There are two main ways that the police can enter your home. The first is if they get your consent, such as when an officer simply knocks on the door and asks you to come inside and have a look around. The second is when they get a search warrant from a judge, which means they can search your home even if they don’t have your consent.
But what if the police force their way into your house and then claim it was an emergency? They may say that they knew they needed to act quickly, but they didn’t have time to get a search warrant. Is this legal or a violation of your rights?
Emergency situations can be an exception to the rules
The reality is that the police can sometimes enter your home in an emergency.
For instance, maybe they believed that someone in the home was in danger, such as if they heard gunshots from inside the house. Or maybe they were in hot pursuit of a suspect, and they knew that person just entered your home. Another example could be if they believed there was evidence in the home that was actively being destroyed, so they had to act quickly to preserve it.
But one of the key things to remember in a case like this is that the police will have to demonstrate after the fact that there was an actual emergency. If there was not, then their search may not be justified. Evidence found in an illegal search typically can’t be used in court, so this is definitely something that you want to consider. Even if the police found incriminating evidence, if there was no real emergency, then they may have violated your rights.
In a situation like this, it is critical that you understand all of the legal defense options you have available.