Cops at your door

[Gunslinger]

Originally posted by Squire
You cant "lose" your right to refuse a search, and you cant "lose" your right to refuse entry by the police.

You can agree to either if asked, thats not the same thing.

As far as entry into a home, there are a lot of people who think they always need a warrant. They dont. There are many circumstances under Federal law in both Canada and the USA that allows police to enter under certain circumstances, examples include witnessing a felony being commited, or being freshly pursued by police, those are just two. I wont bother with a 10,000 page list of them all, but there are a few out there, and of course, every state in the USA has a seperate state criminal code as well, so it depends on where you live.

Most police are well versed in what circumstances they can demand entry, or a search of your person, they do it for a living. Many people get themselves in hot water by assuming they know the law, when they dont. That being said "always know your rights" I agree with 100 percent. Be informed.

Good point, here's just a few:
Detain American citizens for investigative purposes without a warrant;

 Arrest American citizens, based on probable cause, without a warrant;

 Conduct a warrantless search of the person of an American citizen who has been detained, with or without a warrant;

 Conduct a warrantless search of the home of an American citizen in order to secure the premises while a warrant is being obtained;

 Conduct a warrantless search of, and seize, items belonging to American citizens that are displayed in plain view and that are obviously criminal or dangerous in nature;

 Conduct a warrantless search of anything belonging to an American citizen under exigent circumstances if considerations of public safety make obtaining a warrant impractical;

 Conduct a warrantless search of an American citizen's home and belongings if another person, who has apparent authority over the premises, consents;

 Conduct a warrantless search of an American citizen's car anytime there is probable cause to believe it contains contraband or any evidence of a crime;

 Conduct a warrantless search of any closed container inside the car of an American citizen if there is probable cause to search the car — regardless of whether there is probable cause to search the container itself;

 Conduct a warrantless search of any property apparently abandoned by an American citizen;

 Conduct a warrantless search of any property of an American citizen that has lawfully been seized in order to create an inventory and protect police from potential hazards or civil claims;

 Conduct a warrantless search — including a strip search — at the border of any American citizen entering or leaving the United States;

 Conduct a warrantless search at the border of the baggage and other property of any American citizen entering or leaving the United States;

 Conduct a warrantless search of any American citizen seeking to enter a public building;

 Conduct a warrantless search of random Americans at police checkpoints established for public-safety purposes (such as to detect and discourage drunk driving);

 Conduct warrantless monitoring of common areas frequented by American citizens;

 Conduct warrantless searches of American citizens and their vessels on the high seas;

 Conduct warrantless monitoring of any telephone call or conversation of an American citizen as long as one participant in the conversation has consented to the monitoring;

 Conduct warrantless searches of junkyards maintained by American citizens;

 Conduct warrantless searches of docks maintained by American citizens;

 Conduct warrantless searches of bars or nightclubs owned by American citizens to police underage drinking;

 Conduct warrantless searches of auto-repair shops operated by American citizens;

 Conduct warrantless searches of the books of American gem dealers in order to discourage traffic in stolen goods;

 Conduct warrantless drug screening of American citizens working in government, emergency services, the transportation industry, and nuclear plants;

 Conduct warrantless drug screening of American citizens who are school officials;

 Conduct warrantless drug screening of American citizens who are school students;

 Conduct warrantless searches of American citizens who are on bail, probation or parole.

[Leslie]

I thought police had John Doe warrants with them in their car at all times.  These are blank letter warrants to be used any time when necessary.




Les

[Gunthr]

they will have the blank warrant forms with them, or in templet form in their laptops, but they still have to be filled out to specifically describe premises to be searched, what their searching for, and basis for probable cause, and then, they have to go get a judge to sign it before they can execute it.

[Hangtime]

Originally posted by Gunslinger
Good point, here's just a few:
Detain American citizens for investigative purposes without a warrant;

 Arrest American citizens, based on probable cause, without a warrant;

 Conduct a warrantless search of the person of an American citizen who has been detained, with or without a warrant;

 Conduct a warrantless search of the home of an American citizen in order to secure the premises while a warrant is being obtained;

 Conduct a warrantless search of, and seize, items belonging to American citizens that are displayed in plain view and that are obviously criminal or dangerous in nature;

 Conduct a warrantless search of anything belonging to an American citizen under exigent circumstances if considerations of public safety make obtaining a warrant impractical;

 Conduct a warrantless search of an American citizen's home and belongings if another person, who has apparent authority over the premises, consents;

 Conduct a warrantless search of an American citizen's car anytime there is probable cause to believe it contains contraband or any evidence of a crime;

 Conduct a warrantless search of any closed container inside the car of an American citizen if there is probable cause to search the car — regardless of whether there is probable cause to search the container itself;

 Conduct a warrantless search of any property apparently abandoned by an American citizen;

 Conduct a warrantless search of any property of an American citizen that has lawfully been seized in order to create an inventory and protect police from potential hazards or civil claims;

 Conduct a warrantless search — including a strip search — at the border of any American citizen entering or leaving the United States;

 Conduct a warrantless search at the border of the baggage and other property of any American citizen entering or leaving the United States;

 Conduct a warrantless search of any American citizen seeking to enter a public building;

 Conduct a warrantless search of random Americans at police checkpoints established for public-safety purposes (such as to detect and discourage drunk driving);

 Conduct warrantless monitoring of common areas frequented by American citizens;

 Conduct warrantless searches of American citizens and their vessels on the high seas;

 Conduct warrantless monitoring of any telephone call or conversation of an American citizen as long as one participant in the conversation has consented to the monitoring;

 Conduct warrantless searches of junkyards maintained by American citizens;

 Conduct warrantless searches of docks maintained by American citizens;

 Conduct warrantless searches of bars or nightclubs owned by American citizens to police underage drinking;

 Conduct warrantless searches of auto-repair shops operated by American citizens;

 Conduct warrantless searches of the books of American gem dealers in order to discourage traffic in stolen goods;

 Conduct warrantless drug screening of American citizens working in government, emergency services, the transportation industry, and nuclear plants;

 Conduct warrantless drug screening of American citizens who are school officials;

 Conduct warrantless drug screening of American citizens who are school students;

 Conduct warrantless searches of American citizens who are on bail, probation or parole.

America. Land of the Formerly Free, Home of the Gelded Sheep....

[Leslie]

Forgot to mention they're signed by a judge ahead of time.



Les

[Squire]

Not in Canada, must be a USA thing, but yes, they would be approved by a Judge, as police do not issue themselves warrants.

"So does that mean that I could require the cops to submit to a search before I allowed them to enter my home? Could I confiscate their weapons for the duration of their time on my private property?"

- No, because powers of search and arrest are granted to Police and agents of the police under statute, as a private citizen, you have no power to exercise that authority. In cases where you can, like "citizens arrest" you do have some rights under the law, for instance you may apprehend a felon and use what force is neccesary to prevent escape, untill the police arrive, but thats a narrow right, there are others, granted to citizens depending on circumstance. Self defense is a right as well. You can defend your person, or another person, without waiting for the police. You can defend your property, and use force that is reasonable to that end.

There are certainly some differences between the USA and Canada, I know that you cannot conduct a search of an auto repair shop without warrant under normal circumstances, as a business, you would need a warrant to search it, or any business, unless you were talking about an extraordinary circumstance, like you chased a bank robber into one, or something like that.

[Maverick]

Squire spit out the hook. Leslie didn't even bait that one and you bit on it.