Civil Liberties

Covered at Reason 24/7: Texas Cops Recorded Searching Home Without a Warrant

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From the Department of "What Are These Boxes With the Glass Eyes?" comes word that Garland, TX, homeowners are upset after their surveillance cameras caught police searching around their property without either a warrant or their permission. One of the officers apparently put his noggin to work and deduced that he and his colleagues were under observation; he was recorded turning one of the cameras toward the wall. Other cameras sneakily continued their work, undetected.

The Locke family is holding out for an apology, though they seem to have already successfully administered an international public shaming.

From the Daily Mail:

Police officers looking for a convicted felon have been accused of violating a homeowner's constitutional rights after being caught on surveillance cameras digging through bags and searching a car without permission.

Officers had gone to the home of Jon Locke on February 5 after an arrest warrant for fraud was issued for his brother Christopher.

One officer can be seen on tape rifling through duffel bags, while another fiddles with a camera in the back yard of the home in Dallas, Texas.

Mr Locke told Dallas News that he wants an apology from Garland police department because the officers conducted a search on his property without consulting him. His brother Christopher does not live at the home.

The police department refused to comment on the matter but said that internal affairs was investigating.

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