Wednesday, July 2, 2014



101 Things

An Author Needs to Know

About the Police and the Law

Can the police look into my yard?

 

Yes.

Bottom line: The police can peep into your yard or home as long as he/she is in a legal place from which to do it.  They can use binoculars, dive-bomb your property with a helicopter, stand in a neighbor’s yard with their permission, or use the high-rise across the street.

What else can they do?  They can pick up your trash if you left it out on the curb.  They can take photos of you and your guests coming and going. 


They cannot listen to your phone conversations without a search warrant.

2 comments:

Tamara said...

Reallly like this information, Jody. The actions you describe as legal seem like those carried out by private detectives as well.

Jody E. Lebel said...

@ Tamara. PIs and bond enforcement people have a lot more leeway to snoop around. They could go in your yard and when caught by you say, "Oh, gee, I thought this was so and so's house" or "Sorry, I'm just chasing my cat". Not really knowing who they are, you're probably not going to call the police for trespassing and even it you do, they're long gone. Of course nothing they find while snooping can be used in court, but it can lead to them narrowing down their suspects. If a PI peeks in your window when you're not home and sees a stack of guns, he/she can then alert police who will concentrate on you and use legal tactics to 'discover' the guns.