I asked to see the warrant.....
...and they showed it to me.
Let me tell you a true story. At the time this happened in the late 1980’s, I was owner and publisher of a spiritually-oriented newspaper called The New Times. It was a quiet Sunday morning and I had given myself the day off. I was in my robe, with morning hair, sitting on the couch having a cup of coffee and writing in my journal. My little eight-pound, apricot English toy poodle Cherie was snoozing beside me. My partner was at work and I was enjoying my solitude when I heard knocking at the front door. I wasn’t expecting company and was annoyed that some sales person would dare intefere with my quiet morning.
I stood up and turned around to look out the window to the front of the house. The words astonished, amazed, scared and terrified, can’t begin to describe what I felt. The house we rented at the time sat on about an acre and the house was near the back of the property. Outside, I saw about 15 policemen in full gear with their guns drawn and pointed at the house. My mind couldn’t fill in the blanks about what was happening since having the police in our yard with guns pointed at the house belonged in movies and television shows, not my world.
I picked up Cherie and went to the door. I opened it to find three officers on the porch with guns drawn and pointed at me. The rest of the officers were scattered around the yard, guns drawn and aimed at the house. Did I tell you they had their guns out and pointed at me? Yes, I thought I mentioned that. I was stunned and asked the officer what was going on. He said they had a warrant to search the house and property. I asked why and requested they show me the warrant.
The three officers stepped into the house, leaving the door open and guns still out and pointed at me and my little dog. The leader showed me the warrant. It said they were looking for drugs and that an anonymous source had indicated they had reason to believe there was a drug selling operation being run from the premises. I was in shock because nothing of the sort was happening. I think the policeman was able to read my reaction as being genuine. What was going on? Then it hit me.
At the front of the property, near the road, was a huge garage built to hold an RV and there was a shop next door to it where the owner of the property used to do work on various vehicles. That building was rented to a band who used it to practice. The fellows came several times a week and we could hear the music, but not so that it bothered us. I had never met them. I explained this to the officer and said maybe he should speak with the owner of the property since I was only a renter. I explained she didn’t live far away and could be there in 15 minutes or less.
He agreed and I called her from our landline (this was before we all had cell phones), told her about the police being there and asked her to please speak to the officer. He and she spoke for a few minutes and then he said she was on her way. They finally put their guns down but no one made a move to leave. I asked if I could please put on some clothes. He said I could, but a woman police officer had to be with me every minute and, of course, I agreed.
We went to the bedroom where I got dressed while the officer opened drawers and looked in closets. She said she had the right to do this because of the warrant and I told her that was fine with me since we didn’t have anything to hide. Did she really think I would tell her she couldn’t do that?
Once the landlady arrived, all of them except the woman officer and me walked down to the band’s practice area and they searched the place without finding any drugs or anything else of interest to them. When they returned to the house, I asked what made them think drugs were being sold from the property and prompted the warrant. He said an anonymous person reported there were young men coming and going with loud music being played and he suspected drug dealing. The police watched the house, saw what he was talking about, and obtained the warrant. Unfortunately for me, the warrant hadn’t specified the RV garage as the place to look and made it apply to the house as well. They didn’t actually apologize, but I could tell some of them felt bad for scaring me.
It didn’t take long for the police and landlady to leave. My little dog and I were alone once again. I asked myself if this had actually happened or if I had been dreaming. Of course, it was real and I was able to debrief about the experience when my partner came home. I think she was disappointed she missed all the excitement. As those who have read my autobiography know, my life has been filled with many unusual events that give me what some call a checkerboard past.
For me, it was one more situation that taught me I could live with grace and ease even when police officers are pointing guns at me. If I could keep my wits about me then, what else could I do……
Living with grace and ease……
Krysta
I was living in San Francisco in 2004 and George W Bush was President. The Iraq War was happening and hundreds of thousands of people in the Bay Area protested every week, me included. One late morning there was a loud unmistakable KNOCK! on the door and standing outside were two Secret Service Agents in suits with their badges prominently displayed for my inspection. They politely explained that they had received an anonymous "tip" (they wouldn't tell me who the source , or what the nature of the tip was)... and that they wanted to ask me a few questions about my feelings about George W Bush, the war, protests etc. We stood there inside my apartment for three hours, standing up, and I answered questions about whether I had guns, did I know how to get them, build bombs, what did I know about explosives, how did I feel about Bush "personally". Afterwards they asked permission to take my photo and I said yes. This was before DNA so they didn't ask for that. They didn't take fingerprints. They gave me a business card and said they'd be in touch. Two weeks later I got a phone call and they said there was nothing to be concerned about, they found no evidence of any threat to Bush in their investigation and that all's good. That was the last I ever heard from them. It was at least ten years LATER that I learned that it is a federal crime (felony) to LIE to a federal law enforcement officer, including the Secret Service. It was fortunate for me, and probably out shear luck that in the three hour interview I never once lied about anything. It's so easy to lie; we almost accept it as the cost for living. But had I lied to them about even the slightest little thing, I probably would have been listening to the fog horn from the Bay weaving it's sound over the walls of San Quentin! The point is, for whatever reason, I was centered and present to authenticity and had no need to try to be somebody else, to wear a mask, to hide who I was. This has been a good learning experience for me all my life.
What an experience you had! At least mine weren’t secret service. Good for you that you were 100% honest. Thanks so much for sharing this with me and with my readers.