Community caretaker doctrine abuse

[dubby396]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

 

[quincy]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

Please add your question and the name of your state by using the reply to thread feature. Thanks.

 

[dubby396]

I was sleeping in my car in a bar parking lot. A couple from the bar called in to 911 to describe a dui. Police show up under the guise of community caretaker and deminished expectation of privacy to approach me and wake me up. My question is if the police were dispatched to a dui are they on an investigation and need particularized suspicion to approach me?

 

[dubby396]

Montana is the state I am from and where this happened

 

[quincy]

I was sleeping in my car in a bar parking lot. A couple from the bar called in to 911 to describe a dui. Police show up under the guise of community caretaker and deminished expectation of privacy to approach me and wake me up. My question is if the police were dispatched to a dui are they on an investigation and need particularized suspicion to approach me?

Thanks for providing your state name.

Under the community caretaker doctrine, the police are given a warrant exception. The police are allowed to conduct warrantless searches of vehicles when the vehicles are in their lawful possession/legally impounded.

The searches are to inventory the items in a vehicle and are allowed for the purpose of protecting the police from possible harm that could come from dangerous items in a vehicle and to take into their "custody" items of value left in a vehicle that require safekeeping.

What you describe does not fit this doctrine.

Yes, though. The police can approach a car on a report of a suspected DUI.

 

[CdwJava]

I was sleeping in my car in a bar parking lot. A couple from the bar called in to 911 to describe a dui. Police show up under the guise of community caretaker and deminished expectation of privacy to approach me and wake me up. My question is if the police were dispatched to a dui are they on an investigation and need particularized suspicion to approach me?

Someone sleeping in their car in a bar parking lot is sufficiently concerning to support their making contact and inquiry as to your medical state or state of inebriation. In fact, they would not even have needed a call to have made contact. Keep in mind that if John Q. Public can walk up to you or your car and start asking questions, generally the police can as well.

A potentially inebriated person passed out in their car is a risk to everyone. The passersby did the right thing to call, and the police did the right thing by responding to check things out.

 

[FlyingRon]

In fact, if you are parked, it matters little where you are parked and whether you were awake or asleep, drunk or sober. This is a consensual encounter. The police are free to approach you and ask you questions. They don't even need a reason.