The following is a letter to the editor submitted by Miami Springs resident Linda Bower:
Yesterday (6/18/24) at approximately 6pm, I had an experience that I would like to share. I live in Miami Springs and someone who lives half a mile away from my house called the police because a door to my garage was cracked open. I knew the door was open. I was working inside and outside of my house. I have doors open all the time when I’m working. My neighbors know this. Nevertheless, five Miami Springs police officers, without permission, entered my house when I was alone in my living room. They said they knocked but they were knocking as they were coming in through the door. There was yelling. There was commotion. I asked what’s going on but they wouldn’t tell me. I was barely dressed and when I went to grab a jacket, one of them yelled “Step outside!” When I followed them from my house into my garage, still uninformed as to what the hell was going on, they said “someone called to say your door is open.”
Let that sink in for a moment. Please.
Five cops illegally entered my home, without permission and without a warrant, and treated me despicably, because someone told them that my door was open. I said “you can’t be serious”. I was shocked beyond words.
Initially I tried to control my anger but, I called the police department after they left. One of the five cops, Emilio Borges, answered the phone as the dispatcher. I asked for all five names but he said he didn’t have that information to give me. He said a supervisor will call me. Albert Vargas (another one of the five cops) called me. After asking him repeatedly, he finally admitted that they did not have the right to enter my house without permission. I was angry and he knew it. He said “I’m sorry you feel that way”. I said “you should be”.
Vargas said “we did it to protect you”. I’m 65 years old. I’ve lived in Miami Springs since I was 5 years old. I’ve never felt a need for protection. Not until yesterday.
Sincerely,
Linda Bower
