Frequently Asked Questions - home entry | How to Flex Your Rights During Police Encounters

Don't be intimidated by police at your door. These rules will help protect your rights and improve your odds of avoiding a home search.

No Warrant, No Search!
The Supreme Court has ruled that the home is entitled to maximum search protection. Even if they have probable cause to believe something illegal is going on inside your home, the 4th Amendment requires police to get a signed search warrant from a judge to legally enter and search.

Clip from the DVD, BUSTED: The Citizen's Guide to Surviving Police Encounters

The major exception to the search warrant requirement is where consent is given to an officer's request to enter. If, for example, an officer is legally invited into your home, any illegal items that are out in the open -- or in "plain view" -- can be seized as evidence, which can lead to an arrest. That being the case, it's always wise to keep any private items that you don't want others to see out of view of your entrance area.

Don't Let Them Inside
It's a good safety habit to determine who is at your door before opening it. If after looking out the window, through your peephole, or asking "Who is it?" you find police at your door, you have several options that may help keep them from unexpectedly entering.

1). If you're concerned they might try to force an entry, you may great them outside after exiting through another door.

2). You may speak with officers through the opening protected by your chain lock.

3). If police come to your door and you don't require their help, you may simply decline to answer the door at all. Unless they have a warrant, they will eventually leave.

Determine the Reason for the Visit
While you might not be pleased to have police at your door, it's wise to treat them as you would any other unexpected visitor. Calmly and respectfully ask, "How can I help you?"

In many cases, an officer's visit will have little to do with you or be something you can easy fix. For example, an officer may be seeking information about a crime committed in your neighborhood. Or she might be responding to a noise complaint. If so, it's wise to apologize for the inconvenience, then turn down the music or bring in your barking dog from the backyard.

In other instances, an officer might want to investigate activities taking place in your home and ask to enter. You might even be a suspect in a criminal investigation. In such a case you should remain silent -- except to say "Officer, I can't let you inside without a search warrant." Following such an encounter, you should immediately contact a lawyer before speaking to police again.

Educate Friends & Family

As is often the case, a naïve friend, family member, or roommate may invite police into your home. They too should be aware of their right to refuse police entry. (See "Can someone else consent to a search of my property?")

College students suffer from an unfortunate lack of privacy rights in many situations. Dorms are the property of the university, thus school officials and campus police tend to feel a sense of entitlement with regards to entering student housing.

The rental agreement for your dorm room should specify when school officials may and may not enter, so make sure you're familiar with the terms of your lease and keep a copy on hand. In many cases, student housing affords less privacy protection than a standard rental agreement, so be mindful of the potential for random inspections and other intrusions that are common on college campuses.

Campus policies are written and enforced differently from one school to the next, so it's wise to familiarize yourself with the rules and the people who enforce them. Although the campus environment may reduce individual privacy, it provides great opportunities to get to know school officials and security staff. Building good relationships with the people around you is the best strategy for preventing problems before they occur.

Regardless of the specific policies and practices at your school, there's generally no harm in attempting to protect your privacy by politely refusing searches and declining to incriminate yourself. We've heard many success stories from college students who asserted their rights, so remember that keeping calm and knowing the rules will help improve your odds of avoiding problems.

Finally, we've observed that marijuana smoking is the quickest and easiest way to get in trouble in your dorm. Many schools put significant resources into catching and punishing marijuana users on campus, often resulting in severe sanctions such as arrest, removal from the dorms, suspension, urine testing, fines, parental notification, etc.

The Supreme Court has ruled that the home is entitled to maximum protection from police searches and seizures. Specifically, the court has ruled that even if police have probable cause to believe that something illegal is going on inside your home, the 4th Amendment requires them to get a signed warrant from a judge to legally enter and search.

Clip from the DVD, BUSTED: The Citizen's Guide to Surviving Police Encounters

The major exception to the search warrant requirement is where consent is given to an officer's request to enter. If, for example, an officer is legally invited into your home, any illegal items that are out in the open -- or in "plain view" -- can be seized as evidence, which can lead to an arrest. That being the case, it's always wise to keep any private items that you don't want others to see out of view of your entrance area.

As is often the case, a naïve friend, family member, or roommate may invite police into your home. So they too should be aware of their right to refuse police entry.

The other less frequently invoked exception to the warrant requirement falls under the category of emergency -- or exigent -- circumstances where there's immediate danger. For example, if police enter your home in pursuit of a violent criminal suspect, any illegal items in plain view many be seized as evidence.

This depends on the circumstances. The Supreme Court has ruled that any occupant of a residence can refuse consent, even if other roommates agree to a search. Unfortunately, you must be present in order to assert your refusal. For this reason, it’s important to make sure that your roommates understand their 4th Amendment rights in case something happens when you’re not around. You may want to talk to your roommates about how to handle police visits and reach an agreement about how to handle such situations just in case.

As a general rule, police can obtain consent to search from anyone with control over the property. Someone who has a key, or whose name appears on the lease, can legally consent to a search of the property if no one else is present, or if no one else objects. If you rent the property, be advised that your landlord can also let the police in.

Finally, keep in mind that the courts often determine your “expectation of privacy” on a case-by-case basis. Keeping your room locked and maintaining control of your personal space can help protect you if a roommate ever lets police in. If your room is off-limits to your roommates and their friends, courts will often rule that it is off-limits to police as well.

Clip from the DVD, BUSTED: The Citizen's Guide to Surviving Police Encounters