Studio fright night thanks to the local PD

  • Thread starter Thread starter rcktdg
  • Start date Start date
R

rcktdg

New member
I have a studio in a warehouse in a small, quiet town. Tonight I went there to do some computer maintainance before I do some recording tomorrow evening. I spend many late nights working in the space. Tonight I was defragging. Pretty mindless.

In the meanwhile I was trying to listen to a really bad album by scott weiland, "12 bar blues". I have been reading a book about mixing and having a different perspective about the structure of mixing I thought a fresh listen might reveal something. Daniel Lanois did some work on this record and I generally like his stuff. I have always wondered about his choice to let his name go on this particular recording.

I was doing some cleaning and general organizational stuff while this record played on. I tried to analyze it as it went by. I was trying to identify the different elements hoping to discover something cool or innovative. It just wasn't working.

I wanted to check on something on the computer so I went into my server room. I was crouched down in front of my server rack when I saw a flash of light on the wall. Startled I stood up to see a man with a flashlight and a gun. He started shouting for me to hold still and keep my hands up. There were two others with him. They were cops.

They searched me, cuffed me, and started asking questions about what was going on. Keep in mind this is in my studio. there were no signs of forced entry at all.

They said they saw a vehicle in the alley (my van) and saw that the gate was open. They were compelled to investigate with a "building search". When they came to my space, they could hear music so they announced themselves at the door (My place is heavily insulated, I can imagine that they might hear a little music at the door but there is no way I would hear them) and came in.

I told them that I rent the building and the property owners' name and that I have keys to all the unlocked gates they passed through. They asked if I had some documentation to prove this? I motioned toward the keys on the desk (I was cuffed) and said that was the only thing I needed to get in. They made me call my call my fucking landlord at 12:35 am to get him to verify I am a tenant!

After they confirmed my legal right to be in the space I told them that barging with guns drawn was a good way to get some one killed. I was up to nothing but minding my own business and they burst in with no signs of a crime being committed to point guns and start shouting. Bullshit.

Why a microphone forum? My server room is also where I keep my mic's. What if I was there to fetch my sennheiser 541? If you know what one looks like I would probably not be posting here or anywhere else ever again. Those dicks were so amped up when they came through that door they would have blown my head to a million pieces thinking I was holding a weapon.

This was 5 hours ago, the sun is coming up and I can't sleep.

9 out of 10 cops suck. There are at least six more who will show up to kill me.
 
So you were in your studio with the door unlocked? You didn't mention them breaking down a door so I'm thinking that was the case. If so, what the hell were you thinking? Cops aren't the only assholes out there you know..........there are plenty of folks, cops and otherwise, that'd come on there and kill and rob you. I never have an unlocked door in my house or studio.......if I walk down the driveway to get the paper; the door is locked behind me.....better safe than sorry.
Glad you're ok.......now start locking the freakin' door! ;)
 
i live between LA and Chicago. i've never heard of a crooked cop before in my life (dripping with sarcasm). i almost got arrested (and one of my friends got taken in the paddy wagon) in my apartment in chicago for a party that was going on in the apartment below mine. i appreciate the work cops do, but your story is ridiculous. i think they were just bored and had nothing to do.
 
Go to the police department and file a formal compliant against the police officers... then call your attorney and file a class A lawsuit against the police department and all the officers involved. And from now on always have your security video cameras on and taping everything.
 
I thought warrants were in order... probable cause, and all that.

It would have been just as easy for them to sit, wait, and watch the van. I have a feeling if they found a perp inside, the perp would walk.

This whole thing smells nasty.

Since you wound up in cuffs, now it is time to own a piece of the police department. They could have held you at gun point until figuring out you own the place. But no, Rambo has to cuff you.

Own a piece of their sorry asses.

The John Ashcroft mentality is becoming pervasive now, and all the way through to the local police. I'm a life long conservative, and will be the first to stand up and say this is FAR too much police power/abuse. There was no reason for this other than testosterone.
 
My story is a little different and not related to studios. Several years ago my wife and I owned a little restaurant in a small town. One night I had taken the trash out the back door (dark alley) and forgot to close it (stupid). I was standing in the kitchen counting the days receipts with my 357 magnum next to me on the counter. I knew my wife was in the front of the store. I caught a dark figure slightly behind me in the corner of my eye. I grabbed the gun, spun around and threw down on a scared shitless local policeman. Of course I immediately pointed gun straight up. He gave me a lecture on securing the door, I apologized and he went home to change his pants :D :D :D
 
After only a couple hours sleep I am still pissed and now I am extremely tired.

To answer a couple of things. The doors were unlocked. That's my fault. Normally the interior door to the studio is bolted but I had been moving gear from the front room to the main room as I made room for it. On my last trip my task was interupted and I guess I did not lock it. In any case I am glad I left it unlocked because their intent to get in was not to be hindered as far as I experienced. They would have kicked it down or at least tried which might have damaged the whole structure, door and the security of my place until I could rebuild it.

After much thinking I will file a complaint. Before I do I will take many photos of the environment and what the saw as they approached my place. I do pretty nice night time photography. I can make it look like the plowed into a peaceful night garden.

I am going to request a meeting with the chief of police and show him some mic's that could have easily been handling that look like weapons in profile and it could have easily been a homicide with their entry proceedure.

What will it be worth? Who knows but I am now afraid to go to my studio because of the cops. That's just wrong.
 
If anything, you at least deserve an answer as to why the cops figured you were robbing/dealing crack/running a whore house/whatever. Go down to the PD and ask what the fuck was going on. Unfortunately, I don't think there's a lot you can get besides an apology.

I just don't see what their rationale was. I'm sure they didn't do it to harass you; they probably have better things to do than to scare the shit out of studio owners. You can take comfort knowing the cops were trying to do their duty, even if they fucked up.

Maybe they just wanted a demo session?:confused:

Hell, you could make some good money with the exclusive rights to the latest album from 'The Police'. I know I'm a fan. (slaps knee)
 
An apologetic and gracious explantion that it was a misunderstanding would do wonders. I am not interested in carrying a grudge or feeling of threat from local law enforcement. Their continued defensive posture was what really sucked. It was weird.

The town is something like 2 miles square. It is so sleepy and quiet that they invent things to do. This is dangerous.

The thing I am concerned about it that their logic is so flawed. The cause for the investigation was: Van in the alley (I have been parking in that spot regularly for a year); open gate was sign that someone was there (the fact that it was an UNLOCKED open gate is cause for concern?); They saw lights on (the AC unit was also running, you know ciminals have to keep cool); They heard music (the perfect way to mask the sound of stealing stuff and stay undetected); They announced themselves at the front door to no response (my main room is mechanically isolated); They burst through the door of the main room unannounced as far as I can tell. I can usually hear the low frequency stuff since I am kind of sensitive to it.

So far, none of this strikes me as indicative of a crime being commited. No forced entry, no resistance of any kind. When they came in the room they were uninterested in talking, only subduing me. They were sure I was guilty of something they just hadn't figured out what. I was not given the chance to cooperate in any way before I was cuffed and searched. When I tried to speak they told me to shut up.

The whole thing was a cold call. No one reported anything. They never saw any action to inform their curiosity. They saw nothing and started looking for something to reinforce an opportunity to do a "building search". I could have been killed.

A gracious verbal and written apology would go a long, long way with me. All I want is acknowlegement that they were wrong to act the way they did.
 
They placed you under arrest by putting their handcuffs on you... did they read you your rights?
 
That is bizarre. I'm not blaming you or anything, it just seems so darn odd that your local cops would do this! You're right, there isn't any logic, which is what makes it so hard for me to believe that they'd just march in there.

Maybe you could bring something like this in front of a town council. In a town that small, your story sounds outrageous enough to be big news, and maybe some heads will roll.
 
Ahh, quitcher whinin'

Admit it, that was the most exciting thing that happened to you all week. Plus if it never happened then you'd have no reason to post in the beloved mic forum....good gimmick!

Besides, I bet you look like someone would rip you off anyhow, you should thank those guys for being so vigilant.:rolleyes:
 
The PD has problems with the city. They are the lowest paid PD in the state but they are also only responsible for for the smallest area in that state. It's very quiet with little crime at all. For some reason they police it like it's a gangland environment.

Every city in the state has some kind of genius grant writer that gets every PD the most modern equipment available. They have everything accept their own helicopter. They get those services from another nearby city. They have all the night vision equipped SUV's and BMW motorcycles for a city without a stoplight.

I can assure you that I am not hiding any details. I don't have a meth lab in the back or anything of questionable disposition about me or my studio. It's really nice on the inside compared to the outside but that's part of the charm. About half of it is finished to the nines and the other half is still a little rough and in progress.

It has a certain "Chamber of Solitude" kind of vibe. It's an unusually shaped open space with the console in the middle with instruments all around. I have made good use of some antique mission benches and tables. Most of the walls are covered with really heavy, luxurious theater curtains. Perhaps they were surprised to see a silk purse inside the sow's ear and that threw them. I have know idea.

My own appearance is pretty "normal". I have no tattoos, no piercings or other signs of an alternative lifestyle. My hair is long but I generally maintain a healthy, non-destructive sort of personal aesthetic. My clothes are clean and I shower regularly.

If I have any fault at all it's that I generally don't lose my intellectual cool in cop situations. Cop tactics are to never answer questions only ask them. They depend on this assertive posture to maintain control of a situation. I have never been afraid to follow my answer with a question that is equally targeted. I get physically nervous, last night I was trembling and my legs were shaking but mentally I was equally more agile. If I agitated the situation it was by being mentally effective in the face of their bombastic tactics of intimidation. It was like bad cop, worse cop. Pretty obvious that the cool head will prevail.

I'm not trying to paint myself as a mental giant, far from it. My day job has an intense psychological dynamic and it makes me an effective verbal communicator. If I was up to something I would likely not be able to defend myself as well but I was so confident about not being in the wrong that I figured the only tool at their disposal was to kill me. I was willing to call their bluff.

My main issue was the hand-cuffs and the gun pointing. It was annoying to have them burst in but generally the concept of their concern was reassuring. However I could have been shot for no good reason, plain and simple.

Last night I had the work lights on and the space was very lit but when I record it's darker with more localized, intimate lighting. I might have mic's and stands strewn everywhere and guitars on every flat surface. Some mic's with unique clips will rest next to the console with their clip connected. A sennheiser 541 looks like a glock or something.

I have written much about this and I appreciate the sympathy. I am not trying to start a cop hating thread. Something went wrong with the interaction and that's the real story. A few of their comments were also of great concern. I feel like I could have been shot for no reason at all. I am going to file a complaint, I have no choice. The Chief is out of town for two more days and I will only work with him. I will also contact the Mayor. I just want to be comfortable that I will not be harrassed while working, coming or going.

Cheers, RD
 
It is very fortunate that you were not holding a mic or anything that looked like a weapon.

I agree that you should have had the doors locked and this could have been avoided. It is an ugly world and getting worse every day. You are maybe lucky it was cops with guns and not criminals with guns in your studio.

I have a real problem with the people who go right to the whole sue there ass routine. The cops were doing their jobs. If someone was ripping off the studio you would be glad the cops showed up.

Were they too aggresive? Maybe. However there are alot of bad guys out there and being a cop ain't easy.

The problem we have as a society is that no one accepts personal responsibility - and everyone wnats to sue for stupid shit (something for nothing)
 
I'm not going to sue ANYONE. I never said I was. I am going to complain because there was no cause for what they did, period. Imagine that tonight while you relax in your home 3 men burst in with guns, put you on the floor and make you prove you live there or whatever.

Cops need probable cause and there was NONE. No forced entry, no signs that any crime had been committed at all. If parking my car in a legal, private parking place is probable cause then you better call the police right now to let them know who you are, where you are and what you're doing or else you are volunteering to have a weapon in your face because you parked you car there.

SOP is bullshit for an excuse. They were doing a "building search". What happened to warrents and probable cause?

At the very least they could have changed their tune when it turned out they were wrong. They treated me like I was a suspect or guilty of something even after it was established I was in the right.

I feel no threat of crime in the city where I work. I am stupid or lucky. I am afraid of the police now. What does that say?
 
DJL said:
Cool... now what are the mic's you have that look like guns? :D
Click to expand...

kind of...well, not really. But kind of!
 

Attachments

  • 1.webp
    1.webp
    8.4 KB · Views: 123
Last edited:
Certainly they should have changed their tone and ofered a aplogy after they realized you were legal. You have every right to expect some kind of apology (although we all know the Government ain't accustomed to say we're sorry) to mere citizens.

Hopefully after some time passes you will once again be able to pass by a cop without fear of them pulling a gun. It sounds like it was a very scary situation.
 
I would be the last person to sue for most things..but in this instance - Id bring it to court. Personal, constitutional rights were run ripshod over...Now the guy feels uneasy in his studio and he had to endure all this crap. I dont know how that equates to "nothing"...And he wouldnt need to sue for $1.5M or something crazy...but at least bring it to court to make it as right as possible. This type of activity should never happen. Cops do not have a right to just wander into some guys studio regardless if there is a van parked outside. I would be steaming mad in this instance, and very upset that I was subjected to this. For any detractors, alls you need is to have a cop pointing a loaded weapon at you for no reason at all and you might understand a little bit. Id definately bring this to court.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top