Photo: Pavel Pomoleyko (Shutterstock)
Having the police show up at your door with a search warrant isn’t something most law-abiding citizens prepare for. The general assumption is that if you don’t engage in crimes, you won’t ever have to stand by while a bunch of officers tear through your house. But just because you can’t imagine something doesn’t mean it won’t ever happen, and being mentally prepared for it will seriously affect the outcome.
One thing to consider is that you yourself don’t have to be involved with criminal activity to experience the joy of police executing a search warrant. If you rent your home, your landlord’s activities could bring the police knocking, or a neighbor or roommate might be involved in something that drags your property into an investigation. While it might be unlikely, dealing with a search warrant certainly isn’t impossible.
Don’t panic if you’ve been served a search warrant
First of all, follow the golden rule when dealing with police: Be calm and courteous. Serving a search warrant is already a stressful experience for all involved, so being rude or combative can only have a bad outcome. If the police are determined to enter your home, they’re going to do so. The time to argue about it is later, when you’ve consulted an attorney and the police have left.
Obviously, none of this applies to a “no-knock” warrant when the police have permission to simply burst in without warning—if you’re startled out of a deep sleep by a SWAT team, all you can do is comply with their orders and hope for the best. But if a group of officers ring your bell and tell you they have a warrant to search the property, take a deep breath and do the following:
Ask to see the warrant
The police are allowed to lie to you on a broad range of topics when conducting an investigation, but they’re not supposed to lie about warrants. So your first step is to confirm they actually have a warrant before allowing them into your property. The police don’t have to volunteer the warrant to you, but if asked they must have a physical copy of the warrant under most circumstances.
If they can’t produce the warrant, don’t grant any consent to enter or search the property. Once police officers are inside your property they can seize anything in plain sight as evidence, so it’s always in your best interests to keep them outside unless they have a warrant. If they can’t produce a warrant but enter your property without your permission, however, don’t resist. The time to argue will come later, with lawyers present.
Read the warrant
It’s not easy to scan a complex legal document while police walk through your private space, but it’s a good idea to try. Warrants are often very specific and narrow concerning what the police are allowed to search, so you’ll want to see what’s in the document. For example, if the police ask to search your car in the garage but the car is not specified in the warrant, you may be able to refuse consent. In fact, if the police ask permission to search anything after serving the warrant, it’s possible the warrant doesn’t cover it and they’re trying to stretch their access. It’s usually a good idea to refuse that permission unless you have very good reason to comply.
Also, you’ll want to make sure the police have the right address. Police are human, and they make honest mistakes. If they’ve got the wrong apartment number or the wrong street you might save everybody a lot of trouble by pointing it out before they’ve started flipping your furniture over.
Record the search
You are legally allowed to record the search as its being conducted. This is a good idea for two reasons: One, it will discourage any bending of the rules and the limits of the warrant, and two it could be important evidence in case the police turn up something damaging during their search. It could also capture damage to your property, but it’s extremely difficult to get police departments to pay for damage inflicted during a search.
Ask if you’re being detained
You might not want to stay during the search, and the police may not be detaining you. To know your options, simply ask if you’re being detained or if you’re free to go. Of course, you might want to stay in order to record or monitor the police as they search, but that’s entirely up to you.
Contact an attorney
Even if you know you’ve never broken a law in your life, it’s a good idea to contact an attorney to obtain legal advice. If nothing else, the police had some reason to suspect your property was involved in a crime of some sort, and anything they find during their search could be used against you in a criminal investigation. Having legal representation can guide you in protecting yourself going forward or navigating a complaint if you believe the police went beyond the access granted by the warrant.
