Everyone dreads that knock at the door when the police arrive to serve a warrant or gather information. But those two scenarios are very different, and what happens after the cops knock at the door can depend on how you handle the matter.
Learn what steps to take to try for the best outcome.
Never invite them in
Your home is your place to withdraw from the stresses of the world, so don’t give officers a chance to gather evidence against you by inviting them into your home. That opens the door to all kinds of unsafe situations to occur.
You also have and should exercise the right to see and read the warrant and the officers’ identification. Otherwise, it could be an attempted home invasion.
If they have a warrant
The warrant must be judicial and not administrative, meaning that a judge has read and signed it, and the police can enter a home and search.
But they are limited by the warrant to what they can and cannot search for. For example, if they are looking for a person, they cannot indiscriminately open a desk drawer and rifle through it because a person can’t hide in a drawer.
Alternatively, any evidence of a crime that is visible and seen by the officers, e.g., illegal drugs and paraphernalia, can be seized as evidence.
Make sure the address is correct
It’s very easy for a busy clerk to transpose letters on a typed warrant. You may be able to end the raid by pointing out a mistake on the warrant.
If that doesn’t work, invoke your right to remain silent and bear silent witness to the illegal raid. Film if you’re able, but don’t put yourself in harm’s way of rogue police officers. Then begin swiftly assembling your defense to the charges.