping you out of your home just because some lunatic showed up on your doorstep and started ranting that they owned your house. Playing the odds of perceived circumstance is likely to arrive at the best outcome here; the scenario where the angry invader is the legitimate property owner and the person resident in the building is the squatter is the rare scenario.

lotsoweiners 3y ago

Isn’t the record of who owns the home on your county assessor’s website. I can pull this info up in 1 minute.