So really a person can making someone else's life hell by simply picking up the phone and "tipping" someone off? That then grants law enforcement the power to just walk onto your property and begin ripping through your stuff? Call me whatever you want, but I don't believe in those type of powers. One would think that if GW's are allocated those powers and all they really deal with is wildlife, then why not just grant those powers to the police since they are dealing with things far more important than just say, deer antlers? The abuse of power would be rampant.
I am Glad GW's have the power they have. Many times they need it to do their job. I have never known of one in our area that really abused that power, and.................................... the only ones I hear complaining around here are generally pushing the limits of the Law, and even out right breaking the law. My Hat is off to them for the job they try to do. I know in this area I feel we have had some good GW's in the past and I hope it continues. I have worked with a couple of GW's in the past through running a check station and helping in busting a poaching ring. They have my utmost respect! Dan
I've always been under the impression that GW did NOT need a warrant. Yet police do....thats a big difference IMO. I may be totally wrong, but thats what I've heard for 25+ years.
I didn't see where Buckmaster mentioned them ripping through his stuff... They don't have those types of powers, anything they do will be gone through with a fine toothed comb in a court of law. If someone calls you in...all that would merit is a "knock and talk". Anything the officers see within plain view of coming to your door and ringing your door bell can begin to give them articulable facts to jump to the next level of action....if those facts are present.....if they aren't .....they'll probably just ask you a few questions and leave.
There are exceptions to the warrant requirement. GW's may get around this because of the likelyhood that if they take the time to get a warrant signed by a judge, the evidence may be destroyed or moved (since most take place in the setting of a vehicle). However, at the end of the day, those officers will still have to provide information to the court as to why or how they utilized the exception they used. If they cannot articulate that, then any evidence seized because of those actions would be suppressed. I can assure you they will not search a residence without a warrant or consent, but a vehicle is another story as there is not as high of an "expectation of privacy" in a vehicle.
What kind of LE are we talking about? It differs (GW's authority) from state to state. IF the police get a tip.....and they can get a judge to sign a search warrant, they're golden. If I'm not mistaken, the GW isn't bound by or relegated to (constricted) that degree of threshold (IN NC). My local GW is a friend. IF they take a hard line on this, you can bet your ass they have crossed their "i's" and dotted their "t's". And, you can bet they know what they're gonna find, before they look for it. IMO, they give law-breakers too much lee-way. In other words.....they've built one helluva case, before they go in.
If these GW's were tipped off by someone or some Idiot their just doing their job the way I look at It. If they weren't tipped off and there wasn't any recent poaching going on In the area I believe they were being pricks about It.
You guys must believe in superman also.. just because someone tells you they can do whatever they want because they have the authority is .....TIME TO QUESTION AUTHORITY, what or why would a gw have more power and authority then a cia agent or fbi ??? that makes no since?? that is just bs, they all have to have probable cause and or a warrant, the gw may ask questions looking for some slip up so they can claim probable cause and thats there '' in" The cia or fbi would be calling in bogus game violators all the time to get there foot in the door, look around it just dont happen
Actually, there are different types of authority. Statutory authority, which is determined by the guidelines set in the 4th amendment, is the same for all law enforcement in the country....local, state, and federal. That is the type of authority they use to make arressts conduct searches, detain you for questioning, etc....the only authority that differs is the title of law they are authorized to enforce. There are tons of different titles of law.
Please don't take what I said about the GW's and police as I am a rebel and don't respect them....I do. Heck, I work hand in hand with the police everyday at work.
Your information is not factuall. They dont' have more "statutory" authority than anyone else. Everyone in law enforcement has to have consent or a warrant to search unless they meet the criteria for an exception to the warrant requirement. It is much more complicated than you probably imagine.
4th amendment. "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."
Exactly correct, but like I said, there is much more to it. I encourage you to read everything that is in it. There are numersous rules, exceptions, and guidlines to determine what is or is not a "reasonable" search or seizure and what constitutes a search. The key to it is in your quote..."unreasonable search or seizure." I haven't seen anything that was mentioned in the original post that would be considered a search or a seizure. If you feel this strongly about it, I suggest you take a class on 4th amendment law.
read my info what is not (factual ) in what i wrote (superman) yes not real. probable cause is fact, and real and weather a agent see's or you willing give it in a statement then he use it to further his investigation, like in this case they were driving by and seen a set of antlers (ding) and it starts from there.
I don't feel jump out of my pants strongly about it. I don't see anything unreasonable either. My original post in this thread was about the people that said, "they were just doing their job". By the GW saying, "hey we saw a deer antler as we drove by...", they actually increase their search powers as the Supreme Court has said, " 'testing based on `suspicion' of [wrongful activity] would not be better, but worse' than suspicionless testing", meaning that when GW's use the saying "hey we were just driving by and noticed" as compared to, "hello sir, it has been reported....", they bypass the need to obtain a search warrant. If the GW had said, "hello sir, it has been reported" they more than likely would have needed a search warrant if they planned on walking all over Aaron's property. By saying, "we just noticed..." then skipped that step. It is a clever way to enter someone's property immediately without obtaining a search warrant.
The wardens in this case seemed to being doing their job. It all depends though. If they just saw antlers on a porch then I think they went over the top and didn't need to bother a citizen for something so minimal and there was no need for questioning. If they were going on a tip or even a bogus tip they did a dam good job. They went and investigated, asked apropriate questions then left. They didn't bully the gentelman and had an officer look around the property in plain sight which is leagal to make sure nothing was wrong. If at some point the officer that was looking around saw somthing that justified reasonable suspicion at that point they could have questioned farther and maybe even asked a judge for a warrent for further searches.
read the last line in the qoute you cut this out of, that was my point if gw really had this wide net of authority other agency's would be using there talents.. right? like others have sighted here. 4th amendment how about 5 th amendment you dont need to be a lawyer to know your rights,you may need one to stand up for them! so if someone turned him in just because they dont like him ......should they them selves get a ticket for harassment when he was deemed legal????:D
Well if that is the case, then I stand corrected. I guess we should just accept that Big Brother is watching. What if someone owns 10,000 acres and the GW wanted to just walk on out to the center of the property. Does he have the power to walk to the center of the property which may be 1-2 miles deep in the woods, without a search warrant?
