Cops Make 3 AM Visit To Tell Man His Door Is Unlocked

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White Rain

White Rain

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I'm pretty undecided on how to feel about this. the biggest part of me thinks it was wrong, and they could have made more attempts at getting someone to answer the door...calling the house, knocking on other doors or windows, etc...

LAKEVILLE, Minnesota (AP) -- A Lakeville man says he feels violated after two police officers woke him up at 3 a.m. to tell him his door was unlocked.
Their surprise visit was part of a public service campaign to remind residents to secure their homes to prevent thefts. Usually, officers just leave notices on doors.
But they went further in Troy Molde's case on Thursday. Police entered the house where four children under 7 were having a sleepover, and then went upstairs to Molde's bedroom.
more: http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/06/20/rude.awakening.ap/index.html
 
I bet he'll always lock his doors to protect his family from now on! :)

you've GOT to lock your doors! :eek:
 
I don't like this. I think they should have tried calling or either just leave a note. Around here, the cops would be lucky they didn't get shot. Who would think strange people waking them up are police officers?
 
WOW, this is just wrong. :eek: What jantel said...they are lucky they didn't get shot or harmed another way, or even that the owner didn't suffer a heart attack from fright!

Here they would have killed themselves tripping over children's toys. We leave them there in case someone breaks in. LOL
 
Damned if you do, damned if you dont...
Had they not been able to get a hold of someone, and just left a note advertising that the door was unlocked - they would be screamed at for that too, if God forbid someone sinister had entered the home instead of them...
 
I agree Lisa and with 4 kids in the house those doors should have been locked anyway! It says some were on a sleepover and I wouldnt want my kids sleeping in a house that was not secure at night after all the stories we hear.
 
lisag said:
Damned if you do, damned if you dont...
Had they not been able to get a hold of someone, and just left a note advertising that the door was unlocked - they would be screamed at for that too, if God forbid someone sinister had entered the home instead of them...
Click to expand...

:clap: :clap: I agree with Lisa.
 
lisag said:
Damned if you do, damned if you dont...
Had they not been able to get a hold of someone, and just left a note advertising that the door was unlocked - they would be screamed at for that too, if God forbid someone sinister had entered the home instead of them...
Click to expand...

Exactly! They're darned lucky it WAS the police and not some thief, rapist or murderer!
 
The way this story is being reported - as kind of a joke - irritates me. If I were an officer and I saw an open garage door, key in car ignition, and front door ajar, I would be very worried about the occupants of the home and I would investigate. I would not try to CALL the homeowner first. Furthermore, if there was no response at the door (as there wasn't here) I believe it's absolutely justified to enter and check on the occupants.

So the officers enter, find little kids in this wide-open house. Yes, they wake the guy up, and yes, I'm sure it scared the heck out of him - but what else are they supposed to do? Take a bunch of little kids' word for it that he's just asleep, or even at home?

I don't want police coming into my house, either, but if I'm asleep or, yanno, dying in my bedroom and the cops find my front door standing open at 3am, I really, really would prefer they just came and checked rather than leaving a note.
 
I agree with you Bluebel......anyone could have got into them kids and if the homeowners didnt hear the cops knocking and trying to wake them up then they sure as heck wouldnt have heard an intruder going in either so I say kudos to the cops. It was irresponsible leaving the door unlocked with kids in the house in this day and age
 
I live next door to Lakeville, MN. It's about as safe as you can get. The police around here have little to do and are overzealous. Wouldn't you think the police could have just closed the guy's garage door instead? (I'm sure in Lakeville, it's an automatic opener.)
 
Bluebel said:
The way this story is being reported - as kind of a joke - irritates me. If I were an officer and I saw an open garage door, key in car ignition, and front door ajar, I would be very worried about the occupants of the home and I would investigate. I would not try to CALL the homeowner first. Furthermore, if there was no response at the door (as there wasn't here) I believe it's absolutely justified to enter and check on the occupants...
Click to expand...


Yeah, better safe than sorry. I ran into a similar situation only last month. As I got home, I noticed one neighbor's front door appeared to be open. I went over to give them a gift I had bought while on vacation, and sure enough the front door was open a little bit. I knocked, no answer, went around the side, and there was a hairpin sticking out of the door lock. I peeked around back, and there was a broken window. Now, since my neighbor's wife is a stay-at-home mother, and has 2 children, I immediately called the police, and told their next door neighbors, our other friends. Now as the police were there checking out the house, the neighbors told me that they had just left church where the whole family was. The neighbor had locked himself out, and had to break the window to get in, and had left the front door open so they could get back in...:doh:
 
lisag said:
Damned if you do, damned if you dont...
Had they not been able to get a hold of someone, and just left a note advertising that the door was unlocked - they would be screamed at for that too, if God forbid someone sinister had entered the home instead of them...
Click to expand...

Seems so.

I imagine it solved the problem and the man will act more responsibly now and make sure his family is locked up and secure at night.

I certainly would rather have cops walk in than some crazed evil dudes that have intents to harm me and my family.

imoo
 
Bluebel said:
The way this story is being reported - as kind of a joke - irritates me. If I were an officer and I saw an open garage door, key in car ignition, and front door ajar, I would be very worried about the occupants of the home and I would investigate. I would not try to CALL the homeowner first. Furthermore, if there was no response at the door (as there wasn't here) I believe it's absolutely justified to enter and check on the occupants.

So the officers enter, find little kids in this wide-open house. Yes, they wake the guy up, and yes, I'm sure it scared the heck out of him - but what else are they supposed to do? Take a bunch of little kids' word for it that he's just asleep, or even at home?

I don't want police coming into my house, either, but if I'm asleep or, yanno, dying in my bedroom and the cops find my front door standing open at 3am, I really, really would prefer they just came and checked rather than leaving a note.
Click to expand...

I don't think anyone wants anyone to come into their home in the middle of the night, however, I have absolutely nothing to hide from the police and would be appreciative if they made sure everyone was okay if they found I had left my home unsecure.


All those indicators would certainly make it reasonable for them to do to a wellness check on the occupants.

imoo
 
When I read the OP I was :eek:, but after reading the whole article, I think the police would have been remiss in NOT doing anything. Was the guy drunk and looking after 4 little kids (some of whom were not his)???

This was not just a case of an unlocked door. This was a door standing open, garage door up, and keys in the ignition of a car in the middle of the night. I would definitley think something was wrong if I had come across this scene.

And if I were the parent of one of those other kids I would be POed. He sure wouldn't ever be responsible for my child again. What an idiot!
 
I think the police did the right thing .. the door was ajar and no one answered so they checked to make sure everything was ok.

What if someone had broken in or someone was hurt and the police had simply closed the door and left??

And why were his 2 sons and two nephews afraid to wake him??
 
I'm guilty of not reading the article and now think differently!!! OMGosh yes if the door was ajar, they should have entered to make sure things were ok. Man, the one time I skip reading...argh.
 
I just don't know if I agree with it...you all make VERY valid points but something in me is just hesitant to agree with it.
A garage open and key in ignition isn't shocking to me. A door ajar, ok, I can see the worry factor in that.
But entering the house without knocking on other doors/windows or calling just seems wrong.
Like some of you said, they could have been shot....
 
I'm not sure I agree with what happened to the man either. If the door that was ajar was one inside the garage then the officers could have been snooping around testing to see if doors to people's homes are locked or not. The article does say that they "usually leave fliers". I wonder if they leave fliers on everyone's doors or just doors that are open. How do they know they're unlocked or not? Then, they blame the children for being afraid to go wake the dad. The kids were probably really scared and afraid they had done something wrong.
 
I have to say, I'm on the side of the police in this one. Leaving a flyer is not enough to me. What if there had been something in that house and they had just locked it up and left a flyer. A garage door open, keys in ignition and front door open is suspicious enough to me to warrant the police entering to check it out. If I saw one of my neighbor's houses like that, I would definitely want the police to check it out....I know my neighbors would never "intentionally" leave the house that way at night.

KUDOS to the cops !!!:clap::clap::clap:
 
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