(Yes, I can read. And yes, I have read the above and the other thread. Seems like more people want to complain than applaud their efforts).

As for private property or not, in this case the officer was trying, based upon their observation of the situation, to determine whether a crime had been committed or not. That would be the same regardless of where the car was.

Imagine for a minute that the owner knew that she had left the car unlocked, as it seems many people in the neighborhood do, came out in the morning and found it locked. She would reasonably think that someone had been messing with her car. I think it would go down much better if the sticker was there so she would know who it was, rather than no sticker, in which case she might have called the police anyway. And, as I said before, why didn’t she call anyway when she found the sticker and get an explanation?

Sorry, but I disagree. As many people have pointed out, a locked door is little deterrence for a criminal, and may only result in a broken window. The comparison to seat belts does not hold up. The cost/benefit ratio is entirely different, for one thing. Plus, we do not have a Constitutional right to drive, but we do have a right to be left alone on our own property.

Proper procedure, IMO, is ringing the doorbell and alerting the homeowner, especially since the vehicle was located on PRIVATE PROPERTY. If the vehicle is parked on the street, I can see where an officer MIGHT have justification to open and enter the vehicle.

Veering off topic, but can’t help myself. As somebody who buckles her seat belt to move the car around in the driveway (not always, but I’m pretty rigorous wearing it), I sure would hate to bleed out because ER personnel are tied up taking care of somebody who sustained gory injuries because they exercised their freedom not to buckle up. Nellie, I suspect you wear your seat belt and are simply making a point about individual liberty. But my point is that there are really very few ways in which we can take personal risks without imperiling other people, too.

And, just to wander back toward the thread, the more careless people on a given street are about securing their premises and belongings, the more worthwhile that territory becomes for criminals to cruise. So, while choosing not to lock your car is your business, but in a way and to a degree, it’s also my business if I’m your neighbor. (Not you, Nellie, I mean the rhetorical “you.”) Which is not to say I don’t get the indignance about overzealous policing. It doesn’t seem to me like evidence of a burgeoning police state, though.