unauthorized entry by police to backyard

What is the name of your state? What is the name of your state? NJ
on a late night noise complainant from a neighbor(not immediate)police arrived and went into my backyard without permission.
the police found several people under 21 with beer cans nearby . and the police also found some people under 18 .
what was the justification for having entered the backyard without authority to do so.
the adults were sleeping in the house when this loud party was allegedly going on. they were not awakened by the so called loud noise. also, three next door neighbors were awake at the time of the alleged noise.these neighbors were not aware of the "loud" party.
the call comes from a new neighbor whom doesnt like guests cars parking on her side of the street. so she assumes that a party must be going on.
noise is too subjective. a car door closing at midnight might make a noise but is it a nuisance?
i'll tell you what happened. the police got the call ,saw all the cars parked and saw lights on in the bakyard. they took a guess that there were people in the yard and entered without cause.
what do you think?

[racer72]

They had probable cause. The only thing that would have slowed, not stopped them was a locked gate and a no trespassing sign.

[Jeter]

I think that I've never seen nor heard of a "social backyard gathering" featuring a crowd of underage drunken kids that was either responsible or quiet.

The police entered the premises with probable cause, which by NJ law is defined as having more than bare suspicion, but less than legal evidence. Generally when there are grounds for suspicion that a person has committed a crime or misdemeanor, and the good of the community require that the matter should be examined, there is said to be a probable cause. Disturbing the peace is a misdemeanor. The phonecall gave the police reason to have more than bare suspicion, as it was evidently disturbing enough to warrant a call to action.

Police can search the immediate area incident to a lawful arrest without asking permission. I'm sure that the beer cans weren't coincidently nearby those that were under legal drinking age. So, lo and behold, they found a number of people breaking the law.
Sounds to me like the "alleged party" was allegedly crashed.

Jeter

i disagree. with your opinon.
i believe the police manufactured the cause.
and your assuming that the people were drunk.
the police trespassed.
there was no call to urgency.
the call was for noise.
i again say by what standard is noise measured?
i hear car at night drive by my window; it bothers me. so if i call police and they hear the same noise of the car, can they stop the car and search it. the noise bothers me. i complain. so?
people talking in normal tones at night. the sound carries. it bothers somone. is that distribing the peace?
no jetter your are too sarcastic. do you want to live in that evironment. funny no one else felt or heard anything.
if the noise was loud when the police arrived and keyed the microphone on the police radio, most of the time that transiever will pick up the backround noise.
so when a dozen police officers burst into ones' private domain ,whom put whom in fear?
is this what our land of the free has come to?

[TYRIS]

Originally posted by eldudareno
i disagree. with your opinon.
i believe the police manufactured the cause.
and your assuming that the people were drunk.
the police trespassed.
there was no call to urgency.
the call was for noise.
i again say by what standard is noise measured?
i hear car at night drive by my window; it bothers me. so if i call police and they hear the same noise of the car, can they stop the car and search it. the noise bothers me. i complain. so?
people talking in normal tones at night. the sound carries. it bothers somone. is that distribing the peace?
no jetter your are too sarcastic. do you want to live in that evironment. funny no one else felt or heard anything.
if the noise was loud when the police arrived and keyed the microphone on the police radio, most of the time that transiever will pick up the backround noise.
so when a dozen police officers burst into ones' private domain ,whom put whom in fear?
is this what our land of the free has come to?

you're probably going to disagree with me too, but here it goes. the police had probable cause and were at the residence for a legimate call for service. this is not my opinion, just a fact. i do it all the time.

and yes, if you call and complain about noise coming from your neighbors residence and it violates the noise ordinance, then this is what we in the law enforcement community call
"disturbing the peace".

you may not like it, but that's the way it goes.

TYRIS

[racer72]

Go ask 50 lawyers and you will get 49 answers that say the same as above, even if you disagree. The 50th lawyer will agree with you only because he is behind in his alimony and needs the cash.

define for me "disturbing the peace"?
than define for me misdemeanor?
at what decibel level is noise distrubing?
at this incident neither occurred.
is a township ordinance a misdemeanor or a so called petty disorderly persons offense?isnt it a violation? the same as a parking ticket! does a violation warrant the charge of the light brigade?
a violation should be witnessed by the leo. yes?
did you know that in this state of nj many local ordinances seem to violate the us constitution. but no one cares.
by the replies i have recieved, i am saddened. i guess i really dont fit in here.
you see i talk to many "kids" i hear the horror stories about the local police. i now have witnessed it first hand. an unchecked authority is running wild.
the repliers are assuming in general terms. oh yes ok you see the new commerical about some beer party. the police ring bell every is quiet excempt fo one etc.....suppose they did not answer the door...would the police have the right to break it down? if so? on what grounds? there is no urgency...no life or death.....

[stephenk]

if, if, if, if. You raise a lot of questions concerning scenerios that did not exist that evening.

If the police get a call of noisy party, loud talking, radios playing, they go and check it out.
When they pull up in front of your house and can hear people talking they walk to where the noise is coming from.

Do you think anything would have happened IF the police found all the underage kids just sitting around playing monoply? The police would have said keep the noise down and then would have left.

However, the police found a group of underage drinkers. Now the noise complaint turns into a criminal investigation because of the underage drinking. Now the police can call for backup if the original reporting officers feel threatened or outnumbered by the group.

By the way, what specific ordinances in your community do you believe violate the U.S. Constitution?

[Jeter]

EL- dud -areno. You came onto this forum for legal advice. You got it. These aren't arbitrary opinions based on our feelings about you or your underage drinking party. Your bias of the local ordinance and opinions about it's relativity to the constitution mean about as much as your vague and erroneous use of "private domain. According to el-dud-areno laws, if a strangulation was taking place in someone's backyard and a neighbor called the police, the police would have no grounds for entering the yard because there are no screams or cries for help.

I'm glad you talk to many kids and I'm sure they are all good kids who never got into trouble, but just don't like the local police. That reference gives me a good idea of where you get your interpretation of the law. If you want to be a community activist, go build a playground, or petition for change in your neighborhood. Instead you condone an underage drinking party after hours where the "adults" sleep while the children fill up on alcohol and get into their cars "quietly" and drive home. There need not be an assumption of whether or not they are drunk. They broke the law by drinking.

As for your ridiculous requests for definitions of every other term used in my reply- go look them up yourself. If I gave you their definitions, you'd call them opinions as well unless they agreed with your uneducated guesses of things which you know nothing about.

Give me a break

Jeter

I was at a gathering of 10 people, watching a movie. A chick breaks up with her boyfriend, now there are 9 people. He waits about 2 hours & calls the cops & reports "a noise complaint". Some were 21 some were not, all were staying over, yes there was beer.
When the cops get there, if they don't here loud party noise, why can they come in get people out of bed & give tickets?
I don't buy the" if someone was being strangled," that would have been a "person in distress call" or "domestic" not loud music.
I would think if there was now loud music, tv, voices, & the complaner lives 10 miles away not even a neighbor! It would be found no proble. cause for a search.
My voice< you can send me to war, ask me to pick a pres, get married, own a home etc, but don't you dare drink a beer, your not responsible enough for that.

wolfe
thank you. i was thinking 'bout that today. i heard barry mcguire singing eve of destruction. back than it was you can get drafted even drink beer in a bar! but you cant pick the president. my peers were drinking back than. now they are the same phonies passing all types of restricting laws. are we really free?
but that is not my issue. it is the law. stupid! but it's the law. my problem is the entry without cause. i wasnt going to get into the scenario of someone being raped in the backyard. i was going to leave it be.
but you know what a lawyer once told me about free advice......you can fill in the rest
oh i never told anyone i am a police officer have been for 23 years thats why i said i dont fit in anylonger. my peers have become ****'s to me...... it was only a job

[Bravo8]

So you ask all sorts of questions about the incident, and now claim to be a cop? Come on**************.you're not fooling anyone.

[Jeter]

He's probably one of the minors that was drinking at the party. The other guy was probably there, too. 2 morons.

Eldudareno, if you are a cop, you suck because my original example was not about a rape. I mentioned a scenario of a strangulation in a backyard. I never even mentioned the gender of either party. Nice attention to detail, officer. If you haven't quit the force yet, please do so immediately.

[Bravo8]

Come on, he's obviously not a cop. If he is, he should have known the answer to his own questions. He didn't come here just to see what others think....he asked because he doesn't know.

I just want to know what he was doing up so late when the cops arrived. Wasn't it well past his bedtime?

This "guy" says he was a cop for over 23 years, that would make him how old?????? And he calls himself dudeareno????? I doubt anyone that age would refer to themselves as dudeareno. It's too childish. Nobody is fooled about the cop thing. If you were a cop for over 23 years you would KNOW all the answers to your questions, you wouldn' t have to come to this forum to ask others for their advice