Police jumped my backyard fence

In My Humble Opinion
1

I don’t need legal advice, as no citations were written and no arrests were made. But I’m still supremely pissed.

My house is on a corner lot, with public streets and sidewalks along the front and east side. I have a fully fenced back yard, enclosing my patio, pool and enclosed pool house. My wife and I went to bed around 11 PM, and my 20 year old son had a couple of friends over, one also 20 and one 21.

They went out in the poolhouse and were chatting, and also drinking a beer. The local cops were called about a “loud party on a deck” just after midnight, with the given address one block away. Two cops, on bicycles, either mistaken about the streets or the given address, ended up on our side street and saw our pool house lights on and probably heard talking and some low music. I can state with some confidence that the cops could not actually see over our fence until they walked about four feet through our bushes (planted all along the fence) to look over the fence.

The cops asked my son to open the locked gate and to be let into our back yard. My son declined and said they should stay on the sidewalk. The cop responded that he was coming in one way or another and immediately jumped over our locked 5’ fence and walked into our pool house uninvited.

The cop saw one beer can in front of each person and asked for IDs. The three guys provided their licenses, and when the cop ascertained that two were under 21, he asked who lives here, where are the parents, etc. One of the cops rings our doorbell rings repeatedly, very fast, wakening my wife and I. We were asked to go out to the pool house.

We go out and the cop starts talking about two of the men being under 21, and he wants to write citations. We asked how they came to be in our pool house, and one cop says he could see from the sidewalk that there were three young men who appeared to be underage with beers in front of them. The pool house is fully enclosed and about 25 feet from our side fence. I have no doubt, with the lights on, that the cops could see the three guys, but I’m little less sure they could tell that the cans were beer cans from that distance.

But anyway, to get to my questions:

  1. When do police have the right to jump over a 5’ fence with a locked gate to enter a fully fenced-in backyard? I realize they can do so when pursuing a felon, or if they have a warrant, but observing three men in a poolhouse?

  2. Did they have the right to enter the fully-enclosed pool house (floor, walls, roof, real windows), and is the pool house similar to a house regarding the 4th amendment?

  3. How believable is it that they could see two 20 year olds and a 21 year old and reasonably suspect it was an “underage” party, even if they could see cans that they thought were beer?

In the end, the slightly older cop, who was in charge, seemed more reasonable, and decided to not write any citations for underage drinking or anything else. For that, I am grateful. Even though I think we would have grounds to fight a charge, it would have required hiring an attorney, going through the legal process and spending a not-inconsiderable amount of money.

All three guys were very sober, and had only drank half a beer each. I think this was one of the reasons nobody was charged.

I decided to take my dog for a walk around the block and saw about 6 or 8 people on a deck at a house on the other side of the block (on the street that the police were actually called to), laughing and enjoying themselves. I have no doubt that this other house was the actual target of the noise complaint.

I am still pissed that the police jumped my fence and entered my pool house. I am still pissed the cops woke me at 1 AM. I am still pissed that a neighbor called the cops on another neighbor for enjoying their backyard.

Trying to cool down, and am wondering about the legality of everything that happened. Yes, my son and the other 20 year old were drinking a beer under the age of 21. And they were doing it (possibly) where they could be seen from

2

One random observation.

If you don’t DEFINITELY look plenty old enough to be drinking, I suspect that is enough legal justification to pursue the matter further to figure out the truth.

In my neck of the woods, every store has a sign that basically says something to the effect if you look under 40 you are getting carded.

3

… outside my fence, if not from the actual sidewalk.

As I said, I am grateful that the cop in charge decided to be reasonable. And the fact that I think the 21 year old drinking age is supremely idiotic is of little importance, I concede. But I am a firm believer in property rights 4th Amendment protections.

4

Two words: Probable cause.

Because they were able to see through the fence slats that it appeared to be underage individuals they were able to make a case of probable cause for entry.

5

Since this involves legal issues, it still goes in IMHO, even if you’re not seeking advice.

Colibri
General Questions Moderator

6

That might work for alcohol sales, but not for establishing probable cause. The police must have a reasonable suspicion, based on objective facts, that a crime is being committed. In a public place, there is nothing wrong with a police asking a young person how old they are, in order to try to establish probable cause. You can’t, however, judge a fence and enter private property to figure things out. On the other hand, you could probably walk up to the front door and ask question a young man on the front porch. Fenced back yards are not impliedly open to the public, like the path to your front door.

In this case, (based on only our good summary in the OP. We haven’t heard th police officer’s version of the events) I think the Police exceeded their authority, and probably figured that out and that’s why no citations were issued.

In addition, some jurisdictions allow for minors to legally consume alcohol in their own home with parental permission. I just googled it, and found it to me more common than I thought. According tothis cite, 29 states allow what the OP describes.

7

Not in my state. Parents may not provide alcohol to anyone under 21 (I refuse to use the term “minors” to refer to someone 18-20), even at home. We did not provide the alcohol, and were not accused of doing so, though it wouldn’t have surprised me to hear that threat. Even the 21 year old was not accused of providing it to the other two, oddly enough.

That was my thought, as well, perhaps.

8

They could not see through the fence slats or over the fence from the public sidewalk. They would have had to push through our bushes to look over the fence along the sidewalk. Not sure if this detail is important or not.

9

In general, though, that’s only if furnished by the minor’s parent and consumed in the presence of the parent. Wouldn’t even begin to apply in this case.

10

In my town, that 21 year old friend would have been arrested for providing alcohol to minors.

11

Not really questioning your assertion, but the 21 year old did not provide the beer, and there was no evidence he did. How could cops in your town expect to get a conviction? Perhaps they simply don’t care about getting convictions, only writing citations.

I have no intention to state the source of the beer, but it wasn’t us or the 21 year old.

12

This seems rather Orwellian to me.

13

At least they didn’t shoot anyone.

14

What is it with this forum and cops?
So they jumped your fence, don’t get butthurt over stupid stuff when nothing even came of it. You act like they shot your dogs and raped your wife…geez

15

Uh, no. He’s acting like… the cops jumped his fence and entered his property uninvited for no real reason. I’d be pissed, too.

16

Aliens?

17

Um… permitting underage drinking on your premises could have become an issue.

18

All this would come down to how a Judge would view probable cause. Don’t assume that it would have gone your way, Police are given a huge benefit of the doubt in these scenarios unless there is some video or other record contradicting them. You were lucky to get a pass given that there drinking minors involved.

19

Um… huh? We were in bed and were permitting no such thing. I have no idea where you pulled that from.

20

I don’t think I realised that the age limit of 21 applied to private consumption at home (or if I did, I had forgotten it) I thought that was the age for purchasingnit or consuming it in a bar etc.