Police broke in for a Drug Raid and won't pay for door repairs!

Noddy1

Deleted_User wrote: »

I wouldn't take offence at it - I think it's a valid point.

Despite the horror stories you read in the press, there are always very strict procedures that the police go through in executing searches. They don't smash doors down without due cause and process.

The first thing I find odd is that you were IN the house when they conducted the raid. It would seem to be unusual practice to smash the door down without first knocking/banging/shouting and requesting you open it. Did this happen? Police don't just smash doors down when they can knock.

I'm not defending them here, but could there be something you're not aware of in relation to one of your flatmates? Is it possible that they have innocently got caught up in someone else's affairs, as someone else has discussed? Maybe they're on the address book of a known drug-dealer, even innocently?

If this is a mistake on the part of the police then I would consider selling this story to the press, given how bad it is. But I just remain a bit cautious because I would have thought the police wouldn't have acted in the way you described.

That's what I thought as well, until the event happened.

As stated in an earlier post, I'm hesitant to approach the media because when people hear the words "police raid" next to a person's name, they automatically make the wrong assumptions. I would have made the same assumptions before this event, and the previous poster also made these assumptions. I'd rather not draw more attention than needed on the incident.

I was in the house - I was asleep (it was at 7am). The first thing I knew when I woke up was that there was a police man in my room shouting and I was confused and didn't know what was going on.

My flatmate says they knocked the door three times in quick succession, almost as a formality, then promptly proceeded to knock the door down when he was half way through the corridor to open it.

The accusation wasn't that we use drugs. The accusation was that we sell drugs, so I don't think the whole address book thing counts. Apparently, even if they'd found a stash of money, that would have counted as evidence.

I think I already have all the advice I need from this thread. Could one of the mods please lock/delete it? (also I'm just "thanking" all the people who have helped now with the button)

brit1234

Noddy1 wrote: »

The police department replied about a month later saying that even though nothing was found, since a warrant was executed the police would not be liable to pay.

Was that not true? Is there anything I can do to get the money back?

Thats wrong. I get warrants a lot. Its not a free fall to cause any damage you like. Unfortuantly there are times we don't get anything due to various circumstances and we are liable for costs. However this is mostly to the council. Your best step is to speak to the inspector politely again and mention posible complaint. Not against officers but procedure to get door repaired. It will get logged and action taken. Hopefully it can be deat with through local resolution and complaint dropped with door being repaired or costs.

[Deleted User]

wrangler5 wrote: »

They do on drugs raids when there is a high risk of the person inside the property disposing of the potential evidence. They are hardly going to shout through the letterbox and tell you that they are about to launch a surprise raid.

Except the OP confirms that they knocked first. Your argument just evaporated.

Noddy1

I really want this thread closed/deleted now - its going off-colour very quickly.

princessamy86

Noddy if you want the thread closing, Private Message a board guide-they can be found at the bottom of the main page on the board. Misskool, finishrich and divadee. Either that or use the report button.

Noddy1

princessamy86 wrote: »

Noddy if you want the thread closing, Private Message a board guide-they can be found at the bottom of the main page on the board. Misskool, finishrich and divadee. Either that or use the report button.

Already reported, thanks :-).

Noddy1

wrangler5 wrote: »

Offended? Offended at what for goodness sake? Where have i suggested you are dealing drugs? Perhaps you should take your own advice & read the entire post. I am suggesting SOMETHING in the way you conduct your day to day life has caused the authorities to suspect suspicous activity, that could be late night activity, large volume of visitors etc.

SOMETHING has drawn attention to you which the Police & Magistrate believed to be a valid concern & fits the pattern associated with the use of drugs.

You also seem to be mistaking undercover surveilance with closed curcuit Television. They are 2 different things. They don't just film who goes into the block and review what's on the cameras, there are other ways to find out which flat people are entering or associated with, ie checking with Royal Mail who has mail delivered to the suspect flat or even entering the block in plain clothes posing as services like Gas men or meter readers etc.

Having said that you do seem a bit paranoid. Been smoking anything lately? :rotfl:

I decided I don't want to leave this unanswered.

1. If you had read my post, or read the thread, I have said clearly more than once that surveillance was impossible because this was a block of flats. Just having someone standing there in the corridor watching our flat would look extremely suspicious.
2. If they had followed the one person who came home late at night (due to exam revision), they would have found he was going to the 24 hour library for revision purposes. Just having people coming into our flat late at night doesn't constitute good evidence, and if that was the basis of the raid, then the magistrate was wrong.
3. As stated earlier in the thread, we had not had ANY guests for around 1 or 2 months before the police raided our flat (purely by coincidence, we do usually have guests, but hadn't had any for a while). Furthermore, is it a crime to have guests in your flat?
4. The only late night activity was my friend coming home late at night from the library, and me occasionally going out for 10-20 minutes to pick up a takeaway from the restaurant open till 2am down the road.

The policeman did actually inform us that someone anonymously called crimewatch, and that they wouldn't normally do anything about it but afterwards, they received a few more calls. He said he couldn't tell us anything more than that.

[Deleted User]

Why do you want the thread closing? That's not how the internet works. You can't just have a page closed or taken down because you've got all the advice you need.

Something's not right here.

As soon as others have suggested that the police 'just don't act like this' you've asked for the thread to be locked and closed. Why? Is there something concerning you?

Let me nail my colours to the mast. I don't think the police would just raid someone's premises off the back of a neighbour's complaint. They need evidence and there's a procedure that is followed, as someone else has mentioned above. Either there's been a gross breach of process, in which case good on you for taking it up, or else there is something about your behaviour which is attracting attention.

Why - incidentally - does your neighbour have an issue with you? What is it about your lifestyle that's giving her grief?

Noddy1

Deleted_User wrote: »

Why do you want the thread closing? That's not how the internet works. You can't just have a page closed or taken down because you've got all the advice you need.

Something's not right here.

As soon as others have suggested that the police 'just don't act like this' you've asked for the thread to be locked and closed. Why? Is there something concerning you?

Let me nail my colours to the mast. I don't think the police would just raid someone's premises off the back of a neighbour's complaint. They need evidence and there's a procedure that is followed, as someone else has mentioned above. Either there's been a gross breach of process, in which case good on you for taking it up, or else there is something about your behaviour which is attracting attention.

Why - incidentally - does your neighbour have an issue with you? What is it about your lifestyle that's giving her grief?

Zzzzzz.... the neighbour is actually the building's porter. He has a history of doing this kind of thing - once, a landlord was coming to visit his two flats in the building and the porter ran from his desk and called the police, claiming the man was there to kill him. He got him arrested, but of course, the man was promptly released when the police realised they made a mistake.

The porter has a history of harassing a few of the people in our building - mainly the ones that want the building's management to be replaced. He started harassing us when we first went to an AGM and expressed our concerns. It adds further fuel to my suspicious that our freehold company is extremely corrupt, but there's no way anyone can prove it. We're trying our best to prove it.

The police gave some hints about who it might be - but obviously we can't do anything unless we actually know what happened.

Now I am sick of defending myself when I don't actually have to defend myself - none of you know who I am, and have no bearing on anything in my life.

This is my last post here. I sincerely hope the moderator deletes or locks the thread.

mlz1413

Noddy if your porter has a history of lying or over reacting then the police are LESS likely to listen to him - rather like the boy who cried wolf story.

But having read your thread IMO you need to seperate the two issues:
Issue 1 is the police said they would pay for repairs and now will not
Issue 2 why the police broke in

Issue 1 - how much of your contact with the police is in writing?
do you have the names and badge no's of the police who said the damage would be paid for?
do you have in writing why they now refuse to pay?

Issue 2 - the police will not tell you who reported you and never will - get over it and move on.

If you have an issue with the porter then take up that issue with his employers.