Words of wisdom from a local police chief

[ilbob]

And 2 cheers for the citizen that called it in.

BELVIDERE — The Belvidere Police Department has confirmed the that United States Secret Service was in the 300 block of West Jackson Street this week after what police officials initially believed were two individuals impersonating officers.

A Belvidere resident called the police to alert them to what she believed was the impersonation of officers who appeared at the resident’s door, police Chief Jan Noble said. Noble confirmed the officers who “quickly flashed their badges” were indeed affiliated with the federal agency, but took the instance as an opportunity to remind residents to exercise caution and call police if they suspect the impersonation of an officer is being performed.

“The United States Secret Service was indeed in town,” Noble said. “They were not impersonating anybody. It was the real thing.”

The department warns against fraudulent behavior and would prefer residents call rather than become the victim of a crime, Noble said.

“Do not accept a badge as true and factual,” he said. “It’s better not to assume it’s all on the up and up. We encourage (residents) to have the (acting) officers wait outside while they call the police. We can send an officer to verify the identities.”

 

[astrolite]

What if they announce they have a warrant and proceed to kick your door in? How are you going to call the police up and wait? Do you draw on them and hope they are, indeed, impersonators?

 

[mljdeckard]

They might wait patiently in IL. I doubt they would here.

 

[bikerdoc]

And the feds, with all their training, and alledged high selective process, could have been more courtious, and convincing.
I agree call.
Just my .02

 

[ilbob]

What if they announce they have a warrant and proceed to kick your door in? How are you going to call the police up and wait? Do you draw on them and hope they are, indeed, impersonators?

I am pretty sure no one said anything about drawing on anyone or anyone breaking down a door.

Its about not taking any unnecessary risks. Chances are if you are not a criminal police are not going to come knocking on your door unless you called for them. If they just show up for no particular reason, its not all that hard to get verification,

 

[Fred Fuller]

What if they announce they have a warrant and proceed to kick your door in? How are you going to call the police up and wait? Do you draw on them and hope they are, indeed, impersonators?

If your door is so lightly constructed and flimsily installed that it can be easily kicked in, you have a whole different set of problems to deal with than the unlikely event the police are trying to serve a no-knock warrant at the wrong address, or the even less likely event that you are being assaulted by home invaders impersonating police. Unless of course you are a drug dealer, owe money to a drug dealer, or perhaps are someone who is known to hold or handle large amounts of cash or valuables in a legitimate business- if any of those things are true, your likelihood of police impersonators arriving goes up substantially.

If the police are trying to serve a no-knock warrant at the correct address, and it's yours... well...

If anyone including the police are able to approach your front door without their presence being made known to you by any of several inexpensive and easily installed electronic means, your security sux.

And if, in spite of all of the above, you are awakened in the midst of your beauty sleep by pounding on your door, your established and practiced HD protocol should include dialing 9-1-1 immediately, making your presence and your armed status loudly and clearly known to the obstreperous party outside who are delayed by your strongly built, stoutly installed and multiply locked front door, and informing them that you have called the police and help is on the way. If they inform you that they ARE the police and they have a warrant, then you get to decide which set of chances you want to take.

That's 'What if...?"

lpl

 

[ants]

There are 160 million households in America.
How often is a no-knock warrant served on the wrong house?
Even if it happens 100 times each year, that's less than one-in-a-million that it will happen to you.

I think I'll be more worried about getting struck by lightning during a shark attack.

 

[Iansstud]

If your door is so lightly constructed and flimsily installed that it can be easily kicked in, you have a whole different set of problems to deal with than the unlikely event the police are trying to serve a no-knock warrant at the wrong address

Here you go

 

[longtooth]

For folks outside the state of Texas the name Jessica Hughes may not mean anything. She lives about 200 yrds from me.
She was called by a tele bank for B. Hussen Bonamma (I had a hard time in spelling class 3rd grade) asking for her vote. She is pretty outspoken & told them in no usncertain terms that she would not vote for him citing his association w/ anti-American socialists, domestic terrorists, his voting record on abortion, lack of governmental experience & maybe a few more things I do not remember.
Secret service showed up at her house & "flashed badges" as was stated above. When she asked to see them again, more ID, & their names, she was told she was not getting any more ID they were the ones asking the questions.
All they lacked were the Jack Boots, Goose Step & Swastika.

She is now one of the leaders in the Founders Alliance here in Texas.
Dont count on them even letting you call local authorities.

 

[cane]

Just curious,how many of you know what the FBI, SS, or even local badges and credentials look like?

 

[Iansstud]

I do, I was interviewed by a couple the other day... they are 2 pages about 3-4"x4-5", They have a pic on one side with name, and whatever else, the other side will have a badge, or a seal with what ever agency and a dept head, or director sig on it too....

Even If they hand it to you, it takes about 25sec to realize what is on it.

 

[ilbob]

Even if you have a vague idea what they look like it is extraordinarily easy to make fake ID cards these days.

If you did not call for a cop, and no obvious reason they might be knocking on your door, call 911, especially if they are not in uniform.

My personal opinion is that there are a whole lot more cases of fake cops, deliverymen, or whatever than we ever hear about. Possibly because a lot of home invasions end up with dead homeowners who are no longer around to tell what happened.

 

[Double Naught Spy]

“Do not accept a badge as true and factual,” he said. “It’s better not to assume it’s all on the up and up. We encourage (residents) to have the (acting) officers wait outside while they call the police. We can send an officer to verify the identities.”

How do you know the officer showing up is real?

 

[mgkdrgn]

There are 160 million households in America.
How often is a no-knock warrant served on the wrong house?
Even if it happens 100 times each year, that's less than one-in-a-million that it will happen to you.

I think I'll be more worried about getting struck by lightning during a shark attack.

Not much comfort to the fellow and his family being held in handcuffs on the floor, with the bodies of his two shot dead Labrador retrievers next to them, while the police ransack his house. (Mayor of Adelphi Maryland)

http://www.cato.org/raidmap/

 

[Fred Fuller]

Yes, but that was a setup- someone mailed them a box of mary jane, remember?

lpl

 

[Deanimator]

If your door is so lightly constructed and flimsily installed that it can be easily kicked in, you have a whole different set of problems to deal with than the unlikely event the police are trying to serve a no-knock warrant at the wrong address, or the even less likely event that you are being assaulted by home invaders impersonating police.

Yeah, they're called "living in an apartment building".

 

[LightningJoe]

So far, we've seen a certain kind of Federal government. It's possible that Federal agents of the future will be more difficult to deal with.

 

[wil-c]

I was watching the TV show 'DEA' on cable a while back, in one raid they had to deal with one of those steel security doors. With this topic in mind I watched to see how long it took them to knock that door down.
Probably a couple minutes or more, and they eventually had to go through a side window. It was enough time for the average person to figure out what's going on and call 911 or take some kind've action.
It is true, the chance of impersonators showing up is real as is the chance the POPO are at the wrong address or there for the wrong reason (the package being mailed to the mayor comes to mind). Odds are probably long but the chance is there unfortunately given the current state of some LE personnel.
I agree with others on this thread, start with things like that and buy yourself time, time enough to avoid a really tough situation. Putting aside the issues we see developing with LE these days, there is truth in what's to be learned on this site.
I learned something from this site a couple years ago and it saved me from a very scary road rage incident involving some kind've LE. What I remembered from a thread was "first person to call 911 wins, as they're generally viewed as the victim" I remembered that as it was happening and made the call, things changed for the better in that situation very quickly.....

 

[mgkdrgn]

Yes, but that was a setup- someone mailed them a box of mary jane, remember?

lpl

Yes, it was a setup.

A setup by the police.

The POLICE put the MJ on the porch (they had intercepted the shipment earlier), and KNEW that it was -not- meant for the recipients of the house. That was the MO of this particular outfit, several of which they already had in custody. (and I believe it was FedEx, not USPS)

They were suppose to wait and see who came to take the package off the porch.

The Mayor came home unexpectedly, found the box addressed to his wife, picked up the box and took it inside. Anyone here would have done anything differently?

That is when the police raided the house.

Both labs (tails wagging away) met them at the door. They shot one dead on the spot, then chased the other through through the house and kill it.

As a resident of Maryland at the time ... oh ya, I remember this incident.

 

[travellingJeff]

If I were intercepted by any non-uniformed officer flashing their badges, I'd ask to see them. I'd copy down every piece of information off of them, then ask to see their drivers license or other state issued ID. I'd do the same with that. I'd them tell them to have a great day and call my attorney, posting the information in full on the Internet.

 

[griz]

And the feds, with all their training, and alledged high selective process, could have been more courtious, and convincing.

That's what struck me. The agents apparently were offended that a mere citizen would question their identity, instead waiting for the local police to demand a real look at their ID. Imagine how easy it would be for them to quickly smooth out the misunderstanding, and how much ill will would have been avoided.

 

[c2m]

Just curious,how many of you know what the FBI, SS, or even local badges and credentials look like?

Raises hands I do?

One If you show me a badge it means nothing at all to me. You need to produce credentials and a id for it to be valid.

In order to get in out station <federal> you need to show Picture id's tins are not acceptable. US credentials have certain markings also

 

[bensdad]

How often is a no-knock warrant served on the wrong house?

'Bout this often:
http://www.cato.org/raidmap/
It doesn't look like the map has been updated in a while.

 

[Erik M]

I agree with the statements in op's post. However most law enforcement documentaries (using that term lightly) never portray a situation where someone could call for verification, around the time you finished calling 911 your front door would be breached and the flash-bangs's would be popping.

 

[bmxr4life87]

Its called a commission card. LE are supposed to carry them at ALL times. Actual LEO and other professionally trained officers have a certain way of carrying themselves and handling things. I can usually spot one very quickly (been around cops my whole life my dad was one so im very accustomed to their mannerisms.