TRI In The News

Richmond Police Told to 'Avoid Intrusions'

April 26, 2012

From The Richmond-Times Dispatch

The Richmond Police Department's practice of knocking on doors late at night to warn residents about car break-ins is a misguided effort that will alienate residents and infringe on their rights, a civil-liberties group charged Wednesday.

John W. Whitehead, president of the Charlottesville-based Rutherford Institute, warned Police Chief Bryan T. Norwood in a letter Wednesday that the department's initiative poses serious threats to the privacy and safety of residents. The late-night knocks could alarm residents and make them fear a criminal intruder is outside, Whitehead wrote.

"The recent Trayvon Martin incident from Florida should serve as a stark warning of how the fear and misunderstanding of a homeowner can turn a benign situation into a tragedy involving loss of life," Whitehead wrote. "Except in the most compelling of circumstances, the Richmond police should avoid intrusions that create this kind of danger to themselves and residents."

Richmond police spokesman Gene Lepley confirmed in an email that the letter was received by the department and is being reviewed. He declined to comment further.

Lepley did not immediately respond Wednesday evening to the question of whether the program is still in place.

James Mercante, another Police Department spokesman, said earlier this month that the initiative had been implemented in April in the Bellevue, Ginter Park, Carver and Northern Barton Heights neighborhoods in North Richmond. He later said a similar strategy previously was in place elsewhere in the city.

Under the program in North Richmond, Mercante said, the officers knock on doors to let residents know when they have left valuables in plain view in their parked cars, which can entice thieves to break into vehicles.

Mercante said that during the relatively slow hours from 11 p.m. to 2 a.m., officers would be scanning the inside of parked cars looking for valuables that have been left on vehicle seats, floorboards or anywhere else in plain view. The officers would run the license plates to determine where the vehicle owner lives.

If the owner's home is nearby, the officer then would knock on the door and inform the resident that it is a bad idea to leave items out in the open.

Whitehead wrote in his letter to Norwood that the initiative infringes on residents' Fourth Amendment rights to privacy and to be free of unreasonable police intrusions. He added that police may intrude on residential property only when they have a legitimate purpose and during reasonable times of the day.

Because this initiative is carried out in the early morning hours, Whitehead wrote, "it is by definition unreasonable and beyond the scope of the implied consent that might exist during daytime and early evening hours. The Fourth Amendment condemns this kind of middle-of-the-night intrusion by government officials, which is reason enough to end this misguided initiative."

Further, Whitehead expressed concern that officers would use the practice to engage in "fishing expeditions" at homes they might like to search but lack probable cause to do so.

Mercante said earlier this month that officers who knock on someone's door will not ignore criminal activity if they see it going on inside the home.

"I'm sure that, in any performance of their duty, they're going to take into account criminal activity," he said. "But that's not the basis of this."

Mercante added that police realize residents have the right to do as they please with their belongings, and he has heard that some residents don't appreciate being awakened by police. But he said the inconvenience is a small price to pay compared with having something stolen.

Kent Willis, executive director of the ACLU of Virginia, questioned the effectiveness of the police strategy earlier this month but said the police have the right to use it.

"It must seem more than a little creepy to residents who get a knock on their door from the police at 3 a.m.," Willis said in an April 11 email to the Richmond Times-Dispatch. "But the police have the same right as anyone else to look into your car when it's parked on the street, and they have the authority to run license plates whenever they feel like it. They can even knock on your door in the middle of the night.

"What the police cannot do is enter your property without a warrant or exigent circumstances. Also, just because it's the police doesn't mean you have to answer or open your door."

Over the past two weeks, The Times-Dispatch repeatedly has asked Richmond police to disclose how many doors have been knocked on since the initiative was implemented and to discuss how effective it has been in curbing crime. Officials have not answered those questions.

Police Lt. Brian Corrigan, who put the program in place in the four neighborhoods in North Richmond, declined a request to be interviewed.