Police entering your home without permission

[primalclaws1974]

I have always wondered about this, and it seems everyone has an opinion. If the police have been called to your house (other than from people that are living there), do they have the right to come in without permission? Years ago a friend of mine and his wife got into a heated verbal argument. His neighbors called the police. They walked right past him when he opened the door, and even though he said to them, "I didn't invite you in", they came through anyway. Can they legally enter a home without permission? I imagine people are going to say probable cause. The few times police have been to my door or someone's house I was visiting, they came in every single time. This was the case even if it was just a loud stereo. If a person stood their ground, would they automatically think you were hiding something, and call that "probable cause"? Where are your rights to keep people out of your home?

 

[Shimus]

Probable cause this, probable cause that. I feel unless you are either A) Invited In or B) Have a Search Warrant, your home should be "Your castle" and not be violable. They could return the sentiment by asking you all to step outside or accompany them somewhere, but my friend had a couple cops that just destroyed his carpets thinking they could just walk through and all around and just look while talking.

 

[Rosyrain]

I think that sometimes the police just think they can do what they want to and people will just allow them to come in because they are the police. It is like people lose their ability to stand up for themselves and express their rights. I do not believe that the police can just enter your home without a warrant or unless an actual crime has been commited in the home.

 

[LitoLawless]

The police entering someone's home without permission is one of those things that tends to happen a lot more than people care to admit. When I was younger I lived with an uncle that always had cops after him for some reason. There was a time period why they would come to my house most mornings and try to ram the door down looking for him. My mom had to get multiple chain locks and constantly tell the police that the have no right to do that sort of thing with out a warrant, which they never got.

 

[Shimus]

We got harassed like that too because my sister (who was a kleptomaniac and not a very good one) had the cops on her trail all the time. She loved to get to all f'd up on depressants and then go on stealing sprees while stumbling. Yeah. Sounds like a real winner. She was banned from multiple stores in town and my father paid her fine each time. When I messed up, I did community service and never did anything again. She just didn't care, or I think she did it for attention looking back with no bias. Whatever the case may be, the cops started showing up, a lot. Unannounced. Or they'd tail us around town when I can clearly tell they had other things to do.

I'm not saying all cops are bad on this end. Most genuinely just want to serve and protect and they get paid next to nothing for it. They could die in their jobs and they make less then entertainers. But some cops fit a trend and mold.

 

[JulianWilliams]

They have to right to enter your house without your permission if they have a warrant or if they see / think some crime is being committed inside. If somebody is beating their partner and their neighbors call the police they are allowed to enter the house and stop the crime from being committed.

 

[jeremy2]

I thought police are supposed to follow the law and adhere to it. Just bursting into my home without sufficient probable cause amounts to intrusion and you can sue them for that. They also need a search warrant issued by a court of law if they need to search your house or premises. But the key word here is "co-operation" between you and them to avoid unnecessary tension.

 

[shilpa123]

I do not think police should be allowed to enter the house without your permission. It is really disrespectful and not at all comfortable. I think it is best to try and learn quite a lot about the house before police think about entering it.

 

[primalclaws1974]

I thought police are supposed to follow the law and adhere to it. Just bursting into my home without sufficient probable cause amounts to intrusion and you can sue them for that. They also need a search warrant issued by a court of law if they need to search your house or premises. But the key word here is "co-operation" between you and them to avoid unnecessary tension.

What you stated there is just the sort of reason why some police can push the boundaries beyond their need to uphold the law. If a police officer is coming into my home, without my permission, just so he can nose around and find something on me, then allowing him to intrude upon my privacy is not "cooperation". It is getting pushed around. Police get used to being authority figures no one is going to mess with, and sometimes they think they can do whatever they want, be it speeding or walking in uninvited.

 

[ally79]

In the case of the husband and wife fighting that would be called exigent circumstances and they absolutely have the right to enter without permission or a warrant. If they believe that someone is being harmed, hear a gunshot, or anything like that they can legally enter. Now if they find something illegal, like drugs, once in the house a good defense attorney can get most of that thrown out of evidence.

 

[Kittyworker]

If they have reason to suspect that someone is in danger then they have every right to enter a home without being invited by the residents. However THEY must have probable cause. If they do not hear anything when reporting to a domestic disturbance call than they are not supposed to enter the home without first asking to do so. Refusing them entry is NOT reason enough to enter against the residents wishes. They must either hear or see something that gives them reason to believe someone has been hurt or may be hurt.

A neighbors word is often not enough for this.

 

[shilpa123]

I think it is really sad when police dies such things. It would make me feel quite uncomfortable when someone would just enter my house without any reason.

 

[blur92]

I thought a couple years ago this was an issue. They were considering on allowing cops to enter without a warrant. If I am not mistaken, this would be an infringement of the fourth amendment.

 

[musicmonster]

Interesting story. Shouldn't the police have proper papers with them first like a subpoena before entering a private property?

 

[stevesxs9]

This will always be a controversial subject. On one hand, you don't want the Police to be hindered or stopped when a crime is in progress. But on the other hand, your right to privacy is always paramount. If the Police bust into someone's home and there isn't a shred of proof of a crime, then the Police should be punished in some way.

 

[Micheleteresa]

Police can enter without a warrant or permission in order to arrest or apprehend someone when they have reasonable grounds to believe that
they need to enter in order to prevent someone inside from being seriously injured or killed, or there is evidence in your home that relates to a serious offence, and they need to find that evidence right away or it might be lost or destroyed.
They can also enter your home without a warrant or permission if they are in "hot pursuit" of someone whom they have the authority to arrest. For example, the police would be in hot pursuit if they were chasing someone from the scene of a crime and they saw that person enter your home.
The police can also enter your home: to give emergency aid to someone inside, to protect the life or safety of someone inside if they have a reasonable belief that a life-threatening emergency exists, to protect the life or safety of people in the home if someone heard a gunshot inside, to investigate a 911 telephone call, to help someone who has reported a domestic assault to remove their belongings safely, to protect people from injury if the police have reason to suspect that there is a drug laboratory in the house, or to help animals in immediate distress because of injury, illness, abuse, or neglect.
Under child welfare law, the police can enter your home without a warrant to remove a child if they have reasonable grounds to believe that the child is: neglected or abused and is "in need of protection", a "runaway" under the age of 16, who was in the care of a children's aid society, and the child's health or safety might be at risk during the time needed to get a warrant, or under 12 years old and has done something that would be an offence if someone 12 or older had done it.

 

[Gelsemium]

The police can only do this in some of the cases mentioned above, if there is an urgent need to do it, otherwise they simply cannot enter, on what grounds would they?

 

[shilpa123]

I do not think such a thing should ever happen. I think every person who comes into your house should have certain permission before entering. I don't think police should be so mean.

 

[shilpa123]

I believe it is best if we know about why exactly they are entering the home. It should be done systematically and with legality. Illegal entry should be barred.

 

[Shimus]

But the cops can always claim "exigent circumstances" or "probable cause" for mostly anything anyways. And most time people will just sit and take it because they don't want any trouble. So a lot of these cases go overlooked, probably. More look should be taken into it, indeed.