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Oakland building code enforcers bring the cops to conduct a general search

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

I found this insidious practice in Oakland today from New American, Oakland Officials Get SMART to Circumvent the Constitution from East Bay Express's Oakland Police Search Without Warrants by Alex Weber, summarized as follows: In a little-known city program that critics say may be unconstitutional, cops join fire and building inspectors as they enter homes without a warrant and then arrest residents if they find anything illegal. The first two paragraphs: On a gloomy recent morning in West Oakland, tenants at the David Gray Building — or, Off-Ramp Studios, as everyone who lives there calls it — stood in the hallways outside their lofts. They gathered around their doors in nervous clusters and spoke in hushed tones, wondering aloud whether they should head to work or stay and observe while two Oakland police officers, two building services code enforcers, a fire inspector, and three property management representatives entered all of their units one by one...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on July 07, 2010 (boomark / email).