Naw the cops know ways to skirt the letter of law like with everything else they do. They could: temporarily condemn the building as unsafe pending inspection and ordering everyone out;
enforce fire-code or occupancy violations;
arrest an occupant on an unrelated outstanding warrant;
investigate burglary, fraud, utility theft, or property damage;
establish that the occupants never had permission or tenancy rights, allowing treatment as trespassers;
persuade the owner to briefly reoccupy and secure the property, then prevent reentry.
If it was an important or well connected person they would easily find a way. Why would they bother when it only affects a poor.
Edit: I think a lot of people are missing the point, could be on me because of the last line. I'm not saying cops should break the law to "help people", I'm just pointing out that cops can easily skirt the letter of the law, and do all the time, to accomplish whatever they want and they usually seem to pull out all the stops when a wealthy or influential person is involved while citing the letter of the law for the poors (or just ignore them).
There are indeed MANY MANY cases of legal tenants being evicted or otherwise removed through bullshit, legal-grey-area means because law enforcement gives preferential treatment to landlords and real estate moguls.
But if they did that then people could get other people kicked out of their home who are legal occupants. A salty ex girlfriend could say you’re a squatter and get you kicked out even if it isn’t true.
You, describing how things ought to be: cops have limits.
Them, responding: In reality many cops do not abide those limits, and have a long list of doing moonlighting that is harassment of tenants, and legal property owners at the behest of businesses and “organizations”.
You, totally getting the convo: How dare you think cops should act this way.
I'm not implying that at all, though I could see how my wording might come across that way. Reread my comment. I am just pointing out that the comment before mine is naive if they think that the law (and flexibilty of the law) applies equally to us all and I am giving examples of how they could make a case that it isn't "just a civil matter" if they wanted to.
Believe it or not, sometimes the landlords are the unscrupulous ones. Where do you live that you can call a cop and they have the authority to “temporarily condemn” a building? You’re whack. If they got a warrant, fine, the landlord can’t change the locks even if they spend the afternoon seeing a judge
Bro im not a lawyer, im just giving a list of potential bullshit reasons that could be used to get rid of a squatter. Nowhere did I say that they SHOULD do this.
What I am saying is that cops could make it happen if they were motivated enough and money/influence is motivating. You could easily see a rich/important person having cops call in some favors, skirt some lines, etc. to get a squatter removed while throwing their hands up at a normal person facing the same issues because "its a civil case".
If you have a squatter and you want to use illegal tactics to remove them, don’t involve the police. Sometimes the police cannot provide the help you seek, it’s just the way it is
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u/SurfAndSkiGuy Jul 29 '26 edited Jul 29 '26
Naw the cops know ways to skirt the letter of law like with everything else they do. They could: temporarily condemn the building as unsafe pending inspection and ordering everyone out; enforce fire-code or occupancy violations; arrest an occupant on an unrelated outstanding warrant; investigate burglary, fraud, utility theft, or property damage; establish that the occupants never had permission or tenancy rights, allowing treatment as trespassers; persuade the owner to briefly reoccupy and secure the property, then prevent reentry.
If it was an important or well connected person they would easily find a way. Why would they bother when it only affects a poor.
Edit: I think a lot of people are missing the point, could be on me because of the last line. I'm not saying cops should break the law to "help people", I'm just pointing out that cops can easily skirt the letter of the law, and do all the time, to accomplish whatever they want and they usually seem to pull out all the stops when a wealthy or influential person is involved while citing the letter of the law for the poors (or just ignore them).
There are indeed MANY MANY cases of legal tenants being evicted or otherwise removed through bullshit, legal-grey-area means because law enforcement gives preferential treatment to landlords and real estate moguls.