What is the name of your state? New York, NYC
New York City.
Five days ago I recieved a phone call from my next-door neighbors, stating that two detectives knocked on their door the previous night at 9:30PM. They answered the door and the detectives entered and proceded to ask questions about me, the main one being: "does this person own any handguns?". They had recieved an anonymous tip stating that I did.
Handguns are severly restricted in NYC. The tip included my name (misspelled) & description (inc. distinguishing marks), house description (no address, it's not posted, did include the neighbor's address though), and which room the handguns were located. The detectives had tried my doors first but, I had retired early that evening and did not hear them. My neighbors (normal, married w/ children types) proceded to give a stellar endorsement of me: they know of no weapons, he (me) is like family, he's such a nice guy, he grows tomatos for cryin' out loud, shovels our snow when we are'nt around, etc. Some background: I'm white, private home in a nice upper middle class neighborhood, in my mid 30's with no police record, no known criminal associates, went to a exclusive (tested in), public, science high school and have some college. One of the detectives left his card and instructions for me to call him.
The next day the neighbors notified me of the happenings. I contacted my lawyer who really didn't tell me anything I didn't already know. I called the detective, who immediatly knew my name, and he told me of the anonymous tip and asked me if I posess any handguns, to which I replied: no. I then told the dt. that I do own a deer rifle (bolt action) which is licensed and registered in NYC and is located at another location outside NYC but in New York state. The dt. told me he had already checked the control section and had seen my permit (had it since 1989) and rifle registration (since 1998). In NYC, rifle/shotgun permits require renewal every 3 years w/ recent photos and an initial fingerprinting, so, they already have all the details of my I.D. The dt. then said he had checked my record and saw that I had none (I knew it would be spotless).
The dt. was very personable, and at this point even joked with me, and we discussed the hunting upstate a bit. I said I think I know who was responsible for the false tip (I am 99% sure who it is) and that it relates to a old grudge over women or, more accurately, girls, it was so long ago, which, is for the most part, true. I offered to state the "piece of work's" name but, the dt. said that because of the anonymous nature of the tip, that this was futile. I should have mentioned that the "piece of work" left a death threat against me on my answering machine a few years prior but, it got erased so, it probably would not have helped anyway. The "piece of work" does have a police record for various drugs, domestics, etc. but, I neglected to mention this information as well.
The dt. said that they had planned to return that evening but, because I replied to their request for contact, this was unnecesary. The dt. asked for a call-back phone number and I gave my home number and stated that it is the line I was on at the moment (which I'm sure he already knew, blocked number or not). I then asked: "so that's it, this is done with?" to which the dt. replied: "yes". I thanked him for taking the time to talk with me and said "goodbye".
Should I believe him? It's been 5-6 days since this happened, if they were going to execute a search warrant, wouldn't it have happened by now? One would think that after all this time that if I did posess (I don't) said weapon(s) that there has been ample time to dispose of it/them. Does not a judge require at least one piece of corrorborating evidence when issuing a search warrant based on a anonymous tip? Might they still want to interview me? Could I still be a "person of interest" they might be trying to gather evidence against? When, if ever, can I be sure the police are'nt wasting my tax dollars, investigating little ol' gentle me? I am a very private individual and am horrified that my life may be scrutinized for the forseeable future.
ANY feedback would be appreciated.
New York City.
Five days ago I recieved a phone call from my next-door neighbors, stating that two detectives knocked on their door the previous night at 9:30PM. They answered the door and the detectives entered and proceded to ask questions about me, the main one being: "does this person own any handguns?". They had recieved an anonymous tip stating that I did.
Handguns are severly restricted in NYC. The tip included my name (misspelled) & description (inc. distinguishing marks), house description (no address, it's not posted, did include the neighbor's address though), and which room the handguns were located. The detectives had tried my doors first but, I had retired early that evening and did not hear them. My neighbors (normal, married w/ children types) proceded to give a stellar endorsement of me: they know of no weapons, he (me) is like family, he's such a nice guy, he grows tomatos for cryin' out loud, shovels our snow when we are'nt around, etc. Some background: I'm white, private home in a nice upper middle class neighborhood, in my mid 30's with no police record, no known criminal associates, went to a exclusive (tested in), public, science high school and have some college. One of the detectives left his card and instructions for me to call him.
The next day the neighbors notified me of the happenings. I contacted my lawyer who really didn't tell me anything I didn't already know. I called the detective, who immediatly knew my name, and he told me of the anonymous tip and asked me if I posess any handguns, to which I replied: no. I then told the dt. that I do own a deer rifle (bolt action) which is licensed and registered in NYC and is located at another location outside NYC but in New York state. The dt. told me he had already checked the control section and had seen my permit (had it since 1989) and rifle registration (since 1998). In NYC, rifle/shotgun permits require renewal every 3 years w/ recent photos and an initial fingerprinting, so, they already have all the details of my I.D. The dt. then said he had checked my record and saw that I had none (I knew it would be spotless).
The dt. was very personable, and at this point even joked with me, and we discussed the hunting upstate a bit. I said I think I know who was responsible for the false tip (I am 99% sure who it is) and that it relates to a old grudge over women or, more accurately, girls, it was so long ago, which, is for the most part, true. I offered to state the "piece of work's" name but, the dt. said that because of the anonymous nature of the tip, that this was futile. I should have mentioned that the "piece of work" left a death threat against me on my answering machine a few years prior but, it got erased so, it probably would not have helped anyway. The "piece of work" does have a police record for various drugs, domestics, etc. but, I neglected to mention this information as well.
The dt. said that they had planned to return that evening but, because I replied to their request for contact, this was unnecesary. The dt. asked for a call-back phone number and I gave my home number and stated that it is the line I was on at the moment (which I'm sure he already knew, blocked number or not). I then asked: "so that's it, this is done with?" to which the dt. replied: "yes". I thanked him for taking the time to talk with me and said "goodbye".
Should I believe him? It's been 5-6 days since this happened, if they were going to execute a search warrant, wouldn't it have happened by now? One would think that after all this time that if I did posess (I don't) said weapon(s) that there has been ample time to dispose of it/them. Does not a judge require at least one piece of corrorborating evidence when issuing a search warrant based on a anonymous tip? Might they still want to interview me? Could I still be a "person of interest" they might be trying to gather evidence against? When, if ever, can I be sure the police are'nt wasting my tax dollars, investigating little ol' gentle me? I am a very private individual and am horrified that my life may be scrutinized for the forseeable future.
ANY feedback would be appreciated.
