# Police want to search my home in murder investigation **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 10, 2009, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-want-to-search-my-home-in-murder-investigation/517107 "2009-11-10T23:26:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![kidneyfailure](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9f8e36/32.png) [@kidneyfailure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidneyfailure)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-want-to-search-my-home-in-murder-investigation/517107/181 "2009-11-12T00:16:30Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > If a kid is missing, I’m doing to do what I can to help find the kid. But if you’re not involved in the kid’s disappearence and know you have no evidence that may be useful in the investigation, then how are you helping the cops by letting them in? That having been said, though, I’d let them in, too. I just don’t know if it would be such a big help to search a place where I know the kid is not being held nor is there anything that could help the cops. ---
**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-want-to-search-my-home-in-murder-investigation/517107/182 "2009-11-12T00:17:37Z")
> [@Logical\_Phallacy](#): > > What would you do in such a situation? I would let them in to search, so that my house can quickly be eliminated and not hold up the investigation. ---
**Author:** ![guyblond](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@guyblond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guyblond)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-want-to-search-my-home-in-murder-investigation/517107/183 "2009-11-12T00:32:16Z")
Sounds like bullshit to me. They are not going to get into the house of the guilty person or if they do there won’t be anything to find. So the only way it works is to use the technique to eliminate suspects. I don’t believe that I have a civic duty to give up my right of privacy. And I’m damn well not going to be threatened into it. Wanna bet that only certain doors get knocked on… if any at all? ---
**Author:** ![guyblond](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@guyblond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guyblond)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-want-to-search-my-home-in-murder-investigation/517107/184 "2009-11-12T00:34:14Z")
Actually, the more I think about it, it sounds like the cops are humping the dog on this one. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-want-to-search-my-home-in-murder-investigation/517107/185 "2009-11-12T00:46:04Z")
No way would I let them in - _because_ they are canvassing the neighborhood. This tells me right off that they don’t have a shred of a clue of what they are doing and are just wasting everyone’s time to save face. This is not something a rational person would want to encourage. Seriously people, there’s a reason we make them get warrants. It’s so we can force them to have to convince at least one semi-rational unbiased person that they’re not wasting everybody’s time on some harebrained bit of random retardedness. ---
**Author:** ![Caveat\_lector\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@Caveat\_lector\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caveat_lector_1)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-want-to-search-my-home-in-murder-investigation/517107/186 "2009-11-12T01:06:09Z")
I would not let them in without a warrant. I don’t think random requests to search masses of people’s houses is something I want to encourage. If its okay to do for this crime then why not _any_ crime? Want to find child pornography? Start doing a mass search. Drugs? Start doing a mass search. Illegal firearms? Mass search. If you have nothing to hide why not let them come in and check for whatever they want whenever they want? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-want-to-search-my-home-in-murder-investigation/517107/187 "2009-11-12T01:12:56Z")
Canadian, here. I’d decline. They can stand in my doorway and yell the girl’s name and listen for a reply if they want, but they’re not coming in without a warrant. ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-want-to-search-my-home-in-murder-investigation/517107/188 "2009-11-12T01:42:14Z")
> [@Caveat\_lector\_1](#): > > If you have nothing to hide why not let them come in and check for whatever they want whenever they want? Because a majority of people understand the difference between once and “often”. Because most people understand that this is a special event, with the police asking for help, and not a routine of searching houses for contraband. Tiny distinctions like that, you know. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-want-to-search-my-home-in-murder-investigation/517107/189 "2009-11-12T01:48:49Z")
> [@Hamlet](#): > > Because a majority of people understand the difference between once and “often”. Because most people understand that this is a special event, with the police asking for help, and not a routine of searching houses for contraband. Tiny distinctions like that, you know. I dunno… I know the girl isn’t in my house, but there might be some stuff that looks illegal. I’d have to have complete and total immunity in writing for anything and everything that the police see before I’d let them in without a warrant, and probably not even then, just because what I gain from cooperating is trivial and what I could potentially lose is immense. I recognize the benefit to me in having kidnappers (and likely murderers) brought to justice, but how that end is served by letting a cop have a look-see is unclear at best. ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-want-to-search-my-home-in-murder-investigation/517107/190 "2009-11-12T02:10:18Z")
> [@Hamlet](#): > > Because a majority of people understand the difference between once and “often”. Because most people understand that this is a special event, with the police asking for help, and not a routine of searching houses for contraband. Tiny distinctions like that, you know. … but searching my house won’t help the police find the girl since I have no evidence of the specific crime in my house to find. All they would be doing in my house is further wasting their time poking around for nothing. Get a warrant please. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-want-to-search-my-home-in-murder-investigation/517107/191 "2009-11-12T02:15:54Z")
Their being able to eliminate your house helps them out. It is not a waste of time for them to eliminate your house. What wastes their time is a bunch of people thinking they’re Rosa Parks and indulging in adolescent power games with the cops. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-want-to-search-my-home-in-murder-investigation/517107/192 "2009-11-12T02:18:06Z")
I’ve been rather fortunate in that of all the times I’ve had to deal with the police they’ve been professional and have treated me with courtesy. For the most part I do trust the police. While there are certainly a few bad eggs I don’t believe the majority of them are out to frame people and when I’m pulled over I’m not in fear. That said, I do not believe I would allow police officers to search my house without a warrant. My privacy is important to me and I don’t like to have strangers in my home. I’m going to need a more compelling reason than “she lives in the same neighborhood” to allow the police to search my home. I don’t think it’s fair to characterize someone as being silly or childish for exercising their rights. Odesio ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-want-to-search-my-home-in-murder-investigation/517107/193 "2009-11-12T02:19:34Z")
> [@Bearflag70](#): > > … but searching my house won’t help the police find the girl since I have no evidence of the specific crime in my house to find. All they would be doing in my house is further wasting their time poking around for nothing. Get a warrant please. I think it’s fairly obvious that, unless you do have the girl in your basement, they won’t find anything in your house, so in that sense it would be a waste. I think it’s an incredibly stupid investigatory technique also. The only difference is I don’t see it turning into a widespread habit by police and I’ll be willing to defer to their determination for the tiny bit of inconvenience it would be for me. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-want-to-search-my-home-in-murder-investigation/517107/194 "2009-11-12T02:29:34Z")
Agreeing with Hamlet – for the case in question, you’re only facilitating stupidity and (I submit) _not_ helping the investigation by helping give the cops false brownie points that they “eliminated” all the houses on this block, which means precisely jack squat. Kind of like the stupidity of the “security theater” you go through when boarding an airplane. You can pat yourself on the back for being such a complient citizen, but don’t kid yourself that you’ve made airline security any safer. Wanding each and every 90 year old granny and red-flagging every 6-year old kid whose name appears on the “OMG! Terrorist!” list may make the airport clowns _look_ like they’re doing something useful from a far, far, distance (with squinting) but it doesn’t mean it’s _actually_ useful, and is arguably counterproductive. ---
**Author:** ![Caveat\_lector\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@Caveat\_lector\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caveat_lector_1)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-want-to-search-my-home-in-murder-investigation/517107/195 "2009-11-12T02:39:17Z")
> [@Hamlet](#): > > Because a majority of people understand the difference between once and “often”. Because most people understand that this is a special event, with the police asking for help, and not a routine of searching houses for contraband. Tiny distinctions like that, you know. But if its okay for this (possible?) crime why _not_ use it generally? If an areas having a crime problem just start doing mass searches. You’ll turn up stuff and maybe even fix the problem. Or even if its not for all crimes why not make it general procedure for all missing persons? Many people seem to have no problem with it. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-want-to-search-my-home-in-murder-investigation/517107/196 "2009-11-12T02:42:18Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Their being able to eliminate your house helps them out. It is not a waste of time for them to eliminate your house. What wastes their time is a bunch of people thinking they’re Rosa Parks and indulging in adolescent power games with the cops. Well, if the cops want to search the back of my bus, they’re welcome to it. Meantime, those of us who assert our rights help ensure that you don’t constantly have to. ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-want-to-search-my-home-in-murder-investigation/517107/197 "2009-11-12T02:54:00Z")
> [@Caveat\_lector\_1](#): > > But if its okay for this (possible?) crime why _not_ use it generally? As I said, because it’s a stupid investigatory technique. > [@Caveat Lector](#): > > If an areas having a crime problem just start doing mass searches. You’ll turn up stuff and maybe even fix the problem. Or even if its not for all crimes why not make it general procedure for all missing persons? Many people seem to have no problem with it. When that happens, you may have a point. As of now, however, it’s not. I’m not buying the slippery slope argument you’re making. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-want-to-search-my-home-in-murder-investigation/517107/198 "2009-11-12T03:17:41Z")
Look, you aren’t eliminated as a suspect just because the cops glanced at your living room and opened the closet door. I suppose they might decide that you don’t have a runaway kid staying with you. But if you’ve got the girl tied up in the basement, or dead and chopped up in your freezer, this investigation will do no good. I suppose knowing that the missing girl is now an 18 year old adult, they’re just trying to find out if she’s staying with her new boyfriend. ---
**Author:** ![Rack-a-Bones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rack-a-Bones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rack-a-Bones)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-want-to-search-my-home-in-murder-investigation/517107/199 "2009-11-12T03:28:33Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > No, it’s not. > > [http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/jones\_holly/](http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/jones_holly/) > > In fact, they want to do this because exactly this tactic is what broke the Holly Jones case. You might think “Well gosh, the murderer will hide the evidence.” Most murderers are not geniuses. > > That said, I’d say no. Maybe I missed it, but I didn’t see anything in there where the police went door to door searching houses. Or maybe I misinterpreted who were replying to. But one thing in that link did jump out at me: they went around gathering DNA samples of the residents. Zoiks! Really? It must work differently in Canada because that would never fly down here (Seattle, WA). ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-want-to-search-my-home-in-murder-investigation/517107/200 "2009-11-12T03:32:15Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Their being able to eliminate your house helps them out. It is not a waste of time for them to eliminate your house. You keep saying that but it doesn’t make sense. They’re not going to be able to get a warrant so they’re not coming back. It doesn’t waste anyone’s time since they have no reason to eliminate my house. Without any evidence connecting me to the crime they shouldn’t need to search; it’s a waste of everyone’s time. > [@](#): > > What wastes their time is a bunch of people thinking they’re Rosa Parks and indulging in adolescent power games with the cops. You say adolescent power games, I say basic rights and common sense. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-want-to-search-my-home-in-murder-investigation/517107.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-want-to-search-my-home-in-murder-investigation/517107.md?page=11)