“People need to understand they need to ‘respect thy neighbor and their property,’” LO Police Chief Jerry Narsh says.
And if that doesn’t happen, members of the police department have a new village trespassing law that will make prosecution easier at the local level.
It will allow village police officers to investigate and ticket, if necessary, the trespasser at the scene.
In the past, according to Narsh, since most of the time trespassing isn’t a custody arrest, the suspected trespasser was released. Later, the police department had to obtain a warrant and arrest the person at some other time.
Under this new law, a person trespassing could receive up to 90 days in jail and/or a $500 fine.
Narsh describes the law as a valuable tool because of the number of trespassing complaints the police department receives.
“It protects the rights of those who are trespassed against. It protects our property owners. In the summer it becomes a bigger issue. It usually has to do with a person trespassing on another’s property without lawful authority, after having been forbidden to do so by an owner, occupant or agent (of the owner) in the past or present tense,” Narsh added.
It’s also considered trespassing if a sign is posted that says “no trespassing” and/or “private property.” Property with a fence around it would also be considered an obvious barrier. A person climbing over a fence without permission would be considered a trespasser.
“If you’ve got no business being there, don’t be there or you may end up in court,” Narsh said.
“If you need to access your neighbor’s property to do some repairs, get permission.”
“The police work hard to keep the peace, but people must understand we’re responding to complaints.”
People can also be charged with trespassing if they are in a restaurant or on other private property that’s open to the public and are asked to leave and don’t.
According to Narsh, owners of businesses have the right to refuse service to a customer if they have a reason (race and religion is not a reason).
“If a person is told to leave, they can’t go back. If they do, they can be arrested,” he added. “If there is a question about service, negotiate with the manager.”