Lawyer Reacts: Getting Rid of Trespassing Cops

What should you do if the police are trespassing on your property to setup a speed trap? Let's see how one Redditor handled the situation.

[georgeradulescu]

"Going to war with your local sheriff's office" kinda sums up law enforcement's opinion on protecting people's rights and serving the citizens.

[Phalanx]

The fact that the Sheriff showed up to his door and threatened to charge him but didn't actually do it says a lot. If he went to the trouble of going to this guys house I'd think he would charge him if he actually had any grounds to do so. Sounds like an intimidation tactic to me.

[redshift]

The speed trap funds their department. They won't give up easy. You've got a fight on your hands.

[cycleboy]

If you hand the sheriff dept a "no trespass order" (no court needed) and they return, film it. They are armed trespassers, which makes it felony trespass.

[fountainvalley]

I’m not a lawyer but he needs to send a claim to the county for stealing the rocks. Then when the county denies the claim he can sue for damages.

[zedek_]

"I'm not sure it's a wise idea to go to war with your local sheriff's department, unless you're not planning to not live there for very long".
Fucking disgusting sentiment is exactly why pigs needs to be held accountable.

[FortitudineVincimus]

Send a bill to the police for using your private property to make income from speeding tickets. It only seems fair...

[ronaldbilar]

Had the same problem on my property with a speed trap.Came back from a week end grouper fishing trip cleaned the fish and hung the guts in the trees problem solved!

[Mrchaint]

Start with videotaping both the police positions and all interactions. They'll be your defense when the fake charges against you.

[holocaust_.]

As soon as he mentioned the Sheriff removing his signage, I think his case just became big. "The First Amendment protects signs as speech, and as a result courts closely review attempts to regulate signs." As for warning about speed traps being obstruction, there was already in one case "Flashing headlights to warn drivers of a speed trap is constitutionally protected speech".

I'd love to see get a civil rights lawyer and fight this.

[gyrsriddle]

That’s the attitude you get when you keep the same sheriff for 20 or 30 years. We vote ours out every 4 to 8 years and haven’t had attitude problems like that. Public officials are like diapers, they should be changed often…..and for the same reason….Mark Twain…..maybe.

[LadyGreenEyes]

When the people supposedly enforcing the law start threatening people who want it enforced, there's a huge problem! Law enforcement should never be breaking the law themselves.

[gotrythym]

Retaliation and intimidation is likely. Reading between the lines here.
"I'm not sure it's a wise idea to go to war with your local sheriff's department, unless you're not planning to not live there for very long". Wow. That sentence speaks volumes about the state of affairs between citizens and police.
Andrew, please correct me if I'm wrong. And, thank you for reporting this story. It's a very real problem that landowners could face.
I'd recommend that this landowner post cameras all over his property, house and car and have a lawyer on retainer and on call.

[bendono]

I had a very similar problem with the police using my property to conduct speed traps. It was 20+ years ago and I was in college living with my mother. The police would park just behind a tree just outside my bedroom. They would do it repeatedly nearly every day. It was quite moist there and with all the parking / driving there the grass was all torn up with tire marks. I remember one of the people who got a ticket came to complain to me why we "welcome the police there", which I surely do not. Each time I typed up the situation and walked 10-15 minutes to city hall to file a complaint. I remember one time while walking to city hall the police officer--who knew I was going to file another complaint--drove slowly beside me and threatened me saying "it would be a shame if someone were to confuse that pen of yours as a gun and shot you", to which I ignored. Eventually after enough complaints I had a meeting with the mayor who said something about the right away being usable in the case of an emergency. I asked how many emergencies there have been there in the last decade there and if those are on file. I never received a response, but after a few more months, they did eventually move to another spot which they seemed to favor.

[mchristiansen]

The properrty my parents bought had an unused entrance that the sheriff was using for that purpose. To hide in the well grown bushes, and get speeders. My dad talked with several lawyers, but that seemed like too much trouble, (same thing as you mentioned in response). He had another survey to find the easement and found our fence line was 2 and half feet further in, off the easement. There was no County ordinances concerning overgrown fence lines. So we spent that Summer, cutting, trimming and removing the old fence, (which the sheriffs were not happy about.) Left the taller trees, (they were pecan producing trees). This opened up a huge field of view where the sheriff could not hide his car. My dad put up a gate using 10x10x12 railroad ties, (he buried 7 and half feet and cemented them in), had a dual steel gate made, and locked it with surplus locks that were used for armory doors. The kind you need a blowtorch to cut off. We kept that entrance and road cleared and cleaned, and although mad as hell, they had to move their little "hidy" spot way on down the road.

[vernowen]

There is a SCOTUS ruling that says police cannot run speed traps from private property and I often have to inform new officers of this by photo or video evidence complaints filed with the appropriate jurisdiction. Just keeping cops honest is a full-time job.

[jeffworden]

Your final statement kinda hit on what we are experiencing now. And I’m not trying to discuss that experience, however if we don’t “go to war” with our local police when these instances occur, then we are effectively enabling the behavior for the future.

God, what a world we live in….

Taking no action, is an action.

[sdnlawrence]

This would make an interesting discussion in law school. Government is using your property without compensation, "quartering troops" on your property (seems like that's mentioned in a couple of old documents), removing/stealing your personal property, threatening under color of law, be an interesting brief to read and fun to write.
I would just remove driveway and/or fence my property. ("Well Your Honor, kids were driving onto my property, drinking, smoking, leaving disgusting trash, making noise...")

[klatubaradanikto]

I drove through a town every day that is a known speed trap. The town annexed property along a couple of miles of highway that was all farm land & immediately lowered the speed limit from 55 to 40mph & set up traps there. They were “patrolling” from field entrances like you described. The farmers put up simple signs that read “don’t block gate” & “don’t block drive” & the cops moved on.

[angiesmith]

Have a lawyer draw up a cease and desist form and have it delivered certified mail to the appointed sheriff. After that they are then armed trespassing and will be greeted accordingly. "Being used for law enforcement purposes" is no excuse for trespassing. Bad thug with a badge and a gun is still a thug.