A group of police officers has been caught pretending to be a DoorDash driver on a neighbor’s Ring doorbell in a new viral video.
Maja Gutierrez (@lovelymajaok) posted the video to TikTok on Tuesday, and it has since received 2.6 million views. The clip begins with a uniformed officer knocking on the door and yelling, “DoorDash!” As she knocks on the door, three other police officers can be seen stationed by the entry. The officer follows the knock by adding, “I have a delivery.”
This prompts the woman to open up her door to the officer, who, seemingly wanting to continue the ruse, says that she has a “delivery” for the woman. However, it soon becomes apparent to the woman that this isn’t DoorDash at all, as the group of police officers circulates around the door and asks the woman if they could check if anyone else is home.
In the comments section, viewers were divided over the legal and ethical implications of the ruse. Several suggested that this conduct was illegal, with one commenter adding, “They can get in trouble for not announcing who they really are.”
While another said, “I feel like DoorDash wouldn’t like this.”
@lovelymajaok This is actually wild. My niegbor posted this on the ring app. Cops pretending to be Door Dash to get resident to open the door. What really took me out was the “I have a delivery… for you” girrrrl. Is this even legal todo? 🙄 #Ring #KentCops #Washington #FYP #Viral #Police #DoorDash #ParaTi #CopTok ♬ original sound – 𝑀𝒶𝒿𝒶 zǝɹɹǝıʇn⅁ 💕
Yet, while most commenters disagreed with the tactic, some pointed out that there may be a good reason for the deception. “Someone could have made an emergency call and was trying to be discrete,” one said.
“For me looks like she hit that text 911 cause she was in danger and couldn’t call,” another suggested. Numerous others also speculated that it could be a domestic violence situation, meaning that it wouldn’t be safe for possible victims if the police revealed themselves.
However, common law suggests that the situation is less clear-cut. Per the “knock-and-announce rule,” police officers executing a search warrant should not immediately force themselves onto a property. The officer is required to knock, identify themselves, and wait a reasonable amount of time before forcing their way into the property. In this instance, it looks like the police perhaps failed specifically to identify themselves as this law requires.
Yet, ultimately, it’s unclear if this violates the knock-and-announce rule because it’s unknown whether the police had a warrant to search the woman’s property. It’s also arguable that while the police officer said she was DoorDash, the fact she was wearing a police uniform should speak for itself.
Gutierrez didn’t immediately respond to the Daily Dot’s request for comment via TikTok comment.
The internet is chaotic—but we’ll break it down for you in one daily email. Sign up for the Daily Dot’s web_crawlr newsletter here to get the best (and worst) of the internet straight into your inbox.