Police Officer Preparation & Law Enforcement Resource - Archive

My roomate called me today and told me that two men with white polo police shirts, badges, and guns came up to my house today looking for me. They claimed my name came up in an investigation and they needed to ask me some questions. My roomate asked them if I was in any trouble, and they said no.

Here are the issues I'm worried about:

1. I have only been living at the place they showed up for two months. Nobody knows I live there, and my name is not on the lease. I pay cash. The only person I told my address to was my father over a text. Are my text records being compromised?

2. They did not go to the address listed on my drivers liscence (my mothers) at all. I called my family and police never checked my home address.

3. The police did not leave a business card for me to contact them. My roomate gave them my number and they have not called me.

So are these detectives lying? Does it sound like I'm in trouble??? I called the Detective office for the police dpt and gave them my information as well, and have yet to hear back from anyone.

Have you talked to your father? Maybe he gave them the address. You've lived there for two months and absolutely no one else in the world knows it except for your roommate and your father? That sounds kind of far fetched.

You would know if you're in trouble or not. If not the cops, aren't lying. If you are in trouble, then who knows? Is that why you're keeping your address such a secret?

No, it's not that I keep the address a secret. I just don't keep in touch with people. I have two friends, both of which I live with. I called my father and asked if anyone contacted him, and he said no. I work under the table (admittedly something I shouldn't do, but times are tough and I'm only getting in 20-30 hours a month). My vehicle is owned by my mother because I am on the family insurance plan, I don't have any bills at the house, and my mother is within a 10 minute drive. So the need to actually tell anyone where I live just hasn't come up. I suppose I'm worried if they're actual cops or not (Because they didnt identify themselves and didn't leave a business card), and how they could have found out where I lived.

All I can tell you is that police usually leave business cards if they want to talk to you. You might contact your local police and ask them. If they aren't police, the real cops need to know and if they are, you could clear this up rather than continue to worry. Again, you know if you've done something or not. If they're real, they may need to talk to you about something they think you've seen or someone you know. Give them a call.

What does "work under the table" mean? Is that some type of cash only unreported employment?

First...COPS lie...Its part of our job..Do we lie under oath, NO..Do we lie on arrest paperwork,citations etc..NO..Are we going to look for someone during a criminal investigation and tell the persons friends (roommates) etc. That we are looking for the person and their not in trouble "we just need to talk to them" even though we may already have a warrant etc.. YES, is that lying, YES..If we tell their friends when asked, "yeah hes wanted, have him call us or better yet come to the station"..Is the person we want gonna do what we HONESTLY ASK? Most of the time, NO they will run because they will KNOW THE TRUTH...

As for no one "knowing where you live". We have "MANY ways" and "sources" and the majority of the time, one way or another we find who we are looking for...

As for if you should be worried..ONLY YOU know the answer to that question..IF YOU DID SOMETHING ILLEGAL YOU SHOULD KNOW..Detectives dont nock on doors over "parking tickets"...

IF YOU HAVE DONE NOTHING WRONG, they may need to talk to you because you witnessed something or it could be as simple as you have the same name as someone that DID COMMIT A CRIME OR IS A WITNESS..

As for your phone/text messages being "compromised"...In a "computer/digital world, nothing you do online or on your phone is 100% secure, not from hackers, viruses or from the Police obtaining a warrant and reading every text message or seeing every website you have been to..

Regardless of if YOU DID or DID NOT do anything wrong its in your best interest to get it "cleared up". It could be as simple as "mistaken identity".

True story, I have a fairly common name, theres 4 people in my county with it and about 80 in the state..About 10 years ago a guy committed suicide in a way that facial recognition was impossible and we had the same name. I was a cop at the time and the investigating agency called my agency and told them they were investigating MY suicide...OBVIOUSLY IT WASNT ME..

Go to the station and talk to the Detectives, its the only way to find out why they need to talk to you and its the only way to take care of it..

Id like to hear an update when tou do..

I should have mentioned earlier that I have done this. I called the Police Dept. main #, the Detective line, The Special Projects unit, and the Sheriffs Office. None of them can identify the men, and none of them even seem slightly concerned that they may not be the real deal. But I did leave my information with each unit. Thanks for the replies

Also, if it was that important, why didn't they call me after being given my number??

I dont know where you live (major city, etc.) But I CAN TELL YOU contrary to the media and movies THERE ARE NOT as many people IMPERSONATING LE/DETECTIVES etc. ESCPECIALLY coming to someones house with IDENTIFYING POLICE POLOS/GUNS/BADGES,ETC. KNOWING PERSONAL INFORMATION ABOUT YOU. The ones Ive encountered or recieved information on normally "operate" alone and have CRIMINAL INTENTIONS (drug ripoffs,robbery,sexual battery etc.) or are "wannabe's making traffic stops with "obviously fake blue lights, etc. "pretending" to be the Police for "self gratification". I think based on the information you provided THEY WERE DETECTIVES. I cant tell you why they havent called you or why they did not leave business cards etc. BASED ON WHAT YOU HAVE STATED, if I was you, I would not worry too much about it..For all you know, they may have realized later that they did not need to speak to you etc.

At one time I was given information from a CI that two men in jeans and t-shirts were "interogating" residents in a apartment complex about a neighbor, they were reported to have had "what appeared" to be guns under the t-shirts and someone observed a shotgun in the car they drove (a honda). They wrote a name and number on a piece of paper as a "business card". I checked out the name and number. The phone was a "throw away/pre-paid cell. I was working undercover at the time and made it my goal to get these "imposters". I "camped" out in the area and located them, and handled it as a armed suspect incident. THEY TURNED OUT TO BE FBI AGENTS LOOKING FOR A MURDER SUSPECT!

Moral to my story is: SOME LE Officers and FBI AGENTS (in my case) dont operate how "You would expect"..But it does not automatically mean they are not LE investigating a "case".

Also, if it was that important, why didn't they call me after being given my number??

Think about what your asking here. How are we supposed to answer why someone who none of us know did something. You've already had responses about how general police procedure on knock-and-talks work, do you really expect us to know why someone did not call you when we weren't there?

You're right, that's a silly question. I suppose I just have a large distrust of the police. I'm not making any personal judgement about any of you, but in the past, none of my altercations with law enforcement have gone very smoothly. I'm naturally a very paranoid person. Anyways, I called my stepfather, who is a probation officer, and he checked with the courthouse to see if there were any warrants out for my arrest. I figured there wouldn't be, and there wasn't. I'm still trying to get in touch with whoever came to my door, but I have not been able to find out who they work for, or who they were. Thanks again for all the replies.

You're right, that's a silly question. I suppose I just have a large distrust of the police. I'm not making any personal judgement about any of you, but in the past, none of my altercations with law enforcement have gone very smoothly. I'm naturally a very paranoid person. Anyways, I called my stepfather, who is a probation officer, and he checked with the courthouse to see if there were any warrants out for my arrest. I figured there wouldn't be, and there wasn't.

I obviously don't know you, so I don't know what events in your life have led you to be paranoid or distrust police, nor what criminal activity you have participated in that would have you inquiring about whether you had a warrant for your arrest or not (after all, one has to commit a crime or have some sort of evidence of their involvement in a crime to have a warrant issued against them). However something to consider (and most folks learn with experience and age) is that cops, like those in any profession, are different because we're all individuals. Also, like humans in any other line of work, if you treat us respectfully most all the time you'll be treated with the same in kind (granted, some cops are a-holes, but that's only because some human beings are a-holes and law enforcement hires human beings like any other profession out there). If you have a plumbing disaster in your home and yell and scream at the plumber when he arrives, what good does that do you? Alternatively, if you're polite and thankful, most folks tend to do what they can to help (some even going the "extra mile" where they can). Same is true when dealing with the police, as we're human beings too. While we're often required by agency policy to act "professional," there's no agency I'm aware of that says its officers cannot enforce the law to the maximum extent possible when someone deserves it (for example, if you act like a jerk to a cop pulling you over, expect the officer to do a full inspection of your vehicle and you to get cited for any and everything in violation of the law in addition to whatever violation you were pulled over for).

You may distrust the police, but I've dealt with enough different people long enough in this line of work to know that most folks that distrust the police have done something wrong in their past (and in some cases quite a bit) to bring about a negative experience with law enforcement. My advice for you, not cop-to-suspect but adult-to-adult, is do your part to be respectful when you encounter police and you'll find more often than not you catch more flies with honey than vinegar, and people tend to treat others in ways that mirror how they are being treated first.

They could have also been agents from any number of federal agencies. Depending on what I'm doing and why I want to talk to somebody, I sometimes put on a "Police" polo before knocking on the door. If that was the case, it's unlikely that the police department or the Sheriff's Office would have any knowledge about it. Just sit tight at your apartment for the next few days and see what happens.

Do you participate in "chat rooms" or any other type of internet activity that may be questionable ot taken the wrong way?

Do you participate in "chat rooms" or any other type of internet activity that may be questionable ot taken the wrong way?

Flirtatious encounters with women? Sure. I haven't in some time though since too many people lie about their age, gender, and who they are.

I also did a donut in a parking lot about a month ago, and the people who were in the backseat leaned against the door and got thrown out of the car. Was scary, but they werent hurt so we got back in and drove off.

I am a police detective, and a couple of weeks ago my wife made this terrible pork tenderloin with some kind of bluish-green glaze that even the dog took one whiff off and declined to eat.

I told her it was not bad. So, yeah, police detectives lie.

I am a police detective, and a couple of weeks ago my wife made this terrible pork tenderloin with some kind of bluish-green glaze that even the dog took one whiff off and declined to eat.

I told her it was not bad. So, yeah, police detectives lie. Best story ever :)

This probably wouldn't be to bad except that you are a cab driver. Just kidding. You may have been caught on video and someone maybe concerned about your flying body routine. I think the cops are real and they will contact you again. You better grow up before you loose you license and end up with one big personal injury lawsuit.

I'm going to rule out that driving incident. I recontacted my father, who said that he was the one who gave them my address. He said they were with the State Police (SBI). It must be serious. I suppose at the very least, I can call them tomorrow morning during operating hours and find out what all this is about.

Yep, I would call them early. Let us know what happened if you want to.

Dont ya"ll love it when we are 100% right.......im just saying..kudos to all...

Well, nothing else to say but good luck