Cops at the Door
Cops At The Door
A How-To
If you answer the door and the law enforcement is outside please:
- Do Not invite them in. If they have an invitation from anyone on the property, they are allowed in the space. If they have a warrant, please ask to see it. If the officer asks if you can discuss things inside, respond that you can instead discuss things outside, on our public sidewalk.
- Do be polite! Police can make all of our lives harder, if you give them reason. By bringing peace to the “peace officers” you can make sure that the Omni stays safer.
- Do Not volunteer information. Stick to basic, factual questions you're comfortable answering. If you are uncomfortable answering any questions, refer them to one of the point persons below, or inform them that you need to discuss things with our lawyer (info TBD), before answering more questions.
- Do make sure to get the enforcement officer's contact information and badge number.
- Do make sure to inform the Omni discuss mailing list of what has occurred with the officer. Do not, however, share the officer's personal contact information, and respect any requests to avoid compromising an investigation.
Remember:
Law enforcement agents can lie, directly or via omission. However, if you are caught lying to them, even if you didn't mean to, it is a serious crime. It doesn't matter if the lie is even relevant to the investigation or not.
Law enforcement agents may use myriad tactics, obvious or not, to try to get you to share information with them.
Inviting law enforcement agents onto the property can not only dismantle your 4th and 5th amendment rights, it can damage them for all of us.
You never have to answer questions you are uncomfortable with. You may elect to see if someone else is more comfortable handling the situation, either others nearby, or said Point Persons.
By knowing your rights, you can help keep the Omni a safe space for everyone.