You are at home one afternoon when you are surprised to see a police car pull up in front of the house. The officer walks up to the door, knocks, and asks if they can come inside and take a look around.
What do you do in this situation? You may never have had any encounters with the police before, so it can feel intimidating and overwhelming. You may be concerned about telling the officer that they cannot come inside, worrying that they will arrest you or accuse you of interfering with their investigation. But are you obligated to let them inside just because they are a law enforcement officer?
Ask them if they have a warrant
You are not typically obligated to let the police inside. At this point, it is often best to ask the officer if they have a search warrant for the home.
The reasoning for this is that the two primary ways the police can enter a person’s home are with consent or with a search warrant. You can decide whether or not you want to give consent. If the officer tells you that they do have a warrant and allows you to see it, then they may be able to come inside with or without your consent. If they do not have a warrant, you can simply tell them that they are not allowed to enter your home.
There are exceptions to this general rule. For instance, police may believe that someone is in imminent danger, that evidence is actively being destroyed or that they are pursuing a suspect who just entered the home. In these types of emergencies, they can generally enter without a warrant.
If the police entered your home illegally, they may not be able to use any evidence they found in a case against you. It is crucial to understand exactly what legal defense options you have at this time.
