Police damage to rental property

Reply to the comment left by "Colin McNulty" at "11/05/2014 - 08:47":

I think that is fine as long as appropriate safeguards and protocols are in place to protect all involved and all those who will be potentially affected by that decision . An amendment to the AST perhaps from the Landlords perspective. I can see that working on a very local level where a rapport has been cultivated. More problematic nationally

All kind of agencies work together these days for a common goal whereas 30 years ago they wouldn`t even dream of talking to each other and sharing what they perceive to be their `own` sensitive information with each other. The thinking is much more different now thank goodness but it is still ongoing work in progress

Sec 115 of the Crime and Disorder Act allows that multi agency approach and organisations to work and share information together to prevent and detect crime. A Landlord wont come under that as they are not an agency per se but i can see for instance a leasehold property where the council is the freeholder/ landlord then they as an interested party and a public body could become part of that and somehow include the landlord in that process as an affiliated body through maybe the NLA for example

The community should always try to work together for this common sense approach. Keys are the best way to enter a premises so if that is the starting point then everyone with a vested interest in the outcome should work from that point of reference perhaps.

Reply to the comment left by "Neil Patterson" at "09/05/2014 - 09:15":

Mark
That's a really shortsighted and bigoted comment. Not at all what i expect from you.

What kind of "wrong" people? Especially given the Metropolitan Police's currently tarnished reputation. Perhaps they really did get it wrong, so you'd make a person homeless over that?
Time to check your privilege I think.

Reply to the comment left by "Farah Damji" at "12/05/2014 - 08:20":

Farah

I am confused, whose comment are you responding to please?

You have replied to Neil but addressed it to Mark.
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Reply to the comment left by "Neil Patterson" at "09/05/2014 - 09:15":

Sorry Mark!it was Neil's comment. I'm still learning how to use your brilliant website.
Apols.

Reply to the comment left by "Farah Damji" at "12/05/2014 - 08:32":

Thanks (I think) 🙂

Please help me to understand why you took offence to Neil's comment.
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Reply to the comment left by "Mark Alexander" at "12/05/2014 - 08:50":

Given recent highly publicised shortfalls in the standard of behaviour especially by our local keystone cops the tarnished Met Police, this attitude of no smoke without fire and wrong types of people plays into the culture of fear the police want to perpetrate.

If there was nothing found then leave it at that. As far as the police's responsibility, they have a duty under PACE to put right any damage they caused by entering, legally. They generally want to avoid bad press around these issues, a short sharp letter to the Chief Constable copied to the local paper about it will see a cheque for damages winging its way pretty swiftly.
Police often raid a person's home as a way to create tensions within the community, if that person has historic convictions or is in "bad company." It is a subtle form of coercion and can be extremely damaging not just to the person being targeted but also to the community. His neighbors will hate him, his landlord will label him a bad 'un.

Let's not fall into this easy trap of making huge speculation about what a person may or may not be. Only 11% of cases actually make it to court. I'm not suggesting that 89% of people are innocent but we should all have a little more tolerance and question the state's authority when it overreaches.

Hope this helps!

Reply to the comment left by "Farah Damji" at "12/05/2014 - 09:00":

Thank you Farah, your perceptions seem to be more at odds with my comments that Neil's but I can live with that ......... and maybe we can both learn from each others perceptions.

I accept that mistakes can be made but I don't buy into the conspiracy theory you hold, albeit I'm not dismissing it completely. The actions of Police forces may well be very different in your area than mine, hence our alternative viewpoints.

I do still stand by my comments though. If a tenant of mine had their door smashed in by the Police why should I have to pay to have the damage fixed? If a tenant didn't get it sorted, sorry but I'd have them evicted.

Fortunately I have never experienced this problem in 25 years of being a landlord. It's a numbers game though so knowing what to do for the best if/when I do have this problem is useful to me.

I, and no doubt other landlords reading this, will be interested to learn more about your experiences, particularly with regards to PACE. Can you expand further on this please because all the landlords I've ever spoken to about this problem have have mixed experiences in terms of whether or not the Police will pay for damages. If there is a way to increase the likelihood of getting the damage paid for then you would be doing a lot of landlords (and tenants) a massive favour by sharing it here. It is unlikely that my attitude to eviction, in the event of a tenant not solving the problem, would change much. However, if I could point my tenants in the right direction to get the damage paid for by somebody else this could mean that they don't necessarily need to pay for the damages out of their own pockets to avoid getting evicted.
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Will do. There is existing legislation, I'll find and post it or maybe do you a guest blog if you ask nicely

Reply to the comment left by "Farah Damji" at "12/05/2014 - 09:00":

Hi Farah,

Welcome and it is always great to have new readers commenting.

Apologies if my comment caused you offense.

The article left a lot of unanswered questions and if it was my property and neighbors I personally would want to ask the question what the police meant by the "wrong people" as that could mean anything from relatively benign to the worst you can imagine.

Back in the seventies my parents rented our property when we moved away and the tenants had someone over who turned out was a South Coast murderer who the police were tracking. They closed off the whole road and armed police raided the house (after he had gone though). My parents only found out much later from our neighbors. Hence this would explain why I think anyone would be at least curious.

I would not wish to make someone homeless if there was no cause for concern and it was a genuine mistake, but I have to believe the majority of the time the police do a good job and hence normally deserve the benefit of the doubt.

Obviously I have not personally had any bad experiences with the police and I am sorry for anyone that undeservedly has.

Reply to the comment left by "Farah Damji" at "12/05/2014 - 09:24":

I think posting on this thread would be a good idea given that so many people are following it and that it now has excellent SEO based on the number of comments posted 🙂
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